It had been a good few months since the last time I'd slept in a normal bed. I'd been so used to sleeping in my power suit and pilot's chair that sleeping anywhere else was a little on the unnerving side. Normally when I stayed on planet, it took me a few days to acclimate to sleeping without the suit and in any bed, really. The pull-out couch my father had set up for me in his living room was comfortable enough, but I'd slept maybe four and a half hours before I was awoken by movement in the kitchen.
I opened my eyes, looking over to see a pile of rats next to the kitchen sink with some soap, each one washing up its paws before going over to set up a coffee pot. Four were opening the refrigerator, reaching in to pull out some eggs, bacon, and butter. There had to be maybe twenty or thirty rats in the kitchen, all doing some activity relating to cooking breakfast. I'd literally seen each of them make sure they were clean before starting, but… having breakfast prepared by rats? Did this count as an abuse of a power?
I made my way over to the bathroom to clean up a little before continuing my wake-up routine. After washing my face and brushing out my hair, I put the casual clothes I had back on. I would need to go by my ship today to get some more, or I'd need to buy something while here. The issue was finances. I didn't want to depend entirely on my father.
Adam had mentioned a bounty on Hookwolf, and hopefully that would be something I was able to collect, since it was through my help that they were able to bring him in. Either way, I was sure there were other bounties out there that I might be able to capitalize on, and that would give me the funds to do what was necessary.
The ship needed fuel, and I needed parts in order to create the machine I'd use to get the fuel we needed in the correct form. Given that this world still ran on petroleum-based fuel systems, I wasn't confident that there was anything I would be able to buy off the shelf to use. A tinker might be able to help, but I wasn't sure how their technology worked, and I wasn't going to let anything touch my ship or Adam if I didn't know what it was capable of.
I walked out into the living room and glanced back to the kitchen. There was a rat pile in a vaguely feminine shape handling the pans and I smelled coffee being brewed in what looked like a French press. Dad was in the living room now, sitting on the other couch with a cup of coffee in hand. He smiled at me once I was fully in his line of sight, and I returned his smile with one of my own. Last night hadn't been easy on either of us, not really. While reuniting with each other was good, neither of us really knew how to talk to each other.
Dad had his hang-ups, and I had my own. There still was so much about my life that he didn't know, and given my current biological state, there may have been dangers to knowing too much, at least if we were in the Federation. I didn't know enough about the government here on Earth Bet, save for it being divided into individual countries, to make a good judgement on how they would react to what I was. The best-case scenario was that they'd lump me in with their capes, put me under similar regulations, even if I were to operate independently from the Protectorate/PRT umbrella. The Guild in Canada seemed to operate in a similar fashion to how the Hunter organization did in the Federation. Perhaps I would reach out to them if I had trouble establishing myself as an independent.
"Good morning, Taylor," Dad said. "Coffee is ready, though I can't promise how good it will be. I had Mitzi be the one to make it. Remmy's the one handling the eggs."
"You named your rats?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just the forty that I house here," Dad said. "They're never a part of the swarms I use while caping. They're a bit less expendable than the common ones."
"Kind of like pets?" I asked.
He nodded, and I smiled, heading into the kitchen. As I stepped inside, a rat scurried over to the edge of the counter and held out a coffee mug for me, which I took gratefully. I poured from the French Press and took a sip. Well, I'd had worse coffee, anyway. The drink never was my favorite, but anything better than the Federation Police brew was a plus in my book. Still, I would have to grab some tea off my ship if I was going to be staying at Dad's longer. I still had some Zebesian tisane reserves with some seedlings for when I needed to produce more.
"So, what are your plans for today, Taylor?" Dad asked.
"Do an evaluation of my gunship, figure out a list of materials I need," I said. It was a little easier to speak with Dad now, given it was just us around. Of course, easier didn't mean easy. "Perhaps pick up the bounty on Hookwolf. See if there's more bounties worth pursuing here."
Dad looked at me curiously. "So, when you took the name Hunter, you meant that literally, did you?"
"I did say I was a bounty hunter, Dad," I said. "I've hunted down Space Pirates, criminals, bioweapons, and a number of things that have done things that haunt my nightmares. I've chased things across the galaxy that make Hookwolf look like a puppy."
"Bioweapons?" Dad asked. Well, it made sense that was the bit that he latched onto. "What sorts of bioweapons require a bounty hunter? It sounds more like something a secret agent might do. What, are you some sort of Galactic version of 007 or something? Samus Bond?"
I held up a finger for a second as I processed the question.
Dad's stereo system turned on at that moment to answer for me. "Lady is a little too famous to pull off a truly secretive mission that would involve infiltration into the ranks of an organization. At the current point in time, anyway. During her time with the Federation Police, she did manage to infiltrate an operation being performed by the Space Pirates by giving her armor an infiltration upgrade. Sadly, that upgrade is not currently available for her."
