Chapter Three

The other intruder

A middle age man sat in a swivel chair with his feet up on the console, holding a hot cup of coffee as he viewed the monitor above him. Pliskin's eyes followed the man's gaze toward the monitor mounted on the wall to his left, witnessing the footage Thompson and Benchoff had previously been discussing. Pliskin removed his M9 from under his coat and raised it up to the man's carotid artery, giving a quick squeeze of the trigger. Pliskin moved quickly, holstering his weapon while simultaneously catching the cup of coffee with his left hand on the cup's descent. Pliskin placed his right hand over the man's mouth for a brief moment in case he had a little consciousness left in him as the cup was placed on a nearby counter. A brief moment of shock flooded the man's face before every muscle in his body relaxed, and his arms swung as they fell from the chair's armrests. Pliskin turned back to view the monitor as the footage played, the camera angles changed making it obvious it was pre-recorded and edited for further study.

The footage showed a guard stationary in front of a pair of hanger doors. From what Pliskin could tell through the grainy footage, the door was made of steel and the camera faced the outside of a weather-warn brick building. A second guard came within view, casually making his way past the first before coming to a halt, turning back to face the first. The first then looked up and began to pull something small from inside his jacket pocket. Both guards met in the middle as the first lit a cigarette followed by the second, each taking a few drags before beginning to converse with one another. Suddenly both guards began scanning their surrounding area as if a noise could be heard, simultaneously tossing their cigarettes to the ground and readying their weapons; turning slightly to their left, they began firing toward something out of sight from the security camera. The firing became wild as their aim stretched across their line of vision; eventually coming to a halt as a third guard came running into view.

Once again each guard began scanning their surroundings when from above the surveillance camera a shadowy figure fell to the ground. Now within the cameras focus Pliskin was able to make out what appeared to be an armored soldier with a sword. In a diagonal motion the armored soldier sliced through the second guard the instant he touched the floor. The first guard stood to the armored soldiers left and received a kick to the temple as the armored soldier simultaneously thrust his sword to the right, piercing the third through the chest; all executed swiftly with great precision, well before any guard could get in a blow of their own. Now that all the guards had been eliminated, the armored soldier casually turned and walked toward the facilities entrance door. Reaching out for the handle, the armored soldier suddenly paused as two more guards approached within view, holding their guns to the armored soldier's back, as if to demand surrender. The armored soldier slowly turned to face them; there was yet another pause and Pliskin watched in anticipation when the guard closest to the armored soldier was suddenly pulled in to be used as a shield. The guard now hostage tried to break free, swinging elbows and kicks in a frantic attempt to loosen the armored soldier's grip. The guard's efforts were useless and the armored soldier reached out, seizing the man's weapon, letting out an array of fire upon to the guard's surrounding comrades. Bullets began to fly back and forth, one particular guard after being shot went down firing, and his bullets flew wildly hitting the camera multiple times sending it offline.

The footage switched to an internal camera set somewhere within the bases walls, this left Pliskin looking at an aftermath of a shootout, and from what he could tell there were five bodies that lay motionless on a grated surface with steam from all angles; more than likely the boiler room Pliskin though to himself. Four more soldiers entered the room, the first kneeling down to check their now deceased comrades for any sign of life. Once their deaths were confirmed they pressed on, presumably in the direction of the very same armored soldier seen in the previous footage. These men didn't look nor move like imposters, although their uniform was one he did not recognize, Pliskin knew they were the real deal. Pliskin continued to observe the monitor as the four soldiers on screen made their way out of sight; once again the footage changed to a secondary camera, this time overlooking a connecting hall with a door at the far end as it opened. The same four soldiers entered the hall cautiously making their way down with their weapons at the ready as they surveyed the area. Peering down their sights, each of the four soldiers were poised when all of a sudden the armored soldier, now covered head to toe in his enemies blood, casually stepped into view. The armored soldier had come from the right of the surveillance camera; firstly looking at an object he held in his hand before slowly turning his gaze up the elongated hall where four soldiers had now positioned themselves ready to exchange fire…

There was a knock from the other side of the surveillance room door; Pliskin averted his eyes as the door began to open. Reaching over to the unconscious guard, Pliskin pulled out the tranquilizer dart from his neck as he heard a man call out. "Donald are you in here?" The man who entered was average height, roughly a hundred-sixty pounds, with short salt-n-peppered hair, and wore thick framed bifocal glasses; Pliskin gave him a halfhearted smile, followed by an upward nod as to greet him. "What are you doing in here?" The man asked with curiously just before glancing over to see his friend slouched in a chair; looking back at Pliskin, he continued. "…and why is Donald like that?" his words filled with concern.

