"...I thought things were going to get rough. Like, riots or something. Instead, all that ruckus was the men and women voicing their support for the Boss," Spike finished, shrugging with a smirk. "In hindsight, I should've seen it coming."
Ocelot leaned against a nearby tree. "Meaning?"
Spike shook his head before taking a gulp from the water bottle he held. "We're Dogs. It's only natural we're loyal."
"Cheesy bastards too, looks like," Ocelot said.
Spike chuckled low. "No, that's probably just me."
Revolver Ocelot knew far more than he was letting on. Spike could tell that much. He'd found Ocelot's return to Mother Base surprising, what with the timing, but that was probably it. The Russian was known for never making sloppy moves.
Reemerging at the most suspect of times, should he be involved with any duplicity, was far beneath Revolver Ocelot, espionage extraordinaire. Such a move would ironically throw any suspicions off him; in a sense, it could very well be reverse psychology. At least, that was Spike's assumption.
Plus, if someone was drawing heat right now, it was Paz.
Spike couldn't go around saying "Hey, Paz disappeared without a trace because she's a ghost or something. She's actually still around!" He had a reputation for being eccentric already, he didn't need to add 'crazy' to the mix.
"Maybe it isn't, kid," Kaz chortled, gazing at the two boys playing with their soon-to-be parents in the pristine lake, splashing water at each other. "Things are changing around here, but I can't say I mind."
Their wedding day was drawing near, so the order for the cease of all combat operations had been issued by Snake. He wanted all of those under him to be present, he'd said.
Spike wondered how much of that he could take at face value, and how much it was because of a man who had once sworn to never take life reemerging from the depths of Snake's psyche.
They'd decided to take advantage of the peaceful time and take some time to unwind, as well as show the kids a good time outside Mother Base for once. Spike had been asked to tag along, no doubt due to Tretij's insistence. Eli, for his part, silently accepted his presence, even if he was probably not too thrilled.
He had to be a little sad about the whole state of affairs with Paz, Spike thought. Maybe he'd have a talk with the boy regarding the woman later, but for now, he'd leave the child enjoy himself.
The bliss of no longer being truly alone in the world probably trumped over any melancholy within him.
"It's almost unreal, isn't it?" Kaz said, gazing at the happy little family.
Spike was about to open his mouth to reply, but ultimately decided against it.
Ocelot, for his part, said nothing. Instead, he slid down the tree trunk until he was sitting in the shade of the branches and leaves overhead, closing his eyes.
"...I wonder how long it'll last," Kaz added. "This peace."
"Not long," Ocelot answered, and a chill ran down Spike's spine.
Revolver Ocelot knew far more than he was letting on. Spike could tell that much, but...what exactly did he know? More than what Spike could figure out by himself. That much was certain.
"Something's happening." Kaz's voice broke him from his musings, stern urgency in his voice.
"Did you just jinx u-" Spike immediately stopped himself and dug into his pocket for his iDroid. "I'm. I'm calling Pequod."
For some reason, Quiet had doubled over her stomach, face contorted in agony.
There was something else. Ocelot's eyes, now open, were misty.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Spike slammed the Russian spymaster against the steel wall, gripping his collar. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"
Kaz, expression grim, said nothing as the young man violently shook Ocelot. He, too, wanted answers, and whatever disposition he might've had to come to terms with the gunslinger had all but vanished.
"...I didn't do anything." Ocelot answered.
"Don't give me that shit. We all saw what happened back there. WHAT DID YOU DO TO QUIET?!"
"...She's unharmed," Ocelot replied despondent, offering no resistance. Spike released the grasp he had on his clothing, and Ocelot slid down the wall like a rag doll.
"You better give me an explanation right now," Spike spat, venom dripping from his words.
"...Time's up. It's coming undone. I didn't think it'd hurt this much. But it does. I must've...grown fond of you people, too. Or maybe seeing Liquid and Mantis walk a different path made me realize just how wrong I'd been."
