FSE

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Samus blinked and opened her eyes as she felt the press of a mattress beneath her and the idle beeps of an EKG came to her ears. She didn't remember falling asleep, she had just meant to close her eyes a moment as she told Lonia...

She jolted awake, but remained lying down as the memories came back, of her episode, her attempt to flee, exiting through the wrong door, and then falling into that fateful vat. She was distinctly aware at once, and she mentally checked everything, allowing herself a breath that was half-way between a sigh of relief and a gasp of fear. Fear, because she was still a big, tall, blue volantosaur. Relief, because that had meant she really HAD transformed and hadn't actually snapped mentally.

That thought stopped her as Samus turned it over in her head. When had she started checking for that with such regularity? It was a sobering realization, Samus ascertained, to regularly check oneself for sanity. Was she really that close to the breaking point that she had seen fit to make such assessments? Could that be a sign that she should take a break? A sigh escaped her azure muzzle. 'Well, it's not like the Federation would even allow me a return to form,' Samus bemoaned. She threw an arm over her eyes, awkwardly maneuvering the limb to accommodate for her elongated head until she just gave up and pulled one of her pillows over her eyes. "And there's the depression," she grumbled into her impromptu-muffler. So many years of training, trauma, satisfaction, and gaining reputation, all dashed because the government didn't like her ideals. She had been raised to do right and correct injustice, so how had this been allowed to happen?

She had hunted monsters, believing herself to be fighting on the side of right, but really the monsters were the ones pointing her at their opposition like she pointed her arm cannon...

At the thought of her Power Suit, Samus sat up, pillow flung from her face. She threw off the quilt and went to jump out of bed, until she tangled her legs up with her tail and she instead gracelessly tumbled off the side of her bed and face-planted her muzzle on the ground with an audible "whump", with her rump stuck in the air like those indecent dancers at the night-clubs.

"Congratulations, Samus," she growled to the floor, "day one of being a space dragon and you have all the grace of a Dachora hatchling. C'mon, let's just get moving."

She propped herself up on her claws, giving the two-finger-one-thumb anatomy of her "hands" a once-over. She let her eyes wander over the rest of her body, down to her naked chest. It had gone unnoticed before, but Samus saw now that her femininity was slightly more pronounced with her new form. Nothing extra, but there was visible accentuation on her figure. A bright blush purpled her muzzle as she then realized that she had very blatant nipples presenting on her bust. She was grateful no one was in the room to witness her naked, generous endowments. Putting on her Power Armor would prove- wait, her visor!

Scrambling up to her talons, she had a brief moment of panic as her talon-tips slipped on the metallic floor. Flinging out her claws, she caught herself on the frame of her side-table, hastily catching her claws enough to stabilize her teetering frame. She panted lightly as she steadied enough to stand on her own two talons again before releasing the side table. Bringing herself to her full height, Samus took a lightly-shuddering breath.

"Okay, I can stand without a problem," Samus mumbled, "guess complete anatomical and biological rearrangement really does take it outta me, heh."

"Blonk" went something across the room, snapping Samus' attention with a slight surprise. She whipped her gaze around to seek the offending device and found a desk she hadn't noticed before. For that matter, she realized, she hadn't really noticed much of her room to start with. While sparse, her room did have more than just the bed and side table, possessing that desk upon which sat the beeping device, a data-pad of the newest production line, a wardrobe along the back wall, and even a food synthesizer.

With a sigh, she sauntered over to the desk and picked up the tablet, thrumming in minor triumph at the ease with which she immediately adjusted to her heightened posture and shifted walking stature. Swiping the lock screen, she brought up the messages. She had only a single message in her inbox, tagged as being from someone named Temin. Upon opening the message, a chat-box came up with his indicated username. At the sight of Temin's username, she couldn't help the smile pulling her muzzle.

iweargenes: >Good morning, Samus. I hope you find this message before it stops being morning so that it doesn't seem weird I'm wishing you a good time-of-day that no longer applies. I hope you slept well overnight, as I imagine one would be sleeping well after resting for over 12 hours as you did. I'm not sure, I stopped checking in with Lonia for updates after she threatened to smear my biscoff.

The message indicated it had been sent an hour ago and Temin's status was idle/away. Samus brought the tablet with her over to her bed and snorted as she saw what her username had already been set as. While bringing up the keyboard, she made a mental note to find who had selected this for her and change it later.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Indeed, good morning. I'm assuming from your username you're someone that works in genetics?

It was a few minutes sitting without any indication of his presence while Samus tried not to fidget with her tail or wings. She instead gazed around her room in search for something to occupy her draconian eyes. Nothing had changed since she last gazed over it... mere moments ago. 'Wait, what's that on my side table?'

She leaned over and quickly picked it up in her claws as a glimmer of realization entered her ruby eyes. 'It's my visor!' she thought as she brought it up to eye-level, the device comically small in her palm. She set aside her tablet and brushed a lock of hair from her eyes as she went to set it in her head, only to realize the structure of her skull was utterly different to what would've made actually wearing it possible. Samus hummed in mild annoyance at herself and turned it over in her claws, searching for the "reconfigure" setting on it. Eventually she found it and held it up to her ear for the auto-adjustment. With a slight pinch on the rim of her ear-hole, the visor settled in and she brought up the diagnosis.

