The Dark Ages [Dark Data]

[Samus Aran]

Samus watched as the strange gel soaked into the body of her suit – at first with a degree and mistrust and apprehension, and then with silence.

And then she listened as Okor spoke of his world. The bounty hunter still knew not what to make of the … afflicted paladin. That was what he was, it seemed. A zealot for forces of strangeness. Rot and pestilence. He’d clearly seen much, and been through battles that, if his words were to be believed, spanned centuries if not longer. Samus believed it.

Propped up on a rock, she slouched forward, letting her arms stretch out. Her body was decidedly human. In excellent shape, yes. But all human bodies, even those such enhanced as her own, had limits. Her suit had collected enough sweat to fill a helmet. But as they rested, and waited, the numbness and tingling in her extremities gradually subsided until they were no more than a mere throb.

Hiro and Madotsuki were very close, rested on the grass. But they were watching, and the moment she rose, they did too.

The verse was as expansive – at least by appearance – as the true Camelot. Samus hoped it wasn’t, or this would be an endless journey. But resolution was stronger than their fatigue. They pressed on.