Biologic Space Laboratories research station

The Biologic Space Laboratories research station.

The Biologic Space Laboratories research station, or B.S.L. research station, is a large space station orbiting the planet SR388 in its solar system. It is divided into numerous sectors, each with a different climate, to study a variety of alien organisms.

In addition to specimens from SR388, the station also houses numerous specimens that were apparently transferred from the BOTTLE SHIP, including Zebesians, the biomechanical weapon Nightmare, and a clone of Ridley. Secretly, it also houses a laboratory that conducts Metroid breeding experiments.

Following Samus Aran's infection by an X Parasite during a research mission, sections of her Power Suit are surgically removed and stored on the station. These components eventually become the SA-X, an X-mimic of Samus at full power, which uses a Power Bomb to escape quarantine. Alerted by the explosion, the Galactic Federation sends Samus to investigate the station, under the supervision of a computer.

Overview

The different sectors of the B.S.L.

The B.S.L. research station appears to be a hollowed-out asteroid with a docking ring around the widest portion of the asteroid.

Here is a simple overview of the different parts of the station:

Main Deck

• This area contains elevator access, storage, etc. It links all the other parts of the station together and consists of several subsections:
  • Docking Bays
    • This is where Samus first enters the space station. Her Starship is located here.
  • Quarantine Bay
    • This is where the X-infected components of Samus's Power Suit are kept, and therefore the birthplace of the SA-X. The SA-X uses a Power Bomb to escape containment from this room, the ensuing explosion being the catalyst for Samus's arrival on the station.
  • Habitation Deck
    • This area contains the living quarters for the crew and the researchers. It is also where Samus finds the Etecoons and Dachoras, a few of the only creatures aboard the station that have not been infected by the X (the others being the various stages of Metroids).
  • Central Reactor Core
    • This area is found covered in vines and Kihunters prior to defeating Nettori; afterwards, the area is cleared of vines and is fully functional.
  • Reactor Silo
    • This is where the main reactor that powers the entire station is kept, as well as the Auxiliary Power Station.
  • Operations Deck
    • This is where the controls for the station's main operations, such as orbital position and the self-destruct mechanism, are located.
  • Main Elevator
    • This is the main entrance to the six sectors.
  • Sub-Zero Containment
    • This is where the cloned Ridley's drained husk was transferred to from the BOTTLE SHIP.

Sector 1 (SRX)

• This sector reproduces the environment of planet SR388, home of both the X Parasites and the Metroids.

Sector 2 (TRO)

• This sector is used to research creatures living in humid, jungle-like habitats, most likely based on the tropical sections of Brinstar in Super Metroid.

Sector 3 (PYR)

• This sector is used to research creatures living in extremely hot habitats, such as deserts and volcanoes.
  • Main Boiler Control Room

Sector 4 (AQA)

• This sector is used to research marine creatures. This was most likely inspired by Maridia, the marine biome on Zebes.

Sector 5 (ARC)

• This sector is used to research creatures living in particularly cold habitats.

Sector 6 (NOC)

• This sector is used to research nocturnal and cave-dwelling creatures.

Restricted Zone

• This facility is where the top-secret Metroid breeding project takes place.

Each main portion area has a color represented on the diagram seen during Navigation Room briefings. Each sector also has a color representing its overall theme, which can also be seen within the sector elevator or their respective main halls.
From top to bottom:

Area	Color
Operations Deck	White
Docking Bays	White
Habitation Deck	Unknown, as no Navigation Rooms exist in this area.
Main Deck	Dark Green/Turquoise
Sector 1	Yellow
Sector 2	Green
Sector 3	Red
Sector 4	Blue
Sector 5	Cyan
Sector 6	Violet
Reactor Silo	Dark Green/Turquoise
Restricted Zone	Gold. This area appears on the Navigation Room diagram once the area has been discovered and jettisoned.

While the Main Deck holds facilities related the station's operations and the living quarters for the scientists, Sector 1 represents the ideal Metroid breeding environment from SR388. Sectors 2 to 6 represent different environmental climates: desert/volcanic, forest/tropical, aquatic/seabed, ice/arctic, nocturnal/cave. Each of the six sectors contain two transport tubes/tunnels that connected to its neighboring sectors (displayed in the diagram).

The station is equipped with a self-destruct mechanism powerful enough to destroy an entire planet.

Biology

The B.S.L. station has many unique creatures captured from SR388 and Zebes and possibly other planets, as well as transferred specimens from the BOTTLE SHIP.

• Aqua Zebesian
• Arachnus
• Bull
• Choot
• Dachora
• Dessgeega
• Elephant Bird
• Etecoon
• Evir
• Fake tank
• Fune
• Gadora
• Genesis
• Geron
• Gerubus
• Geruta
• Gold Sciser
• Gold Space Pirate
• Green X
• Halzyn
• Hornoad
• Infant Metroid
• Kago
• Kihunter
• Menu
• Metroids
  • Infant Metroid
  • Metroid larva
  • Alpha Metroid
  • Gamma Metroid
  • Zeta Metroid
  • Omega Metroid
• Moto
• Namihe
• Neo-Ridley
• Nettori
• Nightmare
• Owtch
• Powamp
• Puyo
• Reo
• Ridley
• Ripper
• SA-X
• Samus Eater
• Samus Eater Bud
• Scientist
• Sciser
• Security Robot B.O.X.
• Serris
• Sidehopper
• Skultera
• Sova
• Waver
• X Parasite
  • Yellow X
  • Green X
  • Red X
  • Blue X
  • Core-X
    • Barrier Core-X
• Yameba
• Yard
• Zebesian
• Zeela
• Zero
• Zombie researcher
• Zozoro

