The Other Side of Sanity
by H7
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Metal Gear Solid series, nor am I making any money off of this story. This disclaimer shall last through-out the entire story, so if there is any confusion over this matter, please come back and read this. I shall only post the disclaimer on this one chapter, but it still holds true for the entire fic.
Warnings : In later chapters, extreme graphical violence. Bad language, and possibly some trippy mind problems (insanity). Character death and OCs. Angst. Nanomachine communication is represented by "Blah", and flashbacks are "Blah".
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"Otacon, you read me?"
"Yeah, Snake, what's up?"
"Doing fine here. . .Guards are few, and the ones that are here are exhausted. Dozing off every couple minutes."
"Thats, uh, good, right?"
Snake slipped around the corner, keeping his body as flat against the wall as was humanly possible. A quick glance proved that there was no one at the far end, and a few second wait showed that no one was coming, either. With his movements light and quick, Snake ran quietly to the other end of the hall, again flattening himself, and peering about for a look.
". . .Yes, it is, Otacon. . .But this is too easy. . ."
"Are you suggesting that this is a trap?"
"Well, we have fallen for them before."
". . .If they were trying to set us up, then why have the guards at all? They can't guarantee them falling asleep, the guards wouldn't agree to that. You can't just force someone to-"
"Sleeping pills of some sort? There's probably a place to get a drink around here. . .Maybe the drinks are spiked?"
"Snake, your paranoid. This place. . .Probably just doesn't have enough people, and so they have to take longer shifts."
"I'm telling you, Otacon, I don't like this. . .How's it on your end?"
". . .Seems to be fine. They seem to think that I'm just some low ranked scientist. . .They've got me doing nothing, really. . .Whatever it is they're doing here, they are not letting me see it. . .Not yet, anyway."
"So what are you doing, then?"
"I'm, uh. . .having coffee. . ." Hal sounded almost sheepish.
Snake rolled his eyes, being careful to at least keep half his mind on the mission, "Yeah, I'm real glad I brought you along."
"Hey, I can be of some use. . .After all, I can help you with any electronically locked doors, and also, I managed to get a good tour."
"Then have you seen-?"
"No. . .They only showed me the first two floors, not the basement. . .And whatever's going on is happening down there."
"So what's this place look like? Big, small?"
"Well, actually, this place is tiny. I don't know why it is so small, really - maybe it helps hide it from any satellite photos. Makes it less conspicuous."
"Maybe. . .So, where are you?"
"Well, have you gone down on to the second floor yet?"
"No, but I'm at the stairs now."
"Okay, once you reach the bottom, head straight down the hall, and half way down you will see a turn. Take it. Just keep heading that way, and you'll come across me."
"This place is small, isn't it?"
"Yeah. . .When you get over here, I've got something to show you, Snake."
"Alright, see you there." Snake ended his part of the conversation at that, returning his mind toward evasion. Not that he really needed to concentrate all that hard - there was hardly anyone here! The facility was not only small, but understaffed. The security that was around, however, was exhausted, and more than often enough, he found most threats asleep at their post.
He made his way down the stairs - which were too loud for his liking. The metal clanged loudly whenever he stepped - and again peered around the corner of the hall. At the far end, there was a guard, but Snake could see the yawn and the swipe at the eyes. . .
He wouldn't be hard to take out.
Snake leaned back, and slipped into a small alcove in the hall - there were so many in this place. . .It was almost as if they wanted someone to hide in there - and waited. The guard would soon come this way, and then he could jump the guy. If the guard did not turn the corner and head toward the stairs, Snake would just have to come up behind him, instead.
The air around him was hotter than in was out in the open hallway, and at first alarm bells went off in his head to warn him about a possible trap, but the heat could be due to the pipes he was almost leaning on. . .Snake squirmed about and tried to keep his mind on business.
He and Otacon had snuck into this place, Hal disguising himself as a computers technician who was only recently recruited, and Snake, of course, by rather covert methods. This base they were in was hidden deep in the continent of South America, on government protected land. The base itself was built entirely underground (the entrance looked like nothing more than an abandoned old shack).
