Other M Chapter 24B/25 –Naruto Style–
The woman was running, but Naruto followed from a distance until she reached the end of the path leading into a large mechanical room with various screens, and an elevator resting on the second floor. There was he woman that was running from her but she was trying to open the door. It wouldn't budge from its position, even when fiddling with the nearby door panel.
"Stop!" the woman shouted, when she turned and saw Naruto.
Naruto just stares through the visor of her helmet.
"Don't come any closer! Stay away from me!"
Naruto held a hand up. "Easy... I won't come any closer unless you say so."
The pink-haired woman stared, still frightened.
"I'm an independent bounty hunter. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I came here investigating the distress signal I had picked up. I know the situation here, and I know how you must feel. I'm here to secure your safety."
The survivor calms down, but is still breathing erratically.
"May I come closer?"
The survivor nods, and calmly, Naruto moves closer to the frightened woman.
"What's your role at this facility?" she questions.
"I'm responsible for all operations. My name is Sakura Haruno."
Naruto cuts her off. "Wait a minute. I met another woman who called herself Sakura Haruno. What's going on here?"
The woman touches a tag on her coat. A small holographic display containing her portrait confirms her identity.
RESEARCHER ID 010-A00037
Development Director
SAKURA HARUNO
Department
Advanced Integrated License
Engineering Org. Development/Engineering Dept.
The ID badge hologram disables, as the woman, now identified as Sakura, looks to Naruto. "What you met was MB. She's an android. She was created with the intellectual data of Mother Brain and consequently developed Mother Brain's consciousness as well."
"What?!"
The Federation's foolish plan...
(Quick flashbacks of the moment when Naruto spoke with MB)
Mother Brain's rampage... Everything that happened here was just as Sakura—or rather, MB—had told me. The person who sabotaged the system to stop MB's rampage and sent out the distress call had to be the person standing before me—it had to be Sakura Haruno.
"MB was the artificial intelligence originally developed to regenerate and control Space Pirate Special Forces. Because we wanted it to control these Special Forces through telepathy, we were forced to model its infrastructure after Mother Brain. At that time, MB didn't have a human form. Before long we started to see the viability of creating Metroid clones. Once we did... MB started to take on her current shape."
"But why?" she asked.
"Because we needed the first Metroid hatchling to recognize MB as its mother, she had to take on the form of a living thing," Sakura begins the explanation, "With that as our theoretical basis, we were able to create the ideal relationship with the Metroid. One that wasn't based on dominance or control..."
I remembered the baby hatching before my eyes.
Naruto remembers back to her fight with Mother Brain in New Tourian, and how the Infant Metroid which had grown to gargantuan proportions, had attacked Mother Brain, before performing the transfer of the fully-drained life force energy to resuscitate and recover her fallen mother.
When it attacked Mother Brain in order to save me—that was the result of the kind of ideal relationship they were trying to develop with MB. They found the perfect means of control and started propagating Metroids in Sector Zero.
Naruto then remembers the things she had seen since coming to the BOTTLE SHIP, and to the things she had seen when MB crafted the lies fused with half-truths before all of this ended to the climax with the destruction of the Queen.
At the same time, they were conducting genetic-manipulation experiments to create unfreezable Metroids. Apparently the queen I met earlier was the first of these propagated Metroids to mature. They wanted to preserve her as a control specimen, so they had left her genes unaltered. The fact that she'd grow into a queen was something not even Madeline and her team could have predicted. Only special infants had the genetic coding to become queens.
"Once our MB was in a human form, she excelled. As an interface between us and them, her skills with personal interaction humanized her to a great extent."
And Sakura remembers back to those days... before the nightmare began...
"If my theory is correct, this is going to be a ground-breaking multi-system for artificial intelligence."
"Fascinating!" comments one scientist.
Sakura continues her narration. "Her confidence was unwavering, and her ability to learn was greater than we'd expected. But then..."
The scientists and MB are in a meeting room, and MB was agitated.
"... and we waste time even talking about it! ..."
"Whatever this theory is ancient," one scientist stated with a glare, not wanting to hear some bullshit.
"... I will show you! I will complete this system all by myself!"
