March 26th, 1984

I wake up in a dark room and I begin to suffocate. I toss and turn struggling for air and I eventually roll out of bed. I pull off my shirt and I suddenly feel a little better. I take my pants off and my strength returns to me. Skull Face then enters the room with a devious grin. As I open my mouth to ask what's going on, he points a pistol at me.

"Sorry for the scare, but I can't have you speaking right now," he said. "One word out of you and I'll put bullet in your throat."

I don't know what Skull Face is talking about but I know him well enough to know he wasn't bluffing.

"Now I'm sure you want to know what's going on," Skull Face said. "You see, after you failed to kill Big Boss, we recovered you when you were nothing more than a charred mess. You should be dead right now but you aren't. That's because, I revived you by having you undergo parasite therapy. The parasites in your skin healed your burns."

I looked over to my discarded clothes and, as if he read my mind Skull Face says, "You don't breathe like everyone else now. Thanks to the parasite therapy, you can now only breathe your skin and take in nutrients through photosynthesis."

I stare at my hands trying to grasp the fact I have parasites in me. I look back at Skull Face as he pulls the trigger of his pistol. Instinctively, I dodge the bullet with superhuman speed, much to my surprise.

"The parasites within you also give you new abilities too," he said. "You strength, speed and mobility has been enhanced. You can also camouflage yourself. Think of it as a form of invisibility. You also have a limited form of intangibility."

Skull Face puts his pistol away and walk towards me.

"Now, I'll tell you what you really want to know," Skull Face said. "The reason you can't speak is because I've also infected you with the English strain of vocal cord parasites."

I stares at Skull Face surprised as he continues, "They are parasites that are activated if they sense the carrier speak English. To make a long story short, you'll die if you speak English. And not just you anyone around you who speaks English will die. I like to think of an ace in the hole in case you fail to kill Big Boss again. Now, put on something you can breathe in and come outside."

Skull Face walks out of the room leaving me alone. Put on something I can breathe in? Is that possible? After finding something decent enough, I walk outside and noticed that we're at a power plant.

"Welcome to Afghanistan," Skull Face said. "From here on out you'll be known as Quiet."

I wonder how long it took for him to come up with that codename. Skull Face hands me a sniper rifle and says, "XOF has offered its services to the Soviets and they gladly accepted. But there are still a few who don't enjoy our presence. That's where you come in. It's your job to take care of that minority. Of course, we can't let it be known that you're part of XOF, so you'll be on your own. And don't worry about the fact that you don't have a spotter with you, the parasites will make up for that."

Skull Face walks away and as he leaves, he says, "I also heard Big Boss is in Afghanistan. Just thought I let you know."