It was three years since the incident at the Big Shell, and although Snake was looking forward to finding Ocelot and the RAY (and maybe squeezing some answers from the old man) neither he, nor Hal, could manage to find any sign of the Metal Gear. It was as though the thing had just vanished off the planet. . .There were no rumors about its whereabouts, no system that Hal could find that told anything about it.
So, they had been at a standstill. . .
Until only a few weeks before hand, when Rose (Raiden's wife - or, at least she was, the last time they saw him) walked up to them and told them her plight.
Raiden was missing. . .Had been missing, for almost three years.
Of course, being practical (as well as constantly suspicious) Snake asked Rose why it had taken so long for her to get into contact with them.
"I couldn't find you. . .It took me this long to track you down."
For some reason, that didn't sit well with Snake - personally, he had never trusted the woman, and had also advised Raiden not to do so, either - but he had nothing to prove her wrong. It was a legitimate reply, as he and Hal had gone through a lot of trouble just to cover their tracks. It wasn't easy as before, when the whole world thought Solid Snake was dead.
Things were a lot more complicated now.
Rose had told them that about two months after Big Shell - only a week or so after the last time they saw Raiden - he just suddenly didn't come home one day. At first, Rose said, she dismissed this as just Raiden doing what he wanted to (apparently the boy had some very weird characteristics).
After a week, he still hadn't returned. Rose knew then that there was something wrong. She was sure that it wasn't just some accident, as she would have found out - surely, someone would have told her - no, instead she had a different theory.
The Patriots.
Personally, Snake was simply annoyed with them - they were at the end of every turn, and there were never enough answers - but he wasn't quite like Solidus was. He didn't like the Patriots, but he wasn't actively out for their destruction. . .He'd kill them, if he got the chance, but he wasn't willing to risk everything on it. . .
Raiden wasn't a big fan of theirs, though. . .
They didn't seem to care for him much, either.
It didn't take much to track this place down, actually - yet another thing Snake had claimed that was 'too easy' - they simply found one of the guys who had ambushed Raiden (apparently, it was quite a fight to take him down) and forced him to talk. The man didn't delve into details, not really, but told Snake who he delivered the unconscious Raiden to.
The trail lead them all the way here.
When Rose walked up to Snake that day, and told him her problems, he was tempted to just blow off her offer. Snake wasn't much of a person in the way of 'friends', and it took the extensive lectures of Otacon to make him change his mind.
We still don't know exactly what they do here, Snake thought almost absently, Why would they want Raiden, anyway? From what I saw, he was good - but not that good. Definitely not good enough for them to ship him away to South America. . .Besides, the Patriots don't care about individual warriors.
Footsteps approached, and Snake pushed back harder against the wall, ignoring the pipes that dug in painfully. The noise increased, stopped, and began again, slowly fading out. Snake knew that this meant that the guard was going the opposite way again, and so used the opportunity. Moving as quickly as he could while trying to remain quiet, he soon caught up with the guard.
The guard was like most of them in this place - average build, around five ten, dressed in a dark navy blue long sleeved shirt (Snake had not really taken the time to see if there was any importance with these uniforms, all he knew was that they were not military) and black pants. No headgear was worn and so the face was completely uncovered, open to attack. Vulnerable.
All it took was one good swipe with the butt of his gun to knock the unsuspecting guard out. Snake watched as the man fell, and nodded once to himself. He reached down, wrapping his arms around the guard's torso and hoisted him up somewhat, so that he could at least maneuver the guard around better.
One of those small alcoves would have served him better, but Snake instead slumped him against the wall - to anyone, it would appear the guard simply fell asleep. A grim smile briefly found its way to Snake's face, but it was soon eclipsed by too much thought on the man's part.
Snake made it to the half way point of the hallway and peered around the corner, glancing behind himself quickly.
It wouldn't do to be followed.
The connected hallway was much shorter than the last, and there was a guard at the end of it, sleeping. The guard's gun was lax in his hands, aimed almost completely at his feet. Snake, not wanting to chance it, decided to get his first good look at a soldier through his scope.
