The Kid

A brightly lit corridor, full of activity, blindingly white; white walls, white uniforms, white shoes, white sheets. It was the brilliant smear of ruby that pulled Snake back into reality - a victim of a misplaced ambition to become a bullfighter being wheeled by on a gurney, surrounded by a throng of nurses and med students. The doctors were busy playing poker in the staff lounge. Snake, of course, was blissfully unaware of this rather alarming fact, as he clung to the window ledge, freezing rain slapping his knuckles. He glanced down at the seventy-foot drop.

"Otacon, do you read me?" Silence. Snake tried again. "Otacon, come in!" A faint crackle over the codec, nothing else. "DAMN IT, OTACON! Turn of your...cartoons ...and listen to me! We're on a fucking mission here!"

"Sorry, Snake," came the meek response. "I just got the special edition and...uh...multi...tasking?" After a decidedly ominous silence, Otacon sighed. "Right, Snake, we're on schedule – run into difficulties?"

"Had I run into difficulties, Otacon, I doubt you'd have even noticed the gunfire and explosions that usually come with, ah, difficulties..."

"Sorry,"

"Here I am, hanging from a fucking skyscraper in the dark, and you, you're-"

"I didn't mean –"

"Just tell me where to go."

"Ah, right, Snake, fifteen feet to the left and you should be looking into the pediatrics centre. No, no, the other left. I mean, my left. Any luck?"

"I'm not seeing any babies, Otacon."

"You're not seeing any babies. Well. There are several possible explanations for that phenomenon. One, maybe the Patriots have found out about our mission, and have moved the entire hospital. Two, maybe I accidentally spent the last three months looking up maps of the wrong building. Three – "

"Very funny, Otacon. Do you know how cold it is out here? My balls are fucking shriveled."

"Okay, okay, the kid we're looking for should be a toddler by now."

"Like, a small child?"

"Yes, like a small child, Snake."

"I see small children..."

"That's right,"

"Everywhere..."

"Well,"

"Which one is it?"

"Third bed to the right. No, not that way. This new visuals system is screwing me up..."

A shower of glass beads cascaded over Snake's head as the safety glass windows fell prey to the warrior's iron fist. Swinging over the ledge, Snake landed lightly in the darkened sleeping ward; cherub like faces dozed peacefully on feathery pillows. He took out his SOCOM.

"Snake!"

"My bad," he muttered, and switched it for his M-9. He began creeping cautiously towards the cot in question.

"OK, I think, Snake, that it would be better, you know, if you refrained from tranquilizing the kid. Got me?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but it occurred to me that you might throw a fit if I put a real bullet between the eyes of one of those cute hospital nurses....hmm?"

"Are you going to wait until it wakes up and starts shrieking?"

"Bit behind, aren't we, Otacon? I'm in the emergency stairwell. Kid's fast asleep." The dim red lights in the stairwell cast odd shadows on the floor. The child, wrapped in a thin pink blanket, sighed. Snake stopped to stare at it intently. Witnessing no more suspicious behavior, he continued. And then paused. A curl of smoke drifted up from below, and inching forward, Snake could see the profile of a young male, hunched over a glowing cigarette. In a moment the hapless med student, who had been taking a break from the hectic routine of hospital work, was crumpled on the ground. Snake stepped over him. Further down, he found an old Maxim glossy. Apparently the stairwell was a popular place for these harried apprentices to relax. Finally, at the ground level, Snake checked the door to make sure it was properly disconnected from the alarm system, and then slipped out into the stormy night.

Otacon was waiting in the customary unmarked van. "Well, that was pretty easy," he said cheerfully, with a curious glance at 'the kid'.

"Easy for you to say," the seasoned fighter grumbled, shoving the child, who had slept obliviously through the entire ordeal, into Otacon's arms.

"Aww, he's a cute little guy, isn't he!" It immediately began to wail.

"Nice, Otacon."

END CHAPTER 1