And we're back… as always, Metal Gear and all of its characters belong to Konami. So… did you take my recommendation of reading Butterfly? If you did, then some things may come easier to you than to those who haven't. Anyway… 1st Chapter up.
Prepare to be confused.
Hint for this Chapter: Pay close attention to the context…you might be able to figure something out before it occurs.
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.:: CHAPTER ONE: Portraits in Memory ::.
Butterflies… So many butterflies. Taking flight on powdered wings. Released from a life of containment, they are free, nothing having a hold on them; nothing to tie them down to this world. A golden flutter, and they fly… far, far away.
Gone. Now they are all gone. They've disappeared somewhere, and… I don't think that they're coming back. They faded away. Now it's soon time… for us to fade as well.
***
.::East Hall::.
Snake swore. What was the deal with this place? No sentries? No surveillance cameras?
This was too easy. Something bad was definitely going down. It wasn't normal. After all, this was a base protecting one of the most dangerous Metal Gear units in the world. You would think that it would be heavily guarded.
Stupid to keep the unit here, Snake thought, This place is falling apart.
Going further down the corroded hallway, he could hear voices. Some whispering sounds of comfort, others shouting out in anger; either way, they were barely audible.
Snake's thoughts began to drift.
***
I wanted the world to change. I was stupid. The fact is, that when I wished that, the world was already changing. Slowly, but changing nonetheless. No one really seems to notice; little things like that.
The only thing is, the world wasn't changing in the ways that I wanted it to. Instead of getting better, it got worse. It seemed no one cared about my needs for a new world of love, affirmation, and so much more.
People are selfish.
(You shouldn't think about things like that.)
***
.::Bio Research Lab, North Wing::.
"Otacon, I've reached the lab… what do I do from here?" Snake asked over the CODEC.
"Look for the blueprints on the Metal Gear ROA prototype. Call me back when you find them."
"You got it."
Snake signed off of the CODEC and looked around the lab. It couldn't have possibly been in worse shape. The walls were caving in and several storage compartments had been knocked over. There were slashes in the lab chairs and papers were lying around everywhere… carelessness. Or was it? What had happened in here?
Snake turned a corner and got an unexpected surprise. It was a mauled corpse of something that might have once looked human. The limbs were twisted in a grotesque manner and the skin was taut against the bone that was left.
The face was… well, there really wasn't a face from what Snake could see. All that was visible were the dark eye sockets in the decaying skull. Blood was spattered on the walls surrounding the body that had dried long ago, along with what appeared to be brain matter. What the hell was going on in this place? It wasn't always like this… was it?
Suddenly, Snake heard footsteps. The next minute someone jumped on Snake's back and wrapped their arms around Snake's neck. This caught Snake off guard. The next thing was the person speaking in a cheery voice, " Can I help you look for something, Snake?"
This person's voice and body were small… and very light. Snake smiled and replied in a slightly different voice, "You are going to kill me one day… Mey."
The little girl smiled and jumped off Snake's back.
"Are you looking for these?" She said smiling again, pulling the prototype blueprints from behind her back. Snake turned around to look at her.
The girl let out a small gasp.
"You're not…" She stammered in a tiny voice, "You're not him! You're not Snake!"
"Huh?" Snake was confused. Who was this girl? When had she gotten here? Why did Snake feel different? Like coming out of a different world…
"Stay away from me!" She shouted, dropping the prints and running around the corner. Snake got up and looked around the corner, but it was too late. She had disappeared.
"What the hell…?" Snake said out loud questioningly, and crouched down to pick up the blueprints. Just then, Otacon called.
"Snake? Did you find the prints?"
"Uh…yeah… Sort of…"
"Snake? Is…is there anything wrong?"
"No…it's nothing…really. Stop worrying about me! I'm not a kid anymore!"
Otacon laughed a little. "Okay, Snake… Well… keep going."
"What's up next?"
"Well…for the moment just stay put. I'm sending some data to you via computer there-"
"That won't help me any." Snake broke in.
"Why not?"
"This lab is trashed. All of the computers are screwed up… if they aren't broken already…"
"Damn… well… study the prints and see if you can find a weak spot while I think of something…"
"Okay… but-" The connection began to dissolve into white noise. "Otacon? Otacon-?" *ffzt srrrzzt* "You… *fzzt snzt* you're the one, aren't you? *fzzt snrxx* Come on…*ssrrzzzzz ffpt* this way…" *fffzzt*
The transmition ended.
"Who…?" Snake questioned into a blank CODEC, "Was…that? That voice was familiar…somehow…"
Another call came in.
"Snake? Snake? Are you there?"
"Otacon…what happened?"
"I don't know…the transmition was cut short for some reason."
"Strange… I thought…that I heard a voice just now…"
"What?"
"Nothing."
"…?"
"I'll…get back to you…"
"Okay, Snake."
Snaked ended the transmition. That voice was…but it couldn't be…could it?
***
Why are we alive? We all die anyway. One way or another.
(Blood spatter.)
Whether it's through old age…
(A knife?)
suicide…
(or a gun?)
…or murder…
(No! Stay away!)
We all die somehow.
But we all come back at sometime, don't we…
Snake.
***
.::Bio Research Lab, North Wing::.
"Okay, Otacon. I'm here. Now what?"
"Look for the blueprints on the Metal Gear ROA unit."
"Alright. Where are they?"
"They should be in one of the desk drawers along the wall."
"Okay…"
Snake walked over to the collapsed cabinets and rummaged through the spilled papers.
"Otacon…they're not here."
"What? How could that be?"
"How the hell should I know?"
Snake stood up and turned a corner to find a mangled corpse.
"Uh… Otacon…"
To be continued…
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So… let's take a poll so far who have no clue what the hell is going on. LOL… that's just about everybody! Heh heh… my trick is to confuse… and it's working. Review please. (Remember no flaming… confusion is fine though!)
Until next time.
.::Tomoko::.