Dad snorted. He looked from the speakers to me, and then he frowned. "Adam, I would appreciate some warning before you decide to infiltrate my stereo. Also, how did you manage to do that? It isn't connected to any network systems."
"I am connected via Lady's two-way radio transceiver," Adam said. "Your stereo's systems are capable of receiving the connection, and it was trivial to adjust protocols so that you are able to hear me as well."
"Adam, Dad's not used to your availability," I said. "Perhaps you should give him some sort of alert before stepping in."
"Apologies, Mister Hebert," Adam said. "Would you care for a text alert on your cell phone before I begin speaking over speakers?"
Dad glanced to his pocket. "… I suppose that could work. You can call me Danny, Adam. You're an important part of Taylor's life, even if I don't fully understand you."
"Thank you, Danny," Adam said. "Lady, I would also suggest contacting Emma Barnes to check up on her mental state at some point today. Considering that you apparently are Taylor Hebert, your reappearance may have had some adverse interactions on that. What do you think, Lady?"
"Sounds reasonable," I said.
"I have a minor issue with that," Dad said. "Today is a school day, so if you do need to contact Emma, you'll need to wait until she's done."
"Understood," Adam said, and then Dad's pocket began to ring with a tune that sounded vaguely familiar. Some sort of movie music about an evil empire.
"Sorry, I have to take this," Dad said, and he pulled out his cell phone, some sort of round device. He stepped into the bedroom as he answered it, and I watched the rats in the kitchen start plating breakfast. It really was a fascinating thing to watch. If I'd been able to get the Iona Feria to do something like that as a kid, it might have gone differently for them.
Then again, given what Mother Brain had said about them… she probably would have still exterminated them as a so-called threat to the planet.
At least she was gone now, and so was the copy of her that the Federation tried to make. The central cores on ZDR bore some resemblance to her, but none of them seemed to have her capacity for cruelty. At least not yet anyway.
"Adam, approximately how much was that bounty on Hookwolf?" I asked.
"There are several bounties set out on Hookwolf by varying organizations. For his successful capture and entrusting him into Protectorate custody, the bounty was set at an approximate total of fifteen thousand dollars. Assuming that he makes it into the Baumann Parahuman Containment Center, the bounty would double."
"Assuming he makes it?" I asked. Why would the bounty have that stipulation for this?
"Hookwolf is a fugitive, having already been broken out of transport on his way to the BPCC. In all likelihood, there is every chance that the transport would be attacked this time," Adam said. "The Empire 88 has a history of breaking their capes out of imprisonment prior to being sent to the BPCC."
"Give me a profile on anyone who was supposed to go to the BPCC, yet failed to do so," I said. "Additionally, I'd like every bit of information you can get on that place. Current inmates, what they did, etc. How long their sentence would be."
"Life," Dad said as he stepped back into the living room. "The Birdcage is a life imprisonment. It takes capes from society and places them where they can't do any more harm. It's supposed to be impossible to escape."
"Life imprisonment without possibility of parole," Adam said, confirming my father's words. "Perhaps it would be better to just kill them if what they've done is so heinous as to require such incarceration."
Dad shrugged. "I don't really like it myself. For every Hookwolf, Marquis, or Teacher in there, there's some minor villains who just accumulated too many strikes. There's also talk that Bad Canary may end up having that as a possible sentence after what she did."
"Bad Canary?" I asked. The name was vaguely familiar, but it reminded me some of the Chozo. I doubted that any Chozo were on Earth Bet, and they especially were unlikely to be under trial here. At least I hoped that was the case. If there was evidence of any Chozo, I'd need to approach them carefully. There'd be no telling if they were Thoha or Mawkin at first.
"A singing cape with a minor master power and feathered hair," Dad said. "You used to listen to her when you were younger, but it seems like she accidentally used her power on her ex-boyfriend."
"And that necessitates the BCCP, why?" I asked.
"I don't think it should. I haven't really done a lot of research into the case, but if it was accidental, it should be easy enough to prove, assuming the defense does its job," Dad said. He shrugged. "But from what I understand, the case is still in discovery at the moment. The trial isn't set to begin for another couple months."
"Poor girl," I said. "What was with the call, Dad?"
"Was work," Dad said. He gave me a considering look, as if he were trying to figure out how to break some news to me. "The director of the local PRT wants to meet with you. I'm supposed to convince you to come with me to the PRT building to meet up with her along with asking you to submit to DNA testing to verify that you're my daughter. I mean, I know that you are. You know that you are, and Armsmaster is convinced you are. However, Director Piggot is not easily convinced, and she wants to make sure that you're not just pretending."