MB storms out of the room, leaving behind disgruntled scientists and doctors, and Sakura feeling sad.
"She developed emotions. Then a nascent sense of herself... She began asserting her own thoughts, and her opinions began to contradict ours. It's quite typical for artificial intelligence to evolve as a result of self-analysis. However, there's no precedent for an AI like MB developing emotions. It's possible that her interactions with the Metroids brought it about, but we don't know for sure."
The newly hatched infant took to her like his mother... and perhaps at that moment, MB began to develop a soul. It was all conjecture... but the idea wouldn't leave my mind.
"And that was when we decided to alter her AI program," Sakura said. It was on that day, when everything went straight to hell...
A humanlike existence... but one without feelings... To make MB less than human, the researchers had to deny her that consciousness. I knew this... but in my heart, I felt sympathy for MB.
"On the day we were going to alter MB's program..."
Flashback: A scientist is walking toward the Breeding Room, flanked by two technicians.
MB is watching Sakura and other scientists attend to the body of their colleague who was attacked by the infant Orochimaru. The first scientist steps up behind MB, and puts his hand on her left shoulder, and turns around to see the face of the scientist, and the two men with the man.
"Right before my eyes..."
"Take her away!" he commands, and the technicians restrain MB and take her into their custody.
"Come on! Come on!" he yells, pulling the struggling woman away.
"No! Stop!" she cried, shocked and frightened to this sudden development of aggression to her.
"I watched her being restrained."
Sakura and another scientist burst into the room, hearing the commotion occurring. The other man sees what was going on, and he himself retrains Sakura to prevent her from going over command.
"Stop! What are you doing to her?"
"These orders are from above," the man coldly snaps at Sakura, "Take her away!"
"Kyuubi!" Sakura shouted.
"Wait! You can't, Sakura!" the man yells, holding onto his college.
"Sakura!" MB cried, like a frightened child.
"You move another step, Haruno," the man threatens, not bothering to finish his sentence, because the pink-haired scientist knew what would happen if she did attempt to stop them.
"She reached out to me and asked me for help. But there was nothing I could do..."
"Wha... What's happening?" MB yells, and looks back to Sakura one last time before she was torn away and the door slams shut, cutting her view of the person she cared for.
"My presence that day caused a disturbing reaction in her."
Back to the present day, Sakura felt her heart twinge with a dull ache. Composing herself, she resumes her narration. "She was fixated on me..."
Madeline had taken to calling MB "Kyuubi". She simply explained that the initials MB stood for her Code-Name, which was of the nemesis Mother Brain whom I had defeated on Zebes. She treated the AI like a daughter, calling her Kyuubi Haruno.
"Oh, Kyuubi! It looks great on you!" Sakura cheerfully says, as they were in MB's bedroom. MB, or Kyuubi, was looking herself in a mirror, at the hairpin Sakura given to her as a heart-felt gift.
MB liked the name Kyuubi. It made her feel more human. It made her feel like she truly was Sakura's daughter.
And back to that day, when MB was taken away, she had snapped. MB felt betrayed, and alone. And so, she lashes out, knocking the technicians, and the lead scientist away. They crash into the steel walls of the corridor in Biosphere. They tried to restrain her, but she simply fights back with superhuman strength, breaking their necks. Anger flowed through her body as she fled.
Once she felt abandoned and hunted by that same Sakura, MB telepathically commanded the special forces to revolt. The facility fell into complete chaos and suffered widespread damage.
MB is now seen inside the Main Sector. She commands a swarm of Cyborg Zebesians to wipe out a group of scientists. She laughs at the carnage, the destruction wrought throughout the facility. No matter where they could hide, she sought them out and killed every last one of them. She didn't even spare the few children on-board the BOTTLESHIP some of the scientists brought to live within the Civilian Block of the BOTTLE SHIP.
"MB was trying to get revenge on the Federation Army... and on us. It's possible all humans have become the target of her hatred."
Sakura was distressed, knowing that that day she did nothing to help the person she saw as a daughter, was the catalyst for the nightmare that begun.