<Repair Progress: 54%. Warning: Re-defined genetic sequence detected. Repairs aborted. Reading genome. Finished. Restarting reparation and reconfiguration for new anatomy. Estimated time to completion: one week.>

Rather than anger and frustration, Samus sighed. Well, it's not like she was planning on even using it any time soon. She would need to essentially go through physical therapy to just get a handle on how her new body worked. It wasn't solely learning to account for her increased height and mass, but how to fly and how to not get her tail jammed in every door she walked through. And it wasn't like she could just go back to bounty hunting with the government actively hunting her. Learning to fight in the Power Armor again was far from being high on the priority list under present circumstances.

Another "blonk" returned her attention to the messenger program.

iweargenes: >Quite astute, you are! My specialty is indeed genetics, though I dabble in...pretty much every other science, as well. I have some observations and theories about quite a lot of different facets of science never truly considered before, mostly due to the questionable nature of the experiments that would be involved. But us Urtraghians come from a species that has a DNA as modular and changeable as your Power Suit is...or was, I suppose.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >"Is", it just needs to change to fit my new body. But it's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon.

iweargenes: >Excellent!

iweargenes: >Well, I mean, your incidental house arrest isn't excellent.

Iweargenes: >I figure the loss of your Power Suit would strike a significant mark on our likely already-marred record. You've spent your whole life fighting the larger Space Pirate faction of our people. I can't imagine you'd feel ready to give any leeway towards us.

Samus turned her gaze up at the ceiling, thoughtful about that. It was a strange thought, but she found that the unease she would've expected just simply wasn't present now. Technically, she was at the mercy of Space Pirates again, she thought at the minimum she would be treating them with distrust. Not this freely-given warmth she reserved for those that immediately came off as trustworthy.

'But so much of this situation is abnormal to my usual Pirate encounters. Sure, the tech is the same design principles, and to anyone else this would simply be another Pirate base.' She turned it over in her mind again and again, her knowledge stating she should be running through the place and destroy as much as possible, but it clashed with her instincts that told her there was no reason for discomfort.

And even her knowledge base was starting to admit defeat to her instincts now. The reincarnation of Ridley himself had multiple journal logs displaying an unwillingness to fight, and when she was presented with an extremely-vulnerable Samus, Lonia moved to help instead of harm. The simple fact that Samus was in a comfy room instead of still on that laboratory's cold floor was further evidence Lonia truly was concerned. Not to mention her consideration for Samus' privacy, or most of everyone here in the base. She had slept a whole day, so surely the entire base knew by now that the greatest enemy to the Space Pirates was now within their base.

Most everyone, that is, save for Temin, whom she realized she hadn't messaged back yet.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Most of what I know about Pirates, or I guess your species is "Urtraghian," yes?

iweargenes: >That is correct.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Most of my knowledge about you guys comes from the assholes trying to take over the galaxy. From the get-go, this has proven an experience so far removed from the norm of Urtraghian encounters that I was forced to re-evaluate everything you're doing here.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Usually, my heart and mind line up on these matters. But this time, my heart is saying to give you a chance and my mind is starting to see the evidence of your sincerity.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Even if...I have to go into a forced retirement.

iweargenes: >I imagine that there's no such thing as a sedentary life style as a bounty hunter.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >When someone's not trying to kill me, I'm searching for the next job. I think it'll be nice to have a change of pace for once. It'll just take some figuring out.

iweargenes: >And if you need help with the figuring, I'm online a lot. Urtraghians are, by nature, an efficient lot. So not a whole lot needs my attention outside of my scientific pursuits.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >That actually reminds me. What exactly was that liquid that caused me to change?

iweargenes: >Oh, that? It's a by-product of my research with Nuitroids, as we call them. They're these floating pseudopods with a unique ability.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >I have experience with Metroids. Just as I have experience with your oh-so-benevolent volantosaurs.

The text "iweargenes is typing..." promptly vanished, then reappeared a moment later followed by a continuation of Temin's words.

iweargenes: >Right, I forgot your... extensive history with them. Sorry.

Samus took a deep sigh and brought her breathing back under control before bringing her claws back to the tablet again, unable to stop the shudder as she typed. Whether it was fear or memories suppressed that caused it, she couldn't tell anymore.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >No offense taken.

iweargenes: >Where was I? Oh, right. Nuitroids possess an ability reminiscent of their mother strain, but instead of sucking energy from their prey, they actually copy it and can supplant it into another life-form's genome.

A memory of the over-grown Baby Metroid came to her, granting her its energy and the weapon stolen from Mother Brain...

iweargenes: >More often than not, this results in a mild ailment with symptoms not unlike the commen influenza virus as the host's body rejects the new genetic data.

iweargenes: >It seems like a rather useless ability, but I found that when there's multiple strands of differing DNA within the host, the Nuitroid becomes a magnificent boon.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Lemme guess, you found the nearest bird and had the Nuitroid give you wings.

iweargenes: >No, I wouldn't do anything so silly. I had it copy the genome of one of the canines from the arctic pole and gave myself fur. It worked well. Better than expected, really.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >I think I understand. So that liquid was the genetic material they usually inject?

iweargenes: >Correct, although it's a little more Lonia's pet-project than it is mine, it does still have my attention for the scientific ramifications. And, as you imagine, it affected you so drastically and totally because you're almost a catalog of different genetics in your own right.

iweargenes: >Of course, you've got your birth-genes from being human, the enhancements from your adopted Chozo guardians, the latent genetic material that's made its way into you from the various adventures through various environments, your infusion with Metroid DNA, and the subsequent incident wherein was involved innumerable occurrences of your absorption of X Parasites.

iweargenes: >To be frank, I am absolutely baffled as to how you retained a fully-human appearance through it all.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >I suppose it just takes a massive genetic overload to finally turn up results like this, drastic as they are.

iweargenes: >Quite so.

iweargenes: >Though I guess I should log off. I've actually not slept for around a week now. I'm starting to hallucinate some strange visions.

iweargenes: >A good morning to you!