During Fusion

X infestation

When Samus Aran is attacked by an X Parasite on SR388, she is transported to Galactic Federation HQ. There, large components of her Power Suit are surgically removed and transported to the research station, leaving her stripped of all of her upgrades except for the basic Power Beam, and creating the Fusion Suit. However, while in the Quarantine Bay, the infected components and upgrades of her Power Suit form together to create the SA-X. The SA-X uses a Power Bomb to escape the Quarantine Bay, releasing all the X the scientists have unwittingly brought onto the station in the process. As a result, every (non-Metroid) organism aboard the station is infected, save for a small group of Etecoons and Dachoras that happen to coincidentally be the very same group Samus rescued from the self-destructing planet Zebes.

Samus, having been provided with a new Starship and the Fusion Suit, is sent to investigate the explosion. She soon learns the fate of every living thing aboard the station and subsequently sets out to exterminate the X, even if it requires her to destroy the station and herself.

Metroid breeding program

As Samus explores the station, she comes across a Restricted Laboratory. Here, she learns that the Galactic Federation has been using the station for a secret Metroid breeding program. However, an SA-X, as the original has asexually reproduced into several copies, locks down the lab, perhaps accidentally, and causes it to self-destruct, ultimately destroying the program.

Destruction

Samus soon finds out that the Galactic Federation plans on using the X for military purposes. However, she is strongly against this, as she knows how dangerous they are. Her Starship's computer tries to stop Samus by locking her in a Navigation Room. Samus demands to be released, but the computer has its orders to keep her from destroying the station, so the Federation can arrive. When she mistakenly calls the computer Adam, her private name for the computer, it awakens to the fact that it is the real Adam Malkovich, Samus's late commanding officer. Adam agrees that the X are too dangerous, and he devises a plan to collide the station into SR388 using the station's propulsion system, killing all the X onboard the vessel and on the planet to rid the universe of their existence. Samus sets the station to crash into SR388. As Samus leaves the station after confronting both an SA-X and an Omega Metroid, it crashes into SR388, destroying the research station, the planet, and all X on both. The X are not rendered fully extinct by this, however, as Metroid Dread reveals that there are more of them contained on planet ZDR.

Official Data

Official Metroid Fusion website

BIOLOGIC SPACE LABS RESEARCH STATION

"The six-sector Biologic Space Labs research station was designed to hold specimens in self-sustaining ecosystems mimicking those of the organisms' native planets. Even extreme conditions, ranging from a planet's molten core to sub-arctic temperatures, can be replicated."

Metroid Fusion manual

BIOLOGIC SPACE LABS

"Metroid Fusion takes place aboard a gigantic space station, home to Biologic Space Labs research facilities. Here is a simple schematic of the station."

Metroid Fusion: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide

BIOLOGIC LABS RESEARCH STATION

"Every sector and deck of the research station serves a different function. Some sectors maintain the operation of the stations. Others mimic the ecosystems of nearby planets."

Trivia

• The B.S.L. station is the last of five space stations to be destroyed, the other four being the Frigate Orpheon, Oubliette, Ceres Space Colony, and BOTTLE SHIP.
• The original design of the B.S.L in the beta version of Metroid Fusion looks quite similar to the G.F.S. Olympus's design. By contrast, its final design resembles a more organic version of the BOTTLE SHIP, possibly hinting at a connection.
• Interestingly in the instruction manual of Metroid Fusion, the colors of some areas of the B.S.L. station do not match with what is seen in the in-game model. In the manual, Sector 3 is pink, Sector 4 is orange, Sector 6 is teal, the Reactor Silo is navy blue, and the Operations Deck is violet. The Habitation Deck is shown in orange, despite the lack of an area color in-game due to there being no Navigation Rooms present onboard the Habitation Deck.
• Oddly, although the Docking Bays appear to be in a higher elevation above the Main Deck area, Samus actually climbs upward from the Docking Bays into the Main Deck area.
  • It is unknown if the position of the Docking Bays on the diagram corresponds to the unused Docking Bays area, as the unused rooms appear on the same elevation plane as the Main Deck, with the Reactor Silo directly below both areas.

Gallery

A wallpaper with artwork of the station

Model and image of the Biologic Space Labs from the instruction manual.

Artwork and description from page 27 of the Japanese manual of Metroid Fusion.

Samus had just entered the station in her new Starship

The Restricted Lab falling off the station

The Restricted Lab falling into space

The Restricted Lab exploding

Samus setting the station to crash into SR388

The station crashing into SR388

The station entering SR388's atmosphere

The station exploding

Samus's Starship escapes the explosion

The image seen in the background of the main menu of Metroid Fusion, which displays parts of the overall Space Station, including (and possibly alluding to) Sector 1 (SRX).

Metroid Fusion Special Edition: Rebirth of Samus

References

Space Stations in the Metroid series
† denotes a destroyed station.
FS-176 system
Metroid | Sidehopper Station
Alimbic Cluster
Celestial Archives | Vesper Defense Outpost | Oubliette† | Head Shot | Outer Reach
Cosmos region A47
BOTTLE SHIP†
SR388's solar system
Biologic Space Laboratories research station†
Unknown location
Ceres Space Colony† | Junk Quixote | Medical Space Station | The Locker