With the Space Pirates under her control, she was able to propagate the Metroids in Sector Zero, even creating a Queen Metroid. She was well armed and planning her attack on the Galactic Federation. But Sarutobi and I crushed her plan completely. And now... who could guess where she was and what she planned next?
"She's backed into a corner. And her hatred is entirely focused on you and me right now... Huh?!"
Sakura stares in shock at something across the room. Naruto whirls around to find MB standing only a few meters away, pointing a Freeze Gun at them.
"MB!"
Naruto instinctively aims her arm cannon at MB and protects Sakura by pulling her closer.
"Wait... MB. Calm down. Please, listen!"
Sakura rushes out from behind Naruto, and she yells at her to step back. She didn't listen; she slowly moves closer to MB.
"You... I mean, we were wrong. It's all over."
"Sakura!" Naruto yells again.
MB continues to brandish the Freeze Gun with a threatening manner, forcing Naruto to aim at her.
"I was not wrong. The humans were foolish, and I was forced to bring judgment on them. And yet because of you... I failed." Her eyes harden. "You must understand the weight of your crime. You must pay the price for what you've done."
"Please, MB. We have to get past this."
"No," she interjects, "You will all be judged."
MB raises the Freeze Gun, ready to fire, but Sakura brought a hand up, and gingerly rests it on the tip of the gun's barrel.
"It's OK now. I won't ever fail you again. I promise... I'm so sorry, Kyuubi."
MB's resolve softens as she relives the memories she had of happier times. She lowers the Freeze Gun as a result, as she wishes to believe Sakura's words. Suddenly, her hairpin flies off her head, and MB lunges at Sakura. She pushes Sakura across the room, where Naruto safely catches her. A Freeze Gun blast then flies at MB from the entrance of the chamber. The projectile scores a hit and freezes her solid.
"Kyuubi!" Sakura shouted in shock.
Suddenly, six Galactic Federation troopers storm into the room.
"Let's go! Move!" one of them shout.
They all run at Naruto and Sakura, surrounding them. Naruto pushes back Sakura behind her as they are backed towards the sealed door.
"Don't move!"
Naruto swings her arm cannon around at all the troopers. The troopers train their weapons on Naruto and Sakura. Across the room, MB begins to thaw out, the ice crystals disintegrating away as the ring of electricity races over her body. She revives herself, and looks around. Two slow steps and she threw the Freeze Gun toward Sakura. It skids along the ground and crashes into the wall beside Sakura, startling her. Obviously unhappy with the Federation troopers, MB growls and telepathically locks the doors of the chamber. Her powers have an effect on the machinery in the room, fluctuating between operating and crashing, lights flashing on and off. An aura of darkness just flooded the room and enveloped everybody inside.
"Wha... What's that sound?"
Round pods up on the walls of the chamber begin to glow red, and the troopers all aim their weapons at them. Naruto joins in. The six pods open, revealing enormous insect-like monsters beneath. The creatures fly down from the walls and attack the humans. All the troopers open fire. But it was fruitless. As the massive insectoids showed their strengths, MB telepathically signals for a group of Ghalmanians and Mighty Griptians to reinforce the giant insects, known as Desbrachians. With giggles, the Ghalmanians dissolve their camouflage and race off towards their command, followed by the massive super beasts uncurling from their spiked rolling balls. Meanwhile, the battle is not going well for the Federation troopers. Their weapons seem to have zero effect on the Desbrachians. Naruto carefully chooses her moment to intervene, preparing a charge.
"Sakura! Stay close to me!" Naruto yells at the pink-haired scientist, as she fires at a Desbrachian with a charged Plasma Beam shot.
It takes a hit before it could kill the downed Federation Trooper. The beast whirls around towards the armored bounty hunter and leaps into the air. With a challenging roar, it attacks Naruto only to get swatted away by a missile explosion. More alternate between attacking the Federation Troopers, to now attempting to kill the biggest threat in the room: Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto kept attacking, keeping Sakura behind her to shield her from the attacks, until she finally manages to get a clear shot with the beasts weakened by the shot attacks. But Sakura had other ideas, when she screamed out loudly.
"STOP!"