"Stop rambling!" Kaz finally interjected. "Who the hell are Liquid and Mantis?!"
"...Why don't you ask Paz, Spike?" Ocelot answered.
Spike threw a punch. It hit the wall that had been right behind Ocelot. There was no Ocelot there, no Ocelot to be found anywhere.
"What the fuck...WHAT THE FUCK?!" Spike screamed in panic. "KAZ, WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Kazuhira Miller said nothing.
"KAZ, HE JUST VANISHED INTO THIN AIR!"
Still nothing.
"KAZ, SAY SOMETHING!"
So he did.
"Catherine."
Spike's confusion grew together with his agitation. "Wha...HUH?!"
"I want to see Catherine."
"...And who IS Catherine?! Why are you bringing this up now?!"
Miller choked a sob. "My daughter. My baby girl."
As he floated in nothingness, he could feel violent vibrations coming from the ever-distant world outside.
Whatever was happening...that's the only 'sense' he had experienced in a long, long time.
How long had it been since he'd last felt something?
How long had it been since he stood on his own two feet?
How long had it been since his hands held onto anything?
How long had it been since his eye had last seen?
He didn't know. He couldn't know.
There was no way for him to know.
"Congratulations," Code Talker said, gleeful. "It's a boy."
The declaration floored Snake.
"W-what?"
"Your son."
"Come again?"
"Your child. Quiet's pregnant with your child."
He should be happy. He should be ecstatic.
No, he should be the happiest man on Earth right about now.
Instead, he was frozen, cold, terrified.
The person he once had been was a medical professional. He didn't need to be to recall Quiet didn't have the organs to bear children anymore.
He'd also been subject to the Wolbachia treatment during their battles against XOF. A treatment which makes one sterile.
In other words, he'd been presented with an impossible miracle.
It should be the happiest moment of his life, but it couldn't be so.
"Thank you for looking after her. I-I need to see her," Snake said, only then coming to realize that Code Talker was no longer there.
Something was definitely wrong.
Rather than heading deeper into the medical bay, towards Quiet's room, he stepped outside.
There was nobody to be found. Anywhere.
He blinked. There was no way the platform could be this empty...had his worry for Quiet submerged him into delusion?
No, this was happening. It wasn't the same when he'd have hallucinations about Paz. Paz, who'd turned out to be alive and well, and who'd then abandoned th-
-Was that right?
He'd see her every time he visited this place, behind a door opened by the press of a big red button. That same button he was gazing absentmindedly at now.
A door that led nowhere, yet to him, it always looked like a patient's room...until the illusion was shattered. Until 'reality' shattered the false perception born from wishes and regrets.
He remembers the tapes. Not the exact words, but Paz had said there was some of her with him, always.
Those tapes had never been recorded. Another hallucination? Or was it something else?
What was 'real' and what wasn't?
He had two choices.
One, turn around, accept the miracle, and never speak of this again. Simply live. Big Boss, Snake, Alan Coburn, all of the above - whoever he was, he was truly alive here. Was it so wrong to simply accept it?
His other choice was to see what was on the other side of that door. No, rather...it was to simply confirm what he already knew.
And when he did, he felt right down to his bones, there might not be any turning back.
Holding his breath, he made his decision. He pressed the button, as he'd done so many times before.
And on the other side was not an empty lot, a work in progress.
Instead, a young girl, frozen in time, wearing little, sat on a hospital bed. A V-shaped scar crisscrossed her abdomen, looking as fresh as that fateful day so many years ago.
The day both him and the other Big Boss failed to save her.
The day Paz Ortega Andrade died.
She leveled her eyes at him, gaze warm, understanding, and nostalgic.
"So," said Paz. "You've started to figure it out, haven't you?"
"I have so many questions." Snake, Alan, said. "But one thing's for certain. This isn't real."
Paz shook her head. "No, you're wrong. It is real. Just not the reality you're used to."
"Don't speak in riddles," Snake shot back. "I demand an explanation."
