Once Night Light and Twilight Velvet were caught up with the story, Samus and Spike continued the tale. "The trip to the Systems' Management Room was rather uneventful," Samus explained. "There were a few biological threats which, for some reason, were now more hostile to us than before. Spike's aggression wasn't enough to make them retreat anymore."
"And for some reason, they didn't taste good anymore, either," Spike complained. "Not fun." He decided to ignore the giggles from most present, though he noticed his grandparents looking a bit sick. "Grandma, Grandpa, I'm an apex predator." He opened his mouth to reveal razor sharp incisors in the front and saw like molars in back. He pointed to the molars. "These are the only ones meant for eating gems, and most of that gets done in the stomach." He then pointed to the incisors. "And these are not for vegetables."
"We know that, Spike," Night Light replied. "It's just..."
"It's one thing to know your grandson is built to eat other creatures," Velvet explained. "Quite another to wrap your head around him writing the 'Gourmet Predator's Guide to the Galaxy'."
"That's actually still the fifth best seller, last time I checked," Anthony pointed out good naturedly.
Twilight gasped eagerly. "You wrote a book Spike? Why didn't you tell me? When can I get a copy for the shelves? When do I get to read it?"
Several laughs and rolled eyes greeted Twilight's enthusiasm, but it managed to smooth over the tension Spike's new eating habits had raised ever so briefly. Samus then continued speaking. "As it turned out, the circuitry in the Systems' Management Room was loaded with insect hives," she explained. "When we tried to turn the machines back on, the insects came out to defend their hives against the electricity. While I kept them back with my Power Beam, Spike used his flame breath in a wave to cook the hives out."
"Using it as a beam there would have melted the circuitry," Spike explained. "Took longer that way, but did less damage."
"Once the hives were gone, we turned the machines back on," Samus concluded.
"With the systems back online, I had a bit more access to the station's controls," Adam explained. "However, as this did nothing to clear up the communications block, I sent Samus and Spike to assist one of my men in Sector 1. He went to investigate a facility of interest there, so I instructed Samus and Spike to survey the area, to try and determine the purpose of the station, since we didn't even know that yet."
"Did you tell Samus that's what you wanted her to do?" Luna asked curiously.
"No," Adam replied curtly. "Samus and Spike had proven themselves supremely effective at handling situations with minimal instructions. I was counting on those abilities and perceptions to discover more about the situation without putting the artificial filter of my expectations over their senses."
"And how did that go?" Luna inquired, glancing over at Samus and Spike.
Samus glanced away while Spike shrugged. "Took a while to figure out what we were looking for," Spike explained. "Unfortunately, the outcome from that wasn't...entirely pleasant." He shrugged slightly. "Although the journey itself wasn't entirely unpleasant..."
Sector One was dubbed the Biosphere, and for good reason. Nearly every subdivided chamber in the sector was nearly overgrown with wild, out of control plant life and various animals...and sometimes the plants were the more dangerous, as several actively tried to eat the Hunter pair. This was nothing new for Samus or Spike after Tallon IV, so they dealt with it in the manner that had been most effective back there: set everything in sight on fire and pick their way through the wreckage.
The first major animal challenge they faced was a large lizard like creature that had the ability to cloak itself, rendering it invisible. While Samus had difficulty tracking the creature as a result, Spike did not, since the light-bending ability did nothing to cloak its scent. The long tail it used to lash at the pair lost much of its effectiveness after Spike had bit off the last three feet of it.
Before long the pair came to a centralized chamber that went up and down through a good portion of the Biosphere that had become completely overgrown by a massive tree-like plant structure made up of several intertwined trunks. Making their way up the winding path around it, they made their way to the next Navigation Room.
The two continued the winding path through the overgrown hallways of the Biosphere, moving from Navigation Room to Navigation Room as Adam directed, sending them map data as it became available. Spike was forced to use the shape/size changing abilities he got from Gandrayda a great deal more than ever before, as many of the paths they had to take were through what Samus thought of as 'Morph Ball Tunnels', which were too small for Spike unless he shrank down. Thankfully, no matter what size he became he was able to adjust himself for flight.
The most concerning part for Samus and Spike was when they encountered a chamber the map labeled as the 'Breeding Room', filled with plants, heating lamps, and another dead scientist. Unlike the previous one - which had been torn apart by something large - the wounds showed the attack pattern of a tiny but vicious and deadly creature.
As Samus examined the corpse, she shot to her feet, hand on her arm cannon. She felt...something. An evil, familiar presence she couldn't quite place. She could tell that Spike was much the same, as his claws lengthened of their own accord in response to a growl from deep in his throat.
Making their way back from the Breeding Room, they returned to a plant filled chamber only to freeze as they heard a sound in the bushes. Both spun, weapons primed and ready to unleash devastation on whatever evil creature had come after them...
...only to see a tiny white bird like creature, with stick legs, trying and failing to crack open a fruit, actually managing to fall over helplessly onto its back as it tried to rotate the fruit for a better angle.
Spike and Samus both tried to keep their defenses up...but it was just so small...so helpless looking...so fluffy...