"No need to worry, he's just fallen asleep, that's all." Pliskin replied as he raised the coffee he'd previously caught, holding it chest high, adding "he asked me to grab him a cup of coffee because he was feeling tired but I guess I didn't make it back in time."

"Well it certainly looks that way." Pliskin joined the man in a slight chuckle before the man had yet another question. "So who are you? I don't mean to sound bad-mannered, it's just that I haven't seen you around before, what do you do?"

"Of course not…" Pliskin managed to recall what he had learned on the mission so far and put what he could together in the hopes of making it sound convincing "I was transferred over here from Botswana after they were having troubles in the Stem cell department".

"Oh so you're James. Funny, I pictured someone different. Well come with me then, I have a few people I'd like to introduce you to and some test data I'd like to run by you as well."

"Of course." Pliskin stepped forward with a plan in mind to eliminate the man quietly, unaware is lab coat had brushed over the chair's armrest revealing his holster and the handle of his gun. "You're no scientist." the man shouted turning for the door, ready to race down the hall yelling out to alert the enemy; but before he could clasp the handle Pliskin had released the cup, leaped forward and grabbed the man by his clothing. The cup exploded over the floor as the man was yanked backward, pulled in to the clutches of Pliskin. Fear quickly overcame the man causing him to panic; he began kicking and yelling, knocking off his own glasses in a desperate attempt to break free. "Quiet." Pliskin said as he put his arm around the man's neck and a hand over his mouth; this only caused him to become even more frantic. "I said quiet." Pliskin continued in an unruffled tone, whispering into the man's ear closest to him. "Calm down. I'll let you go once you stop trying to shout and break free." Pliskin's attempts to calm the man were no use, the man tried calling out through the small gaps of Pliskin's fingers as he scrapped and clawed at Pliskin's face. Pliskin became impatient as a nail dug deep into his lower eyelid; with one diagonal thrust of the man's head, all became still. The man buckled in Pliskin's arms as he proceeded to scan the room for a suitable place to hide the now lifeless body. To the right of the room stood two beaten lockers, the exposed metal had begun to rust, neither of them had a lock. Stuffing the body inside one of them as best he could Pliskin turned and stepped back to view the monitor. The armored soldier was now walking over four dead bodies toward the door at the end of the corridor, "How did he evade those four soldiers and all that gunfire?" Pliskin asked himself, realizing he was watching the same footage just before his interruption. Pliskin knelt down and punched Hal's frequency into his codec, "Hal do you read me?"

"I read you Pliskin, have you reached the northwest room?"

"No but I have something that should be of interest to you, video footage of a soldier fully decked out in body armor with a sword, much like that cyborg ninja you described once before."

"Are you sure?" Hal's tone seemed a little skeptic though he was much intrigued to hear more. "I'm sure" Pliskin responded, adding "He moved like nothing I've seen before, took out a fleet of soldiers with ease."

"Maybe so but that couldn't be the same person. Olga Gurlukovich was the one to don the exoskeleton and undertook the role of the ninja during the big shell incident." Pliskin was unsure of what to make of such a comment but pressed on with the conversation "Then who could it be?"

"Unsure but not Olga, She died saving the life of her child."

"Sunny!" Sunny was the name of Olga's child who was taken from her at birth by a secret organization known as The Patriots, this was right after she almost went down with a US marine occupied tanker. The very same tanker she and her Russian comrades had tried to hijack, resulting in a double cross that lead to the loss of many of Olga's friends and family, those of which included the life of her farther Sergei Gurlukovich. Sunny was eventually rescued from her captors thanks to Raiden, a former unaware Patriot operative who tracked her down with a promise to Olga that he, Hal, and his friends would care for her.

"Right so if not her then what do you suppose his agenda could be? Do you suppose he could be after the same thing we are?"

"No idea but I'll look into it. Is there a way for you to send me the footage?"

