Sam Ayou

Samantha Ayou, more commonly referred to as Sam, was a roboticist working for Alterra Corporation. She was also the sister of Robin Ayou.

Life Prior to Below Zero
Prior to her sister's arrival on 4546B, Sam worked at the Phi Robotics Center under the supervision of Zeta Landon. It was at this lab that she invented the Spy Pengling. Sam was known to frequently misuse her creations, having used them to survey the off-limits Frozen Leviathan research site, as well as spy on Marguerit Maida.

While working in Sector Zero, Sam began a relationship with Danielle Valenti. Due to the nature of Danielle's work, their relationship became shaky in the days leading up to Sam's death.

At an unknown point in time, Sam was demoted from her position and sent to work at Outpost Zero. The reason for her demotion is currently unknown.

Sam's Crusade
During her time on 4546B, Sam learned of the Frozen Leviathan's existence from Fred Lachance, who was the first to discover the creature and its bizarre skin condition. Sam would later learn from pressuring Danielle and Vinh that the creature was infected with Kharaa, and that Alterra was mutating it.

Not wanting the bacterium to fall into the wrong hands, Sam proposed that she and her fellow coworkers ought to do something about it, but ultimately no one would join her cause.

Sometime later, Sam would make the lone journey to the Frozen Leviathan research site, but not without alerting the resident security guard, Parvan. With both personnel in the cavern, Sam set off an explosion in an attempt to halt the sampling of Kharaa, resulting in a cave-in that would end up killing both her and Parvan.

Sam's death would be ruled as an accident arising from her own negligence in a notice addressed to her sister.

Trivia

 * Sam's initial surname, "Goodall", may be a reference to primatologist Jane Goodall, as Robin Goodall is a zoologist.
 * Sam Ayou was orginally named Sam Goodall in the first version of the story.