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >Rest well.

She almost set it aside on the side table before one more message popped up with a "blonk."

iweargenes: >Oh, one more thing, make sure to message Lonia. She's not gotten a wink all night long worrying about you.

BigBlueBlondeBabe: >I'll think about it. I'm not sure if I'm ready quite yet.

With that, Temin's status flipped to offline and Samus closed the messenger, feeling lighter with a load off her mind. She put a paw on her belly as the adrenaline she hadn't realized was pumping through her started to fade, leaving her with just an empty feeling in her gut. She set the tablet aside on the end-table as many thoughts turned over in her head about her present circumstance. On the one claw, she had lost everything now, except maybe (and it was a BIG maybe) her Power Suit. Her Gunship was a blackened, charred crater on the northern shore of the entry island. The Galactic Federation, as efficient as they were, likely had no trace of her warp-space heading since she had just thrown her ship into warp without a care for the destination.

'And now I have the perfect disguise!' she realized as she combed her claw through her hair. 'It's not a half-bad look, if I say so myself. Still, I would like to know what exactly it was that caused that Nuitroid material to do... this to me with mere contact. Hmm, I should find a scientist to answer me and, ancestors allowing, some food to nourish me.'

With that, Samus stood and strode towards the door, happy for a purpose, even if it was just to fulfill her new body's hunger. The empty feeling had turned into a growling need for food, strengthened seemingly by the determination to find nourishment. She reached a claw for the door, but froze as she felt a draft stroke over the sensitive nethers between her legs and on her exposed, presented teats.

'First things first,' Samus remembered, hurriedly rushing from the door and to the wardrobe that she flung open the doors to. The thought didn't cross her mind that she hadn't any clothes on her person, but her golden eyes alighted on a full ensemble of clothing and accessories filling the cabinet. Surprised by the selection, her eyes drifted in bemusement as she tried to piece together who these all belonged to, before she saw the note (an actual paper note) flutter from where it had been stuck to the door with a length of tape.

`I'm really really sorry for putting you through all that last night, but I really hope we can be friends, at the very least. I have a bit of a surplus for clothing since I have a large allowance of credits and the only stipulation that Ultaz put on my spending was I couldn't buy anything illegal or regulated. I really like clothes, so I gave you half of my closet's worth of clothing. I'm not sure if it'll all fit in your wardrobe.

With love,

Lonia`

Samus paused, a distinct sorrow gripping her heart as she took in the words and the blatant sincerity of them. She read the note, then read it again and again. For the umpteenth time within the last 48 hours, she found herself questioning the norm, as it seemed more and more characteristics of her "usual" mission were increasingly distorted and changed. Instead of only losing her upgrades (and ship) she had completely changed species; the Space Pirates were called Urtraghian Enforcers and were friendly to her cause; Metroids were around but were apparently a breed that gives instead of takes; Ridley was the worst offender of this in the form of Lonia, having proven to be constantly concerned over Samus' well-being and proving it by taking her to a place of rest upon passing out and even supplying her with clothing and a data-tablet! They were life-long enemies, Samus shouldn't be blushing when thinking about the volantosaur!

'But yet here I stand, on taloned paws,' she mused, sighing as she forced the rest of the doubts away and reached for the hangers to start taking a look at the choice of clothes afforded to her. She was about to crumple up the note and toss it into recycling when she saw an additional note on the back.

P.S. I had a lot more clothes that I can wear, but I'm more than willing to share them with you. That is, if you'd want to swing by my place. I understand if you don't want to, given your history with my previous incarnations.

Samus felt a chill shoot up her spine, but it wasn't fear for herself however, it was for Lonia. Beside that side-note was a stain where a salty tear had fallen and likely hurriedly brushed. If it had been any other sort of situation or note from the volantosaur that had caused her so much strife, Samus would've believed it to be an attempt to hide weakness. But in the here and now, she realized it was an attempt by Lonia to not impose herself.

"Dammit, I have to go visit her now," Samus huffed as she balled up the note and lobbed it at the desk, turning to sort through the clothes and find something that fit her look. She found herself a two-piece brassiere and thong that was a very pleasing ebony, although she found the frilly lace a little superfluous.

She scoffed in derision at the ridiculous thing as she started putting her talons through its leg-holes and scoffed again as she finished slinging the bra over her shoulders. Turning to the mirror on the wardrobe door, she gave herself a once over with a critical eye. Given, it was an eye with as much fashion sense as a Geemer, so who was Samus to argue fashion, even if she thought her thighs and breasts now had their own stage curtains?