Paz hopped from the bed, and approached Snake. "You will have it, but all in due time. Shouldn't you should be visiting someone else instead?"
With that, she was gone. Snake knew she was right.
His legs felt like lead as he dragged himself through hallways that seemed to stretch into forever. His heart, however, was heavier. Was he about to lose everything?
No, Alan Coburn thought. He had already lost everything.
Not here, not now.
He remembers the first time he heard Quiet's voice. Not when she accepted his proposal to become his bride, but rather, when she said farewell and disappeared into the desert, leaving only a recording to remember her by.
Just like that, her footprints faded in sand...and part of him went with her.
He'd never fill that void. As Outer Heaven crumbled around him and he no longer had the strength to even move, he resigned himself to his end. There was no reason to keep on struggling.
It had been time to let go. All he wished for was to see her one last time.
The door to Quiet's room opened.
The other side of the doorway led somewhere entirely different.
It was a place familiar to Snake, a place Alan Coburn had never seen. It was a field filled with a particular white flower, dancing in the gentle breeze.
The Star-of-Bethlehem.
Spike witnessed a sight he'd known a hundred thousand times before.
There was a hill of corpses stacked over the Command Platform's helipad, and they all had his face.
On the top of the hill of lifeless bodies that had once been his, he knew he'd find his way out.
"Is it like this every time?"
He didn't turn around to meet that specter called Paz. "Yeah. My recollection's hazy, but...I'm certain it's always something like this."
"I'm sorry."
Spike huffed and grinned. "Don't be. I'm glad I could see Snake...Alan again. I also got to meet everyone else. I only knew stories."
"Does it hurt?"
"Of course it does," Spike replied. "It always does, saying goodbye. Even so, it's worth the pain."
He began to step towards the imposing mound.
"Thanks for seeing me off, by the way," Spike said before climbing the grim rise. "You're alright."
"What's it going to be this time?" Paz asked.
"Who knows? Maybe a world which has never known war and desperately needs a defender. Maybe one that's about to collapse and needs me to sort out the mess. Maybe something entirely new this time. Can't know until I'm there. Ask me again in a decade or so."
He sat atop the hill, looking down at her.
"I think I get the gist of what's going on here. Boss and I haven't met yet, have we?"
Paz shook her head.
Spike shrugged. "Guess that confirms some of my suspicions," he took another glance at the place he'd called home for the duration of his stay. "Man, the OG DD's Mother Base, huh? Kinda wish I could take a picture with me."
Paz smiled. "You should've seen MSF's. It wasn't as big, but it made up for it with style. We even had a soccer field!"
"Yeah, I'm aware," Spike chuckled. "Chico wouldn't shut up about it."
"You know..." Paz started. "The Diamond Dogs, the first Diamond Dogs, were never this happy. Their pursuit of revenge left them hurting and hollow. What little they had, they lost, because they wanted to take back everything. They never did. But you..." she gestured at the millions of him. "You played an important part in their rebirth. Thank you."
Spike smiled. It wasn't a smug grin or a sharp smirk like he usually offered. This time, it was a genuine, gentle, radiant, warm smile. "We had a good run, didn't we?"
"The best. Despite all the sorrow, hardships, and loss, you set built foundations for the future. Some of you became misguided, hearts twisted by all the pain. But even so...the return of the Diamond Dogs brought hope to so many you don't know."
"What the Boss set out to do...he succeeded, right?"
"Of course he did. This is Snake we're talking about, after all."
"I'd expect nothing less," Spike huffed in satisfaction, standing proud. "Maybe someday, I'll come across that future you speak of," he turned around to face an oaken door, upright and seemingly leading nowhere. His hand lingered on its handle.
"One more thing," the man said. "Kaz's in the mess hall. I think he could use a friendly ear. You were already planning on visiting him, weren't you?"
"It goes without saying. Goodbye, Spike Ingram. Keep on shining."
"You too," he raised his free hand and made a V-sign over his shoulder. "Peace."
With that, he was gone, his hill fading into dust carried away by wind.