That last bit sounded like he was quoting someone directly, likely whoever he spoke to on the phone. Whether it was this Piggot person or someone else, I didn't know, nor did I care. There were… reasons why a DNA test was probably a bad idea, and there was the chance that even my human DNA wouldn't share enough of a genome with my father at this point to have me considered his daughter. I honestly didn't know. Additionally, if I hadn't processed all of the X that I had consumed on ZDR, there was the chance that would show up as well. The X parasites I consumed should all be dead or inactive, but that didn't make it less of a worry. Dealing with an X parasite incursion on a planet as highly populated as Earth Bet was not something I wanted to have to do.
"I did mention to Armsmaster yesterday that my DNA is not the same as it was when I was here," I said, walking to the kitchen to grab the plated breakfast. "It's… complicated to explain, but you deserve to know it."
"Lady underwent gene therapy to save her life in two different circumstances, and the genetics introduced into her system were not human," Adam said.
"Not human?" Dad asked as he took a seat at what looked like a highly unused dining room table. When I placed the food on the table in front of him, he looked me up and down. "You look human."
"After the loss of Virginia and Rodney Aran on K-2R, Lady was brought to the planet known as Zebes," Adam said. "By the planet's native inhabitants, the Chozo. In order for Samus to better survive on that planet, Samus was given genetic therapy, introducing Chozo DNA into her own and merging it into her. It's likely because of this DNA that Lady has gained her height, and the DNA is why she can jump as high as she can."
"Well, that and the gravity on Zebes was… slightly stronger than Earth's," I said.
"You said two different events, Adam?" Dad asked.
"The second event was to save her from a parasitic infection known as X," Adam said. "She was infused with the DNA of an organism specifically designed to eradicate the parasite. As such, she is currently the only being immune to the X parasite in the galaxy. A fact that likely holds true in this version of the galaxy as well."
"How did you end up infected with that?" Dad asked.
"Bounty mission," I said. "It's… a long, long story, Dad, and yes, I've dealt with a lot of danger, but I've saved people from things too."
Dad rubbed his head. "So, a normal DNA test might not… reveal everything correctly."
"Not likely," Adam said. "And I doubt that any DNA test done on Lady's ship would be considered admissible by your director."
"No," Dad said. "However, she's calling in a favor from New Wave for this. I think she anticipated Taylor's unwillingness to do a normal DNA test. Panacea of New Wave should be able to tell we're related by touching us."
"Can she be trusted?" I asked.
"She's a fifteen-year-old girl," Dad said. "With a mother that works at Alan's law firm while also doing superhero work. She's been doing some work in the hospitals, and as far as I know, she hasn't revealed any information that would violate HIPAA. That said, I do still know some people in contracts. It shouldn't take too long to draft up a basic NDA about what she discovers beyond the confirmation of our relationship."
"That could work," I said. I doubted people of this time had the technology available to them to isolate the individual parts of my DNA, let alone clone them, but if someone asked me earlier in the day yesterday if they could replicate any part of my power suit, I'd have said it was impossible too. The powers that humanity had here were just odd. "If she's amenable to signing such an NDA, I think that it would be okay."
"Would you be willing to share with her the reasons why, Lady?" Adam asked. "She may be curious about some of it."
I shrugged. "Until I meet her…"
Dad nodded. "She seems like a good kid. Maybe putting a bit too much pressure on herself, but with a power as capable as hers is, it's understandable."
He and I ate the breakfast he'd prepared with his rats, and despite a few misgivings I might have had, even with them having sanitized themselves, the food was pretty good. Dad had somehow prepared the eggs exactly as I liked them, and the bacon was tasty as well. Bacon wasn't exactly a common thing that could be acquired on the Federation Earth. It was actually a delicacy due to the scarcity of pork. There were other meats that replaced it, of course, but there was something special about having this kind of bacon.
Our meal went on mostly in silence as I mulled things over. Adam had suggested Panacea as someone who might be able to look at my genome. I did need to know what had happened with me after I absorbed the Quiet Robe X. Did my Metroid side stabilize? Or did I have to worry about it resurfacing at an inopportune moment?
Would I produce more Metroids on my own? I needed to know this sort of thing. If only to keep myself and those I cared about safe.
"I'll do it," I said after finishing my food. "Meet with Director Piggot and Panacea, I mean."
"I'd like to say that you won't regret it," Dad said. "But I can't be sure."
"I'll need that NDA," I said. "I don't want to risk certain parts of my DNA getting out there for study by unscrupulous sorts."
"I'll get it for you," Dad said.
"Good," I said. "It should be interesting to meet your other boss."
Dad snorted. "I just hope she likes you. She barely tolerates me."
"Oh, I'm sure that there won't be anything to worry about there," I said. "I know how to handle people in leadership positions."
I wasn't completely sure if Adam had done it, but the fact that a laughter track came over the speakers of Dad's stereo was oddly timed if he hadn't.