For a small moment, she was tempted to go out with only that on, but all it took was for her to remember that it was a base chock full of Urtraghians. She hurriedly sorted through the hangers in search of something that would cover up as much of her feminine endowments as possible and practically threw it over herself, mildly noting the silky feel of it over her shoulders before she took a more attentive look in the mirror. In her rush, she had somehow happened upon a robe-- no, it was called a "kimono." It was naturally made of fine, smooth, shiny silk that simultaneously felt warm and comfortable yet light enough that she sometimes would feel like she was still walking around in her brassiere alone. She loved how it caught the light, though, on its emerald threads. It took her a moment before she saw what those circular patterns were, in fact, a pattern of her morph ball. Samus shook her head amusedly as she closed up the armoir with a click and sauntered to the door, a nervous jolt shooting through her belly (or was she just hungry? She still needed to get something to eat) as she cautiously pawed the door's holographic release.

It *whooshed* open, fluttering her hair to reveal an empty hallway and a similar door across from her own marking a residence dormitory. Samus looked both ways, seeing at once that her room was at the end of the hall and there were a number of dorms between her room and the main thoroughfare.

She found it easy to pick out details at this distance, despite there being a solid set of eleven pairs of doors between her room and the main way. Her breath hitched as she noticed immediately that not a single one of the pedestrians had a single mote of anything resembling humanity.

They were all Space Pirates.

Samus swallowed a hard lump as she forced her fear down. 'No, these aren't Space Pirates,' she reminded herself, 'they're Urtraghian Enforcers. Whatever that's worth.'

She huffed with a shiver as she stepped out from her dorm at last and pawed for the door to close. Coming to the center of the hallways, Samus steeled herself with a deep breath to calm her fraying nerves. 'Just think of it as another mission,' she coached herself, 'but the mission is... espionage without intent to kill or destroy. You... physically changed to have a disguise.' Taking in another breath and puffing out her chest, Samus marched down the hall. It didn't take terribly long with her body's lengthy stride before she was in the mix, but then she encountered a new danger to her fragile sanity.

"Oh, heya Samus."

She froze up and pulled her tablet out in front of her snout, making herself look busy. 'Oh, ancestors, they still know it's me,' she thought with horror, trying to make it look like she was just invested in her tablet and not fighting down the growing pink off a blush on her muzzle. The illusion of spying gone from her subconscious, she began striding again, with a little less confidence, for her destination.

She quickly realized she didn't know what that destination was, seeing as she still failed to message Lonia, but she continued to walk with as much purpose as she could muster. She didn't want to message Ridley's heir quite yet, even if she didn't know where else she COULD go. It was a large base that could likely be considered a village in its own right, but she couldn't exactly wander around. It was then that Samus' stomach made the decision for her with a barely-audible groan of displeasure at remaining unfed, which she felt noticeably. She almost smiled, now having a "mission objective" to go for, and she hurriedly swiped through the applications on the tablet. 'Surely there would be a map of some kind for a labyrinthian place like...? Ah, there it is. Now where's the cafeteria...'

Samus tried to focus on the mission by keeping her eyes locked on the tablet and disregard all those around her. Even still, as she walked, she still stole glances to make sure she wasn't about to bump into anyone or go the wrong way. Her sharp observational skills helped for her to get a grasp of the looks of these Urtraghians, who she realized barely had any differences from their siblings that she had slayed many times over on many planets in many systems.

That became increasingly apparent as she found her eyes drifting from her tablet more and more to gaze at the press of bodies around her. She would accidentally brush scaly shoulders with a beefy Tallonian, her tail would flick against the hard carapace of a Homeworlder, she was instantly thanking the Ancestors for her wings to hide behind as a Zebesian WOLF-WHISTLED HER!

But, even that interaction proved to only push her nervousness down further and further. Urtraghians of every breed were brushing shoulders with her (metaphorically, as she stood a full head taller than all of them) and not a single one of them displayed even disgruntlement! Although easily recognized outright, there was a balance struck tacitly that she would rather them mind her privacy, so only occasional greetings were flung her way.

'These monstrous mutant aliens are proving more civil than my own prior allies... and previous race...' Samus pondered with a flick of her bangs. 'Maybe I won't be so quick to judge them... and maybe I shouldn't have made such harsh judgements towards... Lonia... oh dear.'

The temptation to hide behind her wings was most appealing all of a sudden as Samus realized how she had treated her. Instead, she hurriedly opened the chat app and flicked through the contacts already pre-loaded by whoever had put all of the amenities in her room. There weren't that many pages of contacts, but they were helpfully annotated with names alongside the bizarre user IDs. She quickly found the one belonging to "Lonia R." and allowed herself a small smile of amusement that the ID was "FlyingPurpleSpaghetti."

'Our species isn't... that spindly, though,' Samus thought to herself as she opened a chat with Lonia. She sent off a quick ">hey, I'm grabbing some food, want something?" before sliding the data-pad back into her robe's over-sized pocket. Now she would await her response while she found herself some chow.