Naruto flinches and turned back, only to see Sakura, tears in her eyes, shakily holding the Freeze Gun up. The woman closes her eyes, and pulls the trigger, firing a blast of ice streaking through the air. Kyuubi turned around, just in time to see the ice attack strike her. She was once again frozen solid.
"Fire!" a voice calls out.
Naruto looked, and saw an old man wearing the clothes of a GF Colonel. Standing up, armed with the more powerful G-21s were more Federation Marines. Naruto stared on in shock as gunshots ring out as they all fired upon Kyuubi, shattering through her frozen frame and thus killing her. The man who issued the command seemed very pleased with himself, if the smug look that emerged was any indication.
Sakura's grip on the freeze gun is lost, as it clatters nosily to the ground. "No!" she yells in horror.
The Desbrachians all roar, losing their inapt power source and deactivate, retreating back into their capsulated shells, leaving behind downed Federation Troops. Sakura stumbles to Kyuubi, sobbing.
"Kyuubi..."
The Colonel rides the elevator down to the ground floor, overlooking everything with the smile on his devious aged face. More Troopers run in, cornering Naruto who stands there. Others go aid their fallen comrades. The crack of MB's hairpin breaks under his boot as he puts a hand and lowers the trooper's weapon. Seeing this, the others also lower their weapons. Naruto stares at the old man, her eyes catching the name on his ID badge: Danzo.
"Ah, Naruto Uzumaki... I heard what happened. You performed admirably. You can leave the rest to us," the man explains.
He walks away, as two other troopers force the crying Sakura up off the ground and begin to pull her from the body of Kyuubi. Naruto wouldn't let them.
"Sakura!"
"Wait. Uzumaki."
Naruto froze.
"Unfortunate, what happened to Commander Sarutobi. And to think that his entire unit was annihilated... it is truly a tragic day..." He turns his head to gaze at Naruto, "Would you agree, Uzumaki? Sadly, with them gone, you're just an outsider."
He points at Samus harshly.
"And given your unofficial status, I cannot allow you contact with the witness." Sakura weakly struggles, her eyes pleading to Naruto to help her, "With your predilection for transporting illegal cargo, like infant Metroids, I must ask that you restrict your—"
The Colonel chuckles, fixing his cap while Naruto just stares, disappointed.
"Time for the lady to go home, now. Someone escort her away!" he orders.
"Yes, sir!"
A trooper steps forward and takes Naruto by her left arm. Firstly, she refuses.
"Time for us to go. C'mon, Princess."
Naruto then stops her struggle, and looks to the trooper. Her eyes light up when she sees a familiar face behind the shield visor.
"Wait a minute!" Colonel Danzo says, storming over, "who are you?"
Releasing Naruto, the trooper clicks at the back of his helmet, and his face mask opens with a hiss and swings upward. "Sasuke Uchiha, sir. Galactic Federation Platoon Seven." He salutes Colonel Danzo, as the other troopers look on in confusion.
"I need to secure the safety of any survivors—Commander Sarutobi's orders, and the purpose of this mission."
The colonel was shocked. "What?!"
"Authorized by the chairman of the Galactic Federation, of course," Sasuke continues, feeling smug.
"What do you mean, the chairman—" Danzo is cut off before he could finish that sentence.
"But man, you guys made it here quick!" Sasuke interrupts, "I mean, if I hadn't stopped the engines, we might've missed each other."
The Colonel grumbles, seeing that with someone of Sarutobi's command alive he wouldn't be able to take the "witness" away and make sure she never talked. Sasuke turns and gives Naruto a warm thumbs-up. She happily nods. Together, they release Sakura from her captives, and they escort her away, leaving Danzo behind, who was silently fuming.
Soon, all three are on board Naruto' starship and it was flying through space, leaving behind the BOTTLE SHIP. Naruto was at the pilot chair, and behind her, were two more seats she had the ship deploy from its storage space. On the right was Sasuke, who was lounging back casually.
"Crazy," he mutters, "crazy how something good could come out of something bad."
