Sunny, in stark contrast to her earlier mature promises of vengeance, lay asleep in a bunk built into the wall of the osprey. She had kept up her stare and thought for almost an hour, which surprised Otacon. She was only a child, but the stress of the impending mission must have forced her into maturity staggeringly quickly. This sudden maturity reminded Otacon in a disturbing way of Snake's accelerated aging. Maybe she would be Snake's equal someday…

Otacon brought the osprey into vertical landing mode, having reached Shadow Moses once again. He brought the propellers to a full stop, and swiveled around in his seat. Sunny still lay asleep in her bunk. Otacon stood up, and walked over to wake her. As he reached out to wake her with a gentle nudge, Sunny suddenly rolled over, aiming down the sights of the Mk II pistol right at Otacon's chest.

"Sunny, what are you doing?"

"Oh … sorry. I was dreaming. You surprised me, Uncle Hal."

"That's ok, Sunny. You … still have the safety on."

"I was afraid to sleep without the safety on."

"That's fine. Here, take this."

"What's in the box, Uncle Hal?"

"Just some food. It's ready to eat, so dig in. When you're done, we'll begin the mission."

Sunny ate the Ration quickly, tearing through every item hungrily. This made Otacon chuckle to himself: 'These rations are designed diversely for soldiers' complete nutrition, but they're always picky eaters. They throw out the things they don't like. In this way at least, Sunny is superior to your average soldier.'

Once she had finished eating, Sunny re-equipped her command vest and weapons. Otacon made final adjustments and booted up the Mk IV. It stretched and camouflaged itself, taking its place behind Sunny as she disembarked the osprey for the Shadow Moses hangar. Otacon's voice, sans high frequency tones, called out.

"Sunny! Turn around. I've got something for you." Sunny spun about, and saw the Mk IV standing there, with a deep blue bandana wrapped around the screen. "Sunny, when Snake promised to never fight again, he gave me this. He told me to give it to you, to apologize for not being able to see you again. Take it, put it on if you like."

Sunny took up her new token of Snake's memory, and tied it tight across her pale forehead.

"It smells… like Snake…"

She looked like Snake more than ever: dark blue OctoCamo, bandana blowing in the snowy wind, look of total resolve. She crouched down and hugged the Mk IV, ruining and accenting the moment with her remaining innocence: "Thanks, Uncle Hal!"

Sunny, remembering the mission at hand, turned ran quickly through the blizzard into the cracked hangar door. Sunny strafed to one side and crouched by a crate, waiting for Otacon's instructions.

"There shouldn't be any more enemies in here, but Campbell may have anticipated us and had his men set up traps. Use the Infrared Night Vision on the Solid Eye to make sure."

"I don't see anything in this room. Which door are we using?"

"Go up the stairs to your left and head for the elevator door. I'll try to reactivate back-up power."

After a minute or so the area around the elevator became saturated with a low hum, and the controls to the right of the door glowed faintly. Sunny heard the elevator creak as it ascended from the basement levels, and opened to meet her. She stepped inside, and the Mk IV pushed the B2 button. The doors closed and brighter lights illuminated the elevator cab. Sunny was surprised to see deep gashes and pits in the floor.

"Don't worry, Sunny," assured the Mk IV. "When Snake was here last, a Gekko used this elevator to ambush us while I was unlocking the next door. They should all have been de-activated when the Patriot system fell through, so don't worry about that."

"Oh, A-Alright…"

The elevator reached B2, and opened to reveal a long, metallic hallway. Sunny crept through, Operator held close by her right ear, though only out of extra caution. Otacon had reassured her no enemies would attack; any she did see would be useless junk without the System or PMC's controlling them. She rounded a corner, and could barely suppress her cry as she saw a Gekko splayed out on the floor. Otacon told her this Gekko had been shocked to death by the floor current last time, but Sunny still quivered as she climbed over the things oddly soft, flesh-like legs into Otacon's office.

"Ok, Sunny. Do you see my desk? It should be right under some Sci-Fi anime posters."

"Yes. Is the file in your desk, or on your computer?"

"Believe it or not, It's an old typed text document in the left desk drawer. Look for 'C,' then find 'Campbell.'"

"Got it. Should I read it to you now?"

"No time, Sunny. I'm picking up radar signatures coming our way fast. Remember when I thought Campbell might have come to secure the place with traps? I think we may have beaten him to it."

"So what should I do?"

"You need to get back topside fast, before they get here. Put the file in the back pocket of the command vest, and bring it out of there. Unfortunately, I need to move the osprey out to a snowfield to the southeast of here. It's where I dropped Snake off last time. I'll mark it on your map, but hurry, ok?"

"Roger."

Otacon terminated his transmission, and started the osprey's take-off. His mind did a small double-take: "Did she say 'roger?" Sunny bolted out of the office, vaulted over the Gekko in one bound, and boarded the Elevator. Otacon warned her to acquire the color of the warehouse wall when she got out; Campbell's men might be waiting for her. Sunny drew the Operator, then rethought and drew the Mk II pistol instead. She wasn't about to kill again; anesthesia would be good enough for now. She exited the elevator at ground level, and pressed her back to the wall, crouching low. She saw below a small contingent of enemy soldiers. They reminded Sunny of the frog soldier figure Snake had given her, except these looked masculine.

Then, from behind a stack of crates, and well protected by his squad, emerged the familiar face of Colonel Campbell. He had aged rather badly, and wore a thick parka, but his image was unmistakable. That was the face Sunny raged against in her thoughts. She quickly called Otacon via codec, being out of earshot.

"Uncle Hal, I see him."

"It's Campbell alright. Just be -- Sunny, what are you doing!?"

"I'm completing the mission," she whispered, with the Operator drawn and well aimed at Campbell's head.

"If you shoot, it doesn't matter how suppressed the Operator is. Those soldiers will find you, and they will kill you. Besides, our mission is gather information only, do you understand?"

"But it would be so easy!"

"Sneak around the ramp, and exit the hangar while avoiding any contact with the enemy, ok?"

"Alright."

Sunny holstered the Operator, and edged around to the edge of the hangar door. Otacon warned her that she must wait for the exact moment, because she was totally visible when crossing from the dark hangar to the bright snow. She waited, completely still, as Campbell told his guard about Snake's maneuvers through the area earlier:

"…So basically, he was running around these crates again and again, trying to distract the Gekko while this little defenseless robot picked the lock on the door over there. He moved pretty well for a burnt out old man."

Sunny waited until the enemy was climbing the stairs to the elevator, then performed an amazing half SWAT-turn to dive roll maneuver, escaping flawlessly. Otacon, waiting at the osprey's helm with his laptop, was rightly wowed. 'She must have seen that in one of my anime,' he laughed to himself.

Running full steam through the blizzard, Sunny crossed the side of the heliport, turned left, and came around a small cliff face to an open field, where Otacon waited in the open back. She ran up into his arms as she had the last time, and after a minute, Otacon moved back into the craft to take off once again.

"Where are we going, Uncle Hal?"

"We're going to find someone who knew Snake from the old days."

"Who's that?"

"Meryl. Meryl Silverburgh."