One hand went to his ear, as he activated his nanomachines.
"Otacon, do you hear me?"
"Yeah, what is it, Snake?"
"I'm just getting a good look at one of our guard friends here."
"Well?"
"Hmm. . .They're wearing darker clothing - navy shirts and black pants - but I can't see anything military on them. . .Except their guns. . .Automatic assault rifles, but not any type I've ever seen before. . .They resemble the AK47-Us like we saw at the Big Shell, but they aren't the same thing."
"I haven't seen much, either - no badges or anything on anyone."
"The guards here blend in fairly well, since this place is just filled with dark corners. If they don't fit in with the shadows, then they match the metallic scenery. What they're wearing is not meant to be camouflage, at least, I don't think so."
"Why do you say that?"
"Cameo tends to have splotches of different shades of the same color. This breaks up the human shape, and makes it harder to see. These uniforms are all the same shade throughout."
"I see. . ."
"Any news on Raiden?"
"No. . .And I still can't find out what they are doing here. . ."
"Well, you are in the computer lab, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but its almost like these are, well. . ."
"What?"
"Dummy computers. The information on them seems to almost be useless. Its all random too - the subjects have nothing to do which each other, and most of it is incorrect, anyway."
"Any examples that you would care to share with me?"
"Not really. . .Nothing offhand, anyway. Oh! Here's one. Like I said, most of it seems to be wrong. . .In here, it does list the event of the Big Shell sinking, but the year is way off."
The whole event involving the sinking of the Big Shell and Metal Gear Arsenal crashing into Manhattan was surprisingly covered up. Snake had believed that even the Patriots would have trouble avoiding that particular issue, yet it went off without even so much as a hitch. The people believed that terrorists took over the Big Shell, and then sunk it. That much was true, but Arsenal was explained away as a weapon of the terrorists - a giant Metal Gear.
Ever since the Shadow Moses incident, people knew what a Metal Gear was. While this was originally a thorn in the side of the Patriots, they now used it to their advantage.
The people feared the idea of a enemy having a Metal Gear, and they demanded that the government build one to counter such things.
More money could be placed into weapons development, and they had the people's support.
Snake did not know much, but he did know that not all this money went toward the making of Metal Gears.
Hal had traced the funds to this facility. Whatever was going on in here was costing the United States government millions.
So why was it in South America?
"So when does it say the Big Shell sank?"
". . .According to this, ten years ago."
There was no shock in Snake's voice as he replied, only sarcasm, "Can these people not count?"
"I don't know. . ."
"Listen, I'm gonna go now, Hal, I'll be there in a minute."
The guard was still sound asleep, somehow managing to remain on his feet ever as he snored. It was no difficulty to sneak up (though Snake still made sure to walk quietly) to the man. At first he thought about knocking the guard out, but in the end opted to just walk around him.
The hallway took a sudden turn right, and Snake followed without question. If Otacon gave him the right directions, then he should almost be at his destination. He could see a door at the far end, but it appeared to be of almost no importance. It was not labeled, and almost looked old, unused.
It slid open as he approached (he hated automatic doors. The sudden movement was just nerve wrecking on missions like this) and he raised a hand to shield his eyes. Unlike every other part of this facility (which was a rather monochrome grey), this place was a blinding white, coupled with bright lights that shone down coldly.
A strange condescending feeling came from the room.
Snake shook his head free from that thought, and spotted Hal down at the far side. Between the two of them were several large rows of computer terminals. He might not have known a lot about computers, but even Snake realized that there was some serious technology in this room alone.
On the opposite side, behind Hal, there was another door that seemed to lead to another similar room.
Hal looked up at him from where he was hunched over a keyboard (he was standing up, as strangely enough, there were no chairs nearby). A smile lit up his grim face, and he motioned for Snake to come over to him with the wave of a hand.
"Snake! I think I found something!"
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A/N : There you go. The first chapter. I don't know when I'll have the next one up, but hopefully soon. Maybe late next week, if all goes well. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read, and I would appreciate any questions/comments/reviews.