It was odd making her way through a research facility with no fear of some mutated horror jumping out at her to attempt to eat her face off. Well, there were mutants about, but that was par for the course when Urtraghians were involved, and none of them were actually trying to eat her face. There were a few creatures here and there, all docile, but every single one of them causing Samus to double-take. As she rounded into the sector nearest the cafe, she started seeing more pets. 'Aren't the bio-labs in this sector, too?' Samus remembered. A quick look at her map confirmed that the bio-labs were indeed nearest to the cafeteria.

Her eye-ridges raised up into a new level of shock as she witnessed the last species in the galaxy that would be one such pet on an Urtraghian's shoulder: a Gamma Metroid.

The crab-like, tri-pincered creatures weren't the only Metroids present, as Samus also saw the first half of the Metroid life-cycle represented by a few specimens she saw either carried around or on a leash. (She actually did see an Alpha Metroid floating around with a leash looped around its transluscent mid-section and scaly back.) A sigh escaped her muzzle seeing an absence of the later life-stages, though she supposed they would similarly be non-hostile or even docile.

While she wasn't lacking any natural weapons, Samus felt unusually at-ease. She didn't even bare her claws or ignite her plasma glands. It was bizarre and strange, and she felt like she should be feeling much more vulnerable. But, even though she was surrounded by the faces and carapaces of those she sought a total extermination of before, she felt it wrong to bring any hostility towards them.

It felt wrong to NOT feel wrong, but then it made Samus feel uncivil for even HAVING those thoughts!

'Ancestors, please grant me a safe, uneventful final few minutes so I can get to the cafeteria with my sanity intact,' Samus silently pleaded as she rounded the corner to the cafe, keeping her eyes straight forward in a bid to avoid making unnecessary ocular contact. (Ocular because she wasn't sure of the eye-placement for half of the species here.)

Cautiously, she pawed the door's release and it unceremoniously "thwipped" open and Samus stepped inside. She resolved not to stop for anything until she had acquired food. What hit her first was the sheer normalcy of the atmosphere. What hit her secondly, and right on the heels of the first observation, was the presence of Lonia sitting at one of the central tables.

Samus immediately noticed the other volantosaur's wings were tightly wrapped around her shoulders as she stared through her food tray. Samus sighed, having not expected to have to confront her this soon. She subtly continued on her way to the food line and grabbed a tray, already aware that the food-line workers were staring. With a pointed glare, Samus started to ask for a simple order of a hamburger with a side of fries and a chocolate shake. She raised a talon to stop the cook as a subconscious thought pushed her to ask for a quadruple order of it, to which the cook nodded and started pooling the ingredients for the multiple orders. As she watched the deft claws of the True-breed, her thoughts ruminated over how wonderful these burgers, fries, and shakes would taste. All she could think of was how it would satisfy her hunger gnawing at her stomach. After simultaneously taking forever and no time at all, the cook was placing the food onto her tray with a flourish and spread its mandibles in a smile, obviously proud to have served her. She politely nodded and took her tray of food along as she aimed for her next mission objective.

She hadn't realized her dread until she saw Lonia again, still hunkered down with her wings around her, the tank top shirt and exercise shorts she wore showing the wrinkles and stains of obvious apathy. Samus also saw the volantosaur equivalent of bags under Lonia's eyes, and there was a tinge of orange in her golden sclera, indicating she had been crying a lot and recently.

Samus also noticed Lonia had barely touched her food. Samus' suspicion immediately vanished like a morning fog before the sun's rays, replaced instead with empathy and concern for her well-being.

'Descendant of my nemesis or not, she's hurting,' Samus realized, turning towards the table already with an internal huff. It seemed yet again fate was wanting to see how many curveballs it could throw at her. 'As long as they keep turning up positive results, I suppose I can't complain too much...'

Lonia didn't react to Samus' presence at first. As she sat down in front of her, though, Samus noticed her eyes visibly glow a little brighter despite the continued presence of a disparate expression. With a minor click as she set her tray down, Samus cast a smile towards Lonia.

"Samus?" said Lonia. Her eyes betrayed a wary surprise.

"Hey, Lonia," said Samus.

"What... what are you doing here?" Lonia said.

"Well, I was hungry and needed to grab some breakfast," Samus said nonchalantly, "so I figured I'd come to the food place to get food."

"Yeah, but... I meant... why'd you come HERE, to my table?"

Samus let a faint smile pull at her muzzle as she looked into her eyes. The turmoil there was only more evident, plucking deeply at Samus' heartstrings as she gazed upon this poor creature. It struck her then the meaning of this meeting between them and she felt a powerful energy locking her eyes with Lonia's so that neither of them could not look away. She knew then what she had to say to her.

"I don't really know anyone here," Samus said. "For all the familiarity I've had fighting Pirates, nothing in my life has prepared me for the Enforcers. I'm used to being treated as either a militarily-strategic ally or an enemy to be eliminated with extreme prejudice. My whole life got turned topsy-turvy the day the Galactic Federation declared... that they declared..."

Suddenly, it was like there wasn't enough oxygen in the room as Samus felt a shuddering gasp escape her and her mask fell away. She dropped her claws to the table and broke her gaze from Lonia's as she stared intently at the small collection of burgers. The sounds faded away and she felt a second shudder wrack her body, eyes dampening and already beginning to trail tears.