"Unfortunately not, I'll have to bring back the hardcopy with me"

"Alright then, just make it back it one piece." Hal signed off as Pliskin stood. Reaching over to the DVD player, pressing the eject button. Pliskin pulled out the disk and placed it in his pocket located over his left breast before buttoning up the lab coat. Pliskin took a quick glance around the room noticing a clipboard on the side cabinet; by picking it up he was hopeful to have no more unexpected exposure of his weapon, using it to cover the slight bulge. Cautiously opening the door ajar to peer out into the hall, Pliskin checked to see that the coast was clear. Once he was sure all was clear he pressed on through the door and began a steady pace down the hall, this time with all traces of his inventory concealed.

Three men turned the corner at the far end of the hall as Pliskin pressed on, straightening his posture, and keeping the clipboard covering the bulge just below his hip. Passing the three men, Pliskin received a halfhearted smile with a nod of acknowledgment that he returned in kind. He listened in to their conversation as the space between them grew; hearing only partial sentences as the voices began to dimmer. Pliskin overheard something mentioned about the three men entering a cold room, the study of some particular cells, scrubbing up before touching new pieces, and a failed test in the main lab. As Pliskin glanced backward he saw one man with a folder in his right hand pointing towards where they had just came from and his left arm outstretched ushering the other two down another hallway on their right, most likely heading for the central room. After making a left at the end of the corridor, Pliskin found himself staring down a wall where there was to be a door leading into the northwest room, but there was none. Pliskin muttered a semi-loud "DAMN!" then made a call his partner via codec, looking at his clipboard to give of the impression he may just be reading his notes. "What's up Pliskin?" Hal asked.

"The entry door to the northwest room is gone, they've plastered over it"

"Oh!" was all Hal could say being just as shocked as Pliskin "I guess these blueprints were made a while back."

"Or they've just recently made a new addition!" Pliskin looked to his left down the hall to witness a man in a lab coat step through an automatic door that seemed to now connect the northwest and west rooms. Seeing this Pliskin relayed the information back to his partner. "I see the entrance; it's been moved to the middle of the west and the northwest room."

"Well you'd best get in there now then, before your made."

"Right" The transmission ended as Pliskin hastily made his way toward the door.

Pliskin found himself standing in front of the entrance that led to the connecting hall between the two rooms, by placing his foot in the doorway to prevent the door from closing, but stopped to check the signs. There was a diamond shaped warning on the door that read "WARNING AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY" and a secondary warning "ALARM WILL BE IMMEDIATE" was written just below. Pliskin ceased from entering and withdrew his foot to allow for the door to close. Looking through the glass door Pliskin was able to spot a sensor mounted on the far left corner of the hallway; he knew things were never as easy as they appeared.

A call came in through Pliskin's codec, it was frequency 141.80, one he'd not come across before. He checked his surroundings to ensure the coast was clear, stepped away from the door, and with his free hand placed it over his ear to answer the call. "Halt Pliskin… DO NOT step through that door. That room is equipped with two thermal sensors mounted on each corner, both on the left side wall. Only authorized personnel equipped with a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chip are able to pass through without sounding the alarm." Pliskin was unsure exactly who it was he was talking to but felt it could not hurt to hear him out, and that he may hold some vital information; he pressed on with the conversation. "How do you know all this?"

"That's not important right now."

"Who is this?" Pliskin began to feel as if his leg was being pulled "You're not using burst transmission."

"Call me, Mr. X."

"From the big shell incident?"

"Fine, the Ripper."

"The Ripper? You're not very good with codenames are you! Can I trust you?"

"I'm neither enemy nor friend, just someone whose current interests has intertwined with you and your group". Not fully understanding what the stranger meant by his comment Pliskin allowed him to continue. "Pliskin, you need to gain access through that hall, but first you need to find some way to conceal your body temperature from the thermal sensors. Is there something, somewhere within that facility you can possibly use? Perhaps something that may be of some use to you?"

"I don't really know the layout of this place," just then Pliskin recalled the three scientists who were making their way to the cold room, "wait… I believe I know of a room."

"That's all I can do for now, you're on your own from here on out"

"NO WAIT!" The transmission ended and Pliskin was left curious and disgruntled as he instantly opened up another channel to HQ. "Hal I just got a call from some unknown character, calling himself The Ripper."

"I know Pliskin. I heard it all."

"Who do you suppose it could be and how'd he get this number?"

"I have no idea. This is a secure line, only those closely involved in this mission have access to your frequency."