Kazuhira Miller stared down at a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
The only light in this place hung right above, illuminating his lonely table. Nothing else stirred in the mess hall, too large for just him.
Just him and the cheesecake.
After minutes of just staring at it, the man finally brought a spoonful to his mouth.
Right afterwards, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Is it good?"
He recognizes the voice immediately, but doesn't try to meet her gaze. "Yeah. It's not the best-" he allows himself to smile just a little, "-but that's what makes it special."
"Is there a story you want to share?" Paz asked, already knowing the answer.
Miller took a deep breath. "My daughter. Catherine. The first thing she ever baked was cheesecake. It was a little after Zanzibar Land; just after we'd taken out Big Boss - the one that isn't Alan. She was ten at the time. I come back home to find the kitchen a mess. She'd wanted to welcome her dad with something special."
He sighed wistfully before continuing. "Couldn't be mad at her. We scarfed the whole thing down that night. It was lumpy and cracked, but I couldn't help but think it was the best thing I'd ever eaten."
Kaz smiled. "Since I liked it, she kept practicing, getting better and better. Every time I'd go pick her up - you know, custody and all - she'd have some for me. So..."
Paz quirked her head gently. "So...?"
"So I came to realize how meaningless it had all been," Kaz said. "That pursuit of revenge. I wanted to take Big Boss down, more than anything. I was a rabid animal, not caring who got hurt in the process. That includes Alan. I overlooked the things, the people, worth cherishing."
"Big Boss betrayed me," Kaz uttered, resigned. "But I also betrayed myself."
Wordlessly, Paz placed a hand on Miller's.
"There's no way to undo what happened. The harm I did. There's just one thing left. Just one thing."
Paz gave his hand a squeeze, urging him to continue.
"Tell Eli. Tell Eli I forgive him. Whatever happened to me because of him, I don't blame him. He made the same mistakes I did. That's why I...will never hate him."
The hand Paz had been holding, too, vanished.
It felt like opening his eyes for the very first time.
The world was bright, so bright. So warm.
Eli could feel the soft ground beneath him. His hand was grasping something. He turned his head to take a look at it. It was an oversized black sleeve.
"Tretij...?"
The redhead's eyelids parted. "...Eli...?"
The boys stood up, surveying their surroundings. They noticed they stood in a field of white flowers, the plants reaching beyond their waists.
"Where are we...?" Tretij asked.
"Boys!"
Snake ran towards them. He knelt when he reached them, and wrapped each of them in one arm.
"Dad...where are we?" Eli asked.
Snake had no answers to give them. "All we can do is keep going. Give me your hands."
The boys held onto the man whom they called father.
Together, they kept walking, no goal or direction in sight.
They finally spotted something in the distance: a cylindrical steel monolith they all recognized, the Mammal Pod.
Nowhere else to go, they ventured towards it.
In the shadow of the mammal pod, there was a hospital bed.
White petals were scattered over its sheets, as well as on the woman who rested atop the mattress.
"Quiet?"
"...Alan," the woman answered before sitting upright on the bed. "Eli, Tretij, my boys."
"Mom...?" Tretij started, reaching towards her. She welcomed his hand, clasping her fingers around his sleeved appendage.
"You two are going to have a brother soon."
"Quiet, that's..." Alan choked, but-
"Impossible?" Quiet interjected. "I know. My body could not sustain a child. Yet...he's out there. Not in my womb, but our child just the same."
"Quiet, what...what do you mean?"
She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's impossible for me to bear children, just as it's impossible to change the past."
Snake swallowed dry. "A-are you...no, no, don't leave me!"
Her hands fell on his. "I won't. I'm always with you."
"Don't give me that!" Snake cried. "I'm not losing you again!"
"You never did."
"A-ah...no...!" Snake's body trembled as the pieces were starting to fall into place...
...and he realized what it meant for the two boys by his side.
The agony of losing Quiet was there, but it was something he'd already survived. Instead, he wanted to scream for his sons.
There was no way to save them now, was there?