She felt a warm scaly grip envelop both her claws, prompting her to lift her eyes up again. Lonia had reached over and was gently holding on to her, as if declaring herself an anchor for her. Samus felt the worst of the horror abate, but continued to take deep breaths and focus on Lonia. 'I'm okay, it's all turning out alright now, just focus on her, don't think about anything else,' Samus reminded herself, steadily returning to a stable mentle state.

It was strange, she realized, how easily her emotions boiled over now. The analytical part of her mind filed it away for investigation, determined to follow up on several theories that would be ruminated upon later.

"Thank you, Lonia, I... I really appreciate that," Samus said, sniffling lightly to clear up the last of her emotive episode. "That's actually... it does a lot for me."

"You're welcome," Lonia said, continuing to hold Samus' claws tenderly.

"I know you, that's why I came to your table, even if the original relationship was one of lesser intentions on... admittedly on both our parts," Samus said, managing a light chuckle, "but in a strange way, because of our past, I know you, and you know me. Knowing the kind of person--"

"Volantosaur, actually."

"--knowing the kind of character of your spirit, I mean, the virtue of your outlook. Who you want to be and who you are, versus the actions of your previous life. It's so completely different from what I'm accustomed to and... I don't know how to explain it."

"Because I was previously a merciless, power-hungry, murderous tyrant and now I'm barely more mature than a giggly school-girl who'd rather paint her claws with polish instead of the remains of her victims?"

"Hey, my hands--er, claws--aren't exactly clean, either. I've had to take the lives of a couple not-wholly-guilty parties myself."

"But you weren't left with a choice. I had a choice."

"Honestly, not really. The Pirates had your previous selves enslaved just as thoroughly as the likes of Gandrayda, Ghor, and... Rundas... had been enslaved to Phazon. What matters is you made a choice to change now and I'd have to be an idiot to not see that."

Samus pulled her claws from under Lonia's and reached over to touch her shoulder, smiling warmly.

"Now, c'mon, let's eat up. We've got a whole day filled with doing whatever the hell we want to together," Samus said.

That seemed to affect a change in Lonia, as she seemed to glow in front of Samus. 'Correction, her eyes are actually glowing a little,' Samus noted as she leaned back and began to dig into her first burger. Lonia similarly started to tear into her own food, consuming the stromboli with vigor as if she hadn't eaten for a while, which was very likely, considering her previous mental state.

With no less zeal, Samus chomped down on her food as well, occasionally sparing a caring glance at Lonia, who returned with her own warm looks towards her. Every time their eyes locked, Samus felt her heart and belly bloom in heat. Of course, the super-sized burger may have had something to do with the warmth in her gut. It was still nice and warm, and each swallow filled her with a satisfactory weightiness she was noticing particularly closely now.

Once again, the logical part of her mind took notice and raised concern that this increasingly-sensual pattern she was following was out of character for her. Internally, she sighed as she continued her energetic feasting, making a mental note to speak with the geneticist from earlier to see what other changes had occurred besides her physical appearance and strength. 'And the plasma breath, can't forget that.'

Samus reached for another burger and her claws initially grasped at empty air before finding it again. As she munched eagerly away, she turned her eyes towards her tray to scope out the next burger, finding to her surprise that there were no other burgers after the one she was currently consuming. With this revelation, she realized her belly felt especially warm and taut, but her hunger had not abated. Her fries and shakes still remained, she noticed, so it would only follow at the sight of food her mind wouldn't allow a loss of appetite.

'Still, I've never eaten like this before. It was always the strictest of diets before. Ancestors, I didn't even eat meat, and it was the first dish I ordered! I barely remember eating the rest of my meal, but that doesn't really worry me. I should definitely talk to someone in the know of my biology.'

Her burger almost vanished down her maw and she eagerly scooped up her fries all in one claw and promptly emptied all of them into her muzzle. With a muffled cacophany of crunching potatoes, Samus chewed and swallowed the salty appetizers with a sigh. 'Okay, NOW I feel full,' she hummed delightfully, a claw on her stomach as she reached for one of her shakes. The chocolate flooded her tongue, prompting a minor roll of her eyes in pleasure at the flavor. Scarcely a thought passed about her abandonment of her previous eating habits in favor of filling herself up with as much fatty food as possible, for she was far too taken with the overwhelming flavors.

She was fairly certain that her senses had been similarly augmented alongside the rest of her.

It wasn't long before her XL cup was drained, her belly feeling especially taut now, but not even a second thought entered her mind as she was pulling the second and third cups towards her mouth. With a cup in each claw, she suckled on both straws strongly, guzzling down another deluge of the creamy, chocolatey, cold sludge into her awaiting esophagus. It was simultaneously all the time in the world and no time at all before she found her claws holding empty cups again and she started to reach for the last cup.

Then the rest of the world came back into focus and she felt it hit her all at once.

It suddenly felt like someone dropped a whole gym's worth of medicine-ball goo into her belly. She grunted loudly, leaning back as she slid both claws down onto her stomach and started to eagerly rub the organ liberally. Samus pawed her stomach firmly as she puzzled out what had come over her to descend into such a feeding frenzy. Her gaze drifted from her food to Lonia's Italian spread, which was still being torn through (with zeal but considerable restraint) by the purple volantosaur. She had finished off the stromboli already and was currently making her way through the veritable mountain of mozzarella sticks, but with obvious constraint.