Sasuke thinks back to how after Orochimaru's tail swatted him off the edge and plummeting to the lava below, he sees one of the lava creatures rising from its molten surface. He had lost his Plasma Gun, but he still has his Freeze Gun, which he cocks and fires straight down. The Magdollite is frozen solid and he crashes into it. Rolling aside, and losing the remains of his plasma pack, he spots a nearby opening and leaps from his safe platform, barely catches the edge, and pulls himself up and to safety. Pushing that memory from his mind, Sasuke sees Sakura looking at him. He puts the gun away, flipping the safety switch to the LOCK position, and leans back.
"Sorry... Guess I oughta be quiet."
Sakura leans into her own seat opposite from Sasuke, and slowly closes her eyes. Naruto looked back for a moment, seeing that Sakura's tense posture was finally relaxing.
Sasuke was simply being courteous to Sakura. It has been a nightmare for her to endure, and she had only just fallen asleep. She had a lot of explanting to do for the Galactic Federation, for herself... and for Kyuubi.
Naruto's gunship enters hyperspace, and flies through regions of space filled with space dust.
What would have happened if we hadn't been called there? Might the furious Kyuubi Haruno have attacked the Galactic Federation and brought about its utter destruction? Kyuubi wasn't insane, no... One day, a consciousness simply bloomed within her. And those that caused it to bloom—the humans—called it insanity.
"I was the insane one," Sasuke hears muttered from Sakura. Naruto also heard.
That was what Sakura muttered softly as she continues to sleep. The selfish conceits of humans drove the girl they code-named "MB" to violence. It was their distorted perceptions and greed that awoke such fury in the fledgling girl's heart. Her thought was to punish the foolish and conceited. But MB could not complete her mission. As Kyuubi, she was defeated. And the Metroids... with their one vulnerability overcome, they were rendered indestructible. If some fool, just following orders, had taken the savage creatures to those who sought them...
Naruto simply stares out as the ship flies through hyperspace.
I just couldn't imagine what would have happened if Sarutobi hadn't recognized the looming danger. But the cost was far too great. Why did he have to pay with his life? For me, I couldn't believe he was dead. For the first time in my life, I questioned his choice...
And in the following days, life resumed for humanity across the universe. On one of the main planets operated by the Galactic Federation, Naruto was back at the place where she first began her duty as a Federation Marine, back at that same corridor within the building staring out quietly to the cityscape sunset. The location was the Galactic Federation HQ.
"No objects, right Lady?"
Naruto hears those words echo in her mind.
I heard Sarutobi's voice in my head, and I knew in my heart that he had made the right decision, just as he had so many years ago. In that moment, I swore not to grieve his death.
Looking out the window, Naruto sticks out her arm, and gives the man she loved as a father, Commander Hiruzen Sarutobi, a thumbs-up.
And for the first time, I gave him a thumbs-up—just in case he was watching over me.
The shadow of an arm making a thumbs-down appears on a nearby wall. Naruto sees and turns to see Sasuke, walking out from the shadows, a smile on his face which brought one to Naruto's own.
His amused expression looked as though he wanted to say something. His face and Sarutobi's swirled together. That last smile as Sarutobi drifted away...
Naruto playfully pushes Sasuke, and he gently taps her shoulder. With a kind smile, he pats her shoulder, before walking away. She returns to looking out the window, before she ties her hair into her signature ponytail. Fixing her coat collar, she begins to walk, only to slow down as she takes one final look out the window. She was going to speak, but she withholds and resumes walking. And as she does, life outside the building went on as normal, cars flying through the air, transport ships docking into ports or leaving the planet, and on the many walkways of the city, human and alien life go on their business. The Earth-like planet never knew of the dangers that nearly loomed over them, only to be stopped with the aid of the Galaxy's Heroine, Naruto Uzumaki.
Hours later, Naruto's starship would be spotted by a local police patrol ship flying past them, and streaking into hyperspace travel.
Ultimately, the decision was made to destroy the BOTTLE SHIP, a mission that will most likely be carried out in the next day or two. I'm heading toward the BOTTLE SHIP now. I'm going to rescue something that was left there...
And after sometime, the desolate area of space where the BOTTLE SHIP was located is once again in view of Naruto's starship. And Naruto pilots her ship back towards its Hanger Bay.
Something that can't be replaced...