The question that he hadn't dared to ask escaped him.
"Are we dead?"
Quiet shook her head, clearly holding back tears. "You're not."
"I don't understand," Snake stammered. "What is this place? Heaven?!"
"If you wish to call it that."
A female voice that didn't belong to Quiet...it came from the Mammal Pod.
Alan had heard it before, but this was their first real meeting, wasn't it? A woman he knew everything about, but had never met. A woman who was like a mother to him, but also a stranger.
The Mammal Pod's casing fell open. Steel fell noiselessly to the soft ground.
A blonde clad in white descended from it; the person Snake expected to see. With high cheekbones and sharp eyes, her very step was dignified.
Her lips curled upwards as she joined the haphazard little family. "It's nice to meet you all."
BUTTERFLY EFFECT |FINAL| / [Eternal Entanglement]
The Boss. The Mother of Special Forces.
The woman who died for her country, her storied legacy tainted for the sake of the mission. The very image of strength in Snake's mind.
So close to him, yet so distant.
"Is that really you, Boss?"
"Your mind's not playing tricks on you, Alan," The Boss said, before locking him in a warm embrace, the likes a parent would share with their child. "I'm sorry for what Jack did to you."
"It's okay, Boss," Snake breathed. "What's done is done. It's too late for me now."
She broke the hug and shook her head sadly. "No, that isn't true."
Snake's gaze wandered to the side, at the two boys who now held hands. "So what is this place? Heaven? Hell?"
"It's a world born from a wish. As I said, you could call it 'heaven' if you wanted, but it isn't exactly that."
"Demons don't belong past the pearly gates, is what you're telling me?"
The Boss smiled gently. "Alan. You're not dead."
"...So this is a dream?"
"No. As I said, it's a world born from a wish. This is all real, as real as you want it to be," the Boss placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are...standing at a crossroads, Alan."
Her gaze was intense, unwavering; yet kind, too kind.
"This is a place where time has no meaning," she declared. "Yet, you're still a prisoner of time, standing on the edge."
"I don't understand."
"You're still alive in the other side, and that's the reason this place is falling apart" the Boss smiled melancholic. "But you're at that point where death is almost inevitable."
"Outer Heaven...Solid Snake," Alan muttered. He dwells on the battle against the rookie soldier who despite all odds faced the military nation and won. The counterpart to Eli. The other son of Big Boss.
"Yes. He left you for dead."
"So I'm dying at Outer Heaven?"
"No. I'm afraid it's more complicated than that."
"...I was floating," Alan perceives, his other self far away. "And I can't see anything. It's cold. So very cold. But I'm no longer floating. There's something...pushing against me. Hard. Rhythmically. I know this rhythm. I know it all too well."
"...Unfortunately, there are those who would want a Big Boss to call their own," The Boss continued.
"Ah. Les Enfants Terribles," Snake uttered the name of the cloning project which had birthed Eli and Solid Snake, David, in Big Boss' image.
"This time, it's a little different," The Boss said. "That's why you have to make a choice."
"A choice?"
"To win something, you must lose something," she declared stoically. "That's how it is. Alan...you can go back to where you belong. Or you can stay here with us. The decision's yours."
"Why would...I ever want to go back? My...my wife and children are here. You're here. I'm sure if I stay, I'll eventually meet everyone who's important to me," he recalls his mother, the mother of a man once named Alan Coburn.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple. Nothing ever is, is it?" The Boss looked him straight in the eye. "Alan, Snake. Speak to them. Speak to Quiet. When you've made your decision, come to me. I'll be waiting."
She did as she said, and Snake turned to face his family.
"There's no reason for me to return," he says, apprehensive. "Is there? I don't want to go back. I want to stay with all of you."
"Dad...I want you to stay, but..." Tretij started.
Eli ended the thought. "There's something you still have to do, isn't there?"
"The child..." Snake muttered. A child he never asked for.
Just like Eli. Eli, whose eyes were pleading. Not for himself, but for someone else entirely. Someone he'd never know.