'Ancestors, I'm so full,' Samus grumbled as she continued to rub her over-distended tummy. 'This feels quite painful... but in a good way, I guess? I feel so physically uncomfortable, but at the same time it is immensely pleasureable somehow? Ancestors, I'm so stuffed I can hardly think straight!'

She leaned back a little further, feeling her belly more than actually rubbing it. Her explorative claws pushed into her plush paunch. It was so tight and round! If Samus hadn't felt like her completely-transformed body was alien before, it DEFINITELY felt like a foreign entity now with clear physical evidence of her reckless gormandizing!

"Hey, uh... Lonia... what's with all the Metroids hanging around?" Samus wasn't sure where she had thought up that conversation starter, but she was grateful for the instinctual distraction. She didn't have the usual venom in her voice when addressing the subject, but that could've been the severe daze brought about from her over-stuffing herself.

"Oh, those are our own breed that we call Nuitroids," Lonia said between bites of her mozzarella sticks. "The science team originally meant the research as a way to neutralize the threat they presented while simultaneously creating a means of reproducing their original purpose. That is, up until you just blew up the X nine different ways to the Great Beyond. Then they were left with a bunch of Metroid samples that had no use."

"What happened then?"

"Nothing terribly exciting, but one of the younger interns had a... mmmph," Lonia paused to shovel a particularly large helping of the fatty appetizer into her maw and chomp and chew eagerly before swallowing just enough to clear up her mouth for talking, "...he had something of an obsession with Metroids. Come to find out he spends a lot of his free time on gaming and art sites, and he had a 'Metroid-sona.'"

"Sounds... mmurrff, oh... interesting," Samus groaned, feeling some of the pain finally abating but only to be replaced by a heavy fatigue brought on by ingestion of extreme amounts of food. 'But I still have another whole shake left... can't let it go to waste... but Ancestors it'll have to go to MY waist instead...' It surprised her how easily she shrugged off the thought and was already reaching for the shake and pulling it to her lips, wrapping her long tongue around the straw as she started to gulp the cold, creamy, chocolate sludge down once more. It strangely had a tantalizing calming effect on her slightly-upset stomach, in addition to a comforting coolness. It allowed her to refocus on what Lonia was saying.

"It turns out there's a whole community of these folks in the galaxy that have these different species-based personas. I came across them once or twice in my perusals of the holo-net and I..."

Samus waited for Lonia to continue, but when she didn't, she looked over at her with a meaningful look and leaned forward to show she was listening. That is, she tried to lean over until her belly bumped into the table edge and she jerked in startlement. 'What in the...?' She shook herself, ignoring it for now and instead crossed her arms on the table and said, "And you what? Don't leave me hanging."

"I... may have... created my own... Dachora-sona..." Lonia muttered, "and... regularly... participate in those forums..."

"Oh, neat," Samus said, resuming her belly-rubs.

"Hm? That's all?" Lonia said, confusion evident.

"Well, yeah, you found an online community and are taking part in it, where's the shame in that?" Samus said.

"But, it's the furry fandom..."

"Furry? Dachora have feathers."

"No, that's... well, 'furry' is just the term that started out when the community was started originally on Earth with humans representing themselves with non-human, anthropomorphic characters, but since then it's become a fandom of sentients having 'sonas with a species different than their own," Lonia explained.

"That's pretty interesting, not sure what you're so worried about."

"It's... well, it's because back in its early days as a pre-space human fandom, they got a lot of bad press because of some detective serial I don't remember the name of. It portrayed them in a negative light and the stigma has stuck with the community for those not in the know. The community has been able to show they're a lot more than that, though, even if that side of the fandom still exists."

Samus nodded as she followed along, understanding dawning on her, "So, you were worried because of this stigma that's still attached to this community because of a small minority of deviants within it?"

"That's pretty much it, I suppose," Lonia said, seeming a lot more relaxed, "I could tell you more about it, if you want."

Samus smiled and nodded, finding more and more that she actually liked this descendant of Ridley. Lonia immediately launched into her character's backstory and how she was from a royal Dachora tribe that hailed from an alternate dimension, owing to their ancestors having been kidnapped by hyper-advanced aliens that bent space, time, and even reality to their will. Samus listened closely, but her thoughts wandered to the earlier discovery of a few minutes ago. She casually leaned her muzzle on her talon as she listened, casting a quick downward glance to her stomach to appraise the damage of her feeding frenzy.

Any hopes of further attention were dashed as she beheld something she had never, not in a million years, thought would happen to her. When she had put her paw on her stomach, she had started to subtly rub it with slow, idle motions. She realized how soft it had felt, also made evident by the way her belly pressed around her talons. Samus remembered when she sat down how there were outlines on the bench to define separation of seating and she had easily fit between the lines. But now, her hips and waist were a LOT closer to those lines than before, signifying an increase in her body's size.

Samus went still as a statue as an unprecedented reality was now evident before her in such a way that she had thought impossible. After all, one doesn't have their life threatened on as regular a basis as she had and have any opportunity to be anything but slim and toned. Within a day of her complete anatomical shift, however, she was still being proven how different her life was now, and she had weathered those storms well, but it was this last realization that finally broke her comprehension:

She had gained weight.

"Samus? Uh, you alright?"