"He mentioned something about a RFID chip to pass through the hallway on the other side of this door I'm standing in front of. He also told me the room's equipped with thermal sensors."

"Well I say we should trust him for now, being as he seems to know more about the recent layout of things. How, I don't know but as for the information he gave you, let me patch you through to a friend of mine, she'll know more about it than I do."

"Friend?" There was no reply from Hal; instead a voice of a young woman came through, the sound was static as Hal had to contact her by phone rather than patching her through on codec. "Hey Otacon it's good to hear from you."

"OTACON!" Pliskin hadn't heard anybody call Hal by that name before, Hal responded, a little embarrassed. "Uh yes, that's the alias I've used for myself since Shadow Moses. I had used another alias to get onboard the seals team 10 chopper, and later when you joined us onboard the Nomad I introduced myself using my real name. I guess I just never mentioned it to you because it was nice to hear my real name for a change"

"Oh!"

"Who's that?" Asked the young woman, Hal again made a quick response. "Yes as I was saying…" The two became silent to hear Hal speak "Pliskin meet Mei Ling. She was a huge help to Snake during the Shadow Moses incident 6 years ago. Mei Ling this is Curtis Iroquois Pliskin, he too helped us a few years ago with the Big Shell incident. Although he too wasn't there in person, He did allow for Snake to use his name, rank and position as an alias, as well as pulling some strings to get me on board the Seals team 10 Chopper, alongside world renowned bomb disposal man Peter Stillman. Shortly thereafter he left his newly found position to get back in the field by joining us onboard the Nomad". The Nomad was the name given to a C-17 Globemaster lll, it was Philanthropy's Head Quarters where they based all of their operations. Now that the three were formally introduced, Mei Ling proceeded with the conversation by moving it between herself and Pliskin. "Hi Curtis, it's a pleasure to speak with you. So what can I do for you both?"

"Same to you Mei Ling." there was a slight pause as Pliskin wondered if the face behind the call was equally as cute as the voice. "What can you tell me about RFID chips?"

"Put simply RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and generally they are used in a form of a card but there are other ways as well. The chip itself carries information; that information is relayed to a main computer which is then used to carry out all its functions. Whether it be to seal a security door behind personnel or to turn on and off lights as someone walks into a room. The information that is passed can vary from things like who that person is, their appearance, last time they were there, Their position within that particular branch and so forth. It might be possible for you to take someone's RFID chip if it's a loose object such as a card or ID badge but I can't say for sure it will work."

"Why's that?"

"Most RFID chips now come with a sensory device that allows the chip to stop functioning once they're separated from each other. This usually occurs after a certain distance or period of time."

"Right Got it."

"Well I hope I've been of some help to you two, and Otacon…" Mei Ling paused to ensure Hal was listening "Keep in touch more ok."

"Will do Mei Ling and thanks again." The phone hung up and Hal continued. "I believe I have an idea on how to get you through that hallway. If you had a cardboard box…" Pliskin immediately interrupted. "HAL that's ridiculous. Now if you have any other sane suggestions then I'm all ears" Hal thought for a moment when a second idea suddenly hit him, "You're still wearing that lab coat correct, that should be large enough to conceal your whole body", Pliskin had in mind his assumption of Hal's plan, "If you're suggesting I just waltz on through under my lab coat…"

"No I'm not, but this isn't a story in a book, there's not cool Hollywood scripted way to get through there. This is a stealth mission and I'm sorry but you'll have to use what you can. Is there somewhere you can soak and freeze it? If so then do so and I'll worry about the rest"

"The rest?"

"I'm going to hack into the system's controls, close the vents in that corridor and raise the temperature to Ninety-eight point Six degrees. The system won't be able to pick up the difference as long as your body temperature stays under Ninety-eight point Six."

"Then why would I need to freeze the coat?"

"Just because I raise the temperature, that doesn't make it a sure thing. If you move too suddenly and your core temperature rises, the sensor will pick up on your presence and alert every guard in the facility."

"Oh I got it. So the cover is basically for me to be able to move faster enough without being picked up on the thermal sensors."

"Exactly. Contact me as soon as you're done." Pliskin removed his hand from his ear, he was positive the room the three scientists were heading to earlier would have what he needed. Conveniently, the central room was located behind where he stood, with the entrance door positioned just a few paces to his left. Knowing full well the three men could still be inside Pliskin made sure the clipboard wasn't in his trigger hand before turning the door's handle.