Amidst all of his bittersweet sorrow, Snake allowed himself a small measure of pride, at how far Eli had come even if it had already been too late for him.
"You know, Snake..." Quiet's voice broke through his contemplation. "I kept thinking on the sky we saw that day. Do you remember? That one time we played under the rain?"
"I could never forget," Snake said. "That's a moment I kept revisiting in my mind. I wish I had said something. Anything. If I had..."
"Things would've played out differently?" Quiet shrugged. "Like they did here?"
"A world born from a wish..."
"People are filled with regrets, aren't they? We live, then we die, and we just keep thinking about how things could have been different if we were a little braver. A little more understanding. A little more honest."
She placed a hand on his chest, and felt his beating heart pulse under her fingers.
"In the desert, I kept remembering that sky. It was dreary and gray, but on the other side of the clouds...there was sunshine. Eventually, a little light broke through, and the world was bright."
Her forehead rests on his shoulder now. He can't see it, but he knows she's smiling.
"I wanted to leave...even if just a single, small ray of light that would shine through the clouds. So I hoped. I hoped against hope for a miracle. Even in the end, I never stopped hoping that I could leave even a small measure of good in the world."
"Quiet..."
"Alan. I don't know how, or why," her tears stained the cloth over his shoulder, "but he's out there. Our very own little ray of light. He needs you."
Snake swallowed dry. He wrapped his arms around her and shut his eye hard, trying to hold himself back from crying as well. He wasn't very successful.
"A mother knows," she sobbed on. "A mother just knows..."
Another set of strong, masculine arms joined the embrace. They were followed by another pair, far more slender, almost malnourished. Neither Snake nor Quiet had any doubts about who they were, for what parents wouldn't recognize their own sons?
Eli was tall and muscular, his features sharp and rugged. His blond hair was a little longer, but he still wore it the same as he did when he was a child.
Tretij's adult body was another matter entirely. He was gaunt if not anorexic, almost decrepit, and his sunken face was covered in hideous scars.
Even so, Snake and Quiet thought both their boys beautiful, for what parent doesn't think so of their children?
Snake smiled a little bitterly. "Guess there's only one real choice, isn't there?"
"This isn't goodbye," Quiet said.
"I know," Snake leant in, and gave his wife a small, quick kiss. It said everything that needed to be said and more.
"Eli, Tretij," he took a moment to wrap his arms around them. "I wish I could've done more. I wish I could've saved you."
"You did," Tretij answered.
"Yeah, dad," Eli said, "you really did."
"Together, then," Quiet added, before taking Tretij's hand and Alan's into her own. Eli held onto Snake's mechanical appendage, and together they headed in the direction The Boss was waiting. She wasn't terribly far off; she'd just put enough distance to give them a little privacy, and she smiled knowingly at the four walking side-by-side.
"So I take you've made your choice, Alan?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Boss, you said I could call this place 'Heaven' if that's what I wanted to do."
"That's correct, yes."
"Heaven was never a place for me anyways," Snake gave a soft grin. "Not yet, at least. There's still some things I need to do."
"I see," The Boss nodded, but it was apparent she already knew what his answer would be. "Are you ready?"
"...Yeah. Quiet, boys, I'll be seeing you. I love you all."
The last thing Snake saw before light engulfed him was his family waving at him.
He took his first breath in a long time, and his whole body convulsed.
The compressions stopped, and a figure clad in a tattered hood, too big for them, loomed over him.
"Bloody 'ell. Don't scare me like that, mate."
The man's accent is English, cockney. Even through his jumbled senses and the deafening alarms, he recognizes it immediately.
"Machinegun...Kid?"
He was a mercenary under his command, when he took over Outer Heaven as 'Big Boss'. He didn't know much about him - hell, he'd never seen him without a skull-patterned balaclava before, but that voice's unmistakable.
"That's one way to call me, but I reckon it's time to stop pretending," the red-clad silhouette replied, and the inflection in his words was completely different. He sounded like... "Come on, Alan, you never figured it out?!"