She looked up, mouth agape as she struggled to find the words to say to Lonia. Unexpectedly, shame burst over her muzzle as she realized that this likely wasn't such a problem for those that had never lived the bounty hunting life. But for her to express the news of her body's sudden change left her unable to form something to say. Worry entered Lonia's eyes, prompting internal panic in Samus. 'I need to SAY SOMETHING, Void-dammit! Just spit it out, you've faced down monsters and demons, you can make this confession! Hells, Lonia can probably see it already!'

"I... I think... I..."

Lonia's eyes took on an intensified consternation as Samus saw her turn her gaze downwards, where she still held a talon to her belly. She moved her other talon to her tummy as well as she tentatively pressed it with a barely-restrained instinct to scream in shock at the sensation of feeling doughy softness. Finally, Samus sighed as she forced herself to say it aloud before she broke down completely.

"I think I gained weight."

"Oh, that? It's nothing to worry about for a volantosaur. In fact, putting on weight is a good thing, since it's a sign of good fortune. The ideal model for our kind is most often those that have grown so fat that their wings are no longer useful because of how... heavy... they... that look on your face tells me I should shut up now."

Samus only nodded, her fear replaced by irritation as the words had left Lonia's muzzle. The quiet stretched awkwardly as Lonia suddenly found her food tray interesting, but made no further movement to finish off her meal. Samus went back to staring at her fattened belly with a sullen silence as she furrowed her brow-ridge. It was barely noticeable through her kimono, but to the ex-bounty hunter she spotted it as easily as she could spot a Leviathan Seed. She moaned lightly as she realized her bra felt a little tighter, and she saw that there was a minute increase in her bust as well. 'I guess that's not... totally bad...' Samus supposed, finally sighing outwardly.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Lonia, and I'm sorry for not dealing with this well right now," Samus conceded, locking eyes with the purple volantosaur. She finally removed her claws from her pudged belly and motioned around them, "I just need time to get used to... all this. It's a complete transformation of not only my body I have to accustom to, but my lifestyle. I apologize for being, uh, an excessive prude."

"Oh, that's okay Samus. You don't have to apologize," said Lonia, her visage brightening just a bit, "I'm the one that keeps fangirling around you and forgetting that I look very much like someone you've lived your whole life literally hating to death. I'll ease up and try to take things a little slow from here."

"I would appreciate that, thank you," said Samus, falling into silence once more, but one that was more companionable and amiable. Her eyes drifted to her tray where one last extra-large cup sat, condensation evident on its side from the frozen sludge within. 'Well, waste not, want not, even if it'll end up going to my waist,' Samus thought as she picked it up and brought the straw to her muzzle with her tongue. Slowly slurping at her last shake, Samus closed her eyes as she allowed herself to indulge in the flavor. Immediately, her belly throbbed with the addition of the chocolate slurry into her already-stuffed-silly, bloated breadbasket. But this time, she relished in the tautness as the coolness seeped into every spare inch remaining in her gut, even stretching it out further and farther when no room was to be had.

Sparing a glance across the table, she noticed Lonia watching with rapt fascination and her muzzle slightly open in surprise. She reached for Lonia's claws and gave them a rub with one paw, closing one eye in a slow wink in a subtle acknowledgement of how much the purple volantosaur enjoyed watching her stuff herself. 'I might regret this later, but... ancestors, what else am I supposed to do? Nothing in my training tells me what to do here, this is a complete combat-free situation! So it only makes sense I should do things I've never done before to accommodate for a situation I've never been in,' Samus reasoned with herself. 'Maybe I should ask Lonia about it...'

The empty rattling of an empty cup came to her ears, the final drips of her chocolate shake having vanished into her gorge. She opened her muzzle and let out a satiated sigh, closing her eyes as her claws explored and kneaded her taut, rounded belly. 'Well, I don't NEED to know about everything right here right now, this feels so nice,' Samus settled, 'I haven't treated myself to rubs like this since... actually, I haven't ever really let myself enjoy anything like this. By the ancestors, heavens help me this is really sensational... ooof, I need to treat myself to these more.'

"Uh, hey Samus? Could I ask you a little something?" Lonia said.

Samus nodded, content to keep thrumming and rubbing her stomach as she heard out Lonia.

"Do you think we could... possibly... if you wanna... I mean I'd understand if you didn't want to... but it would really make me happy if you did... but I don't wanna impose myself on you, I just..."

"What is it, Lonia?" Samus said, holding back a chuckle, but unable to stop the smile.

"Would you... would you want to hang out with me at my suite later?"

Samus opened her eyes and looked at Lonia, taken by how adorable she looked sitting there nervously and feeling her heartstrings pull for her. She really was just a sweetheart trying her best to live away from the shadow of her "family's" past sins. What kind of person would Samus be to not afford her a chance to be her own free agent?

"Yes, I'd like that. I would love to hang out at your place," Samus said.

"Wait... r-really?" Lonia said.

"Really really," Samus said, stopping her belly rubs and reaching for Lonia's claw. "If we're gonna be friends, we should start acting like it."

Her purple snout turned a deeper shade of purple as Lonia let loose a croon of delight. "Friends... we're friends."

Samus once again searched her feelings, but found that strange absence of her usual inhibitions. This time, it wasn't so alarming anymore and she found that she welcomed this change. 'Maybe this whole situation isn't so bad after all,' Samus thought.