The Kid had slipped into the pronunciation of someone who had learnt English as a second language, with Spanish as their first.
"...What the...CHICO?!" Snake blurted carelessly, causing his body to be rocked by a coughing fit.
"Whoa, whoa! Easy there, Alan..." Chico helped him sit up, and it was then that he noticed he'd been strewn over a somewhat viscous, translucent liquid pooled on the floor. When the spasms stopped, he managed to take notice of certain aspects in his surroundings. Red emergency lights tinted the whole world the same color. He could make out tiny beads of shattered glass alongside some bigger shards under the unnatural lightning.
Shifting to look behind him, he noticed a broken crystal capsule, large enough to house a man of his stature.
"Was I in there...?" he asked without thinking.
"I'll explain later," Chico said as he pulled him to his feet and together, they slowly shuffled out of the room. "This AO's hot; we need to get to Pequod first. Lads, I'd appreciate an escort to the LZ!"
As they made their way to safety under a hail of gunfire, Snake took note of two more things: first, a simple emblem depicting a two-headed eagle plastered on many of the walls.
Second, the comforting sight of many recognizable faces, fighting for his sake.
Listening to the deafening noise made by the helicopter's rotors was like coming home after a long journey.
The Aerial Command Center had been left unchanged. All the photographs hung from where they were supposed to, right above him. He ran his finger across a full-body shot of Quiet that was already starting to fade somewhat.
He wasn't alone aboard the transport chopper. Of course, there was Chico - Machinegun Kid - sitting to his side, but there were also a couple of other soldiers tending to a human-shaped bundle of blankets on the other side of the aircraft. Snake recognized one of the caretakers as Silent Basilisk, his once black hair now completely gray.
He tore his attention from them and put it back on Chico. The man, and there really was no other way to describe him now, had lowered his hood and there was no way to mistake him for someone else. Sure, his face had become chiseled with age and was now dotted with patches of stubble, and there was some scarring on his left cheek, but this was unmistakably Chico Valenciano Libre.
Snake took another glance at Basilisk, then back to Chico.
"So, what year is it?"
"1997."
Snake sunk into his chair. "...At least it's not nine years."
"You're taking that surprisingly well," Chico said. "Looking rather well, too, if I do say so myself."
Snake raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Whatever was in that goop was they had you submerged in when I found you had a purpose," Chico said, before pointing at the window behind them.
Snake could see his reflection, and the person who stared back at him looked younger than he remembered. It was definitely him, though. The scars and the shrapnel embedded into his skull confirmed such.
"Telomeric extension," Chico said. "Turn back the clock a little on your cellular age. It's not the proverbial fountain of youth, but it was adequate for their objectives."
"What did they want with me?" Snake asked.
"...You're going to want to be sitting down for this one," Chico said, to which Snake cocked an eyebrow, before using his only arm to gesture at the seat he currently occupied.
"You know what I meant," Chico said before his expression darkened. "Let me get straight to the point-"
"They wanted my genes," Snake interrupted. "Like with Les Enfants Terribles."
Chico paused, brought a fist to his mouth, and took a moment to compose himself. "...How did you know?" he finally asked.
"Lucky guess," Snake lied. "Honestly, if they were doing something to my cells, it's the only logical conclusion."
"Right," Chico said, unconvinced, before shrugging it off and moving on. "It's not a repeat of Les Enfants Terribles, though. This time, it's a little different."
"Go on."
"Alan, you're familiar with cellular dedifferentiation, right?"
"Right."
"We managed to stumble upon some interesting information regarding that procedure while we investigated this 'C-Shocker' organization," Chico continued. "Namely, they have access to procedures to achieve 'somatic cell dedifferentiation', essentially taking some cellular samples from you and turning them into stem cells..."
"...and then instead differentiating them into germ cells afterwards," Snake finished.
"Very good, Doc," Chico said. "They didn't want to clone Big Boss again. They wanted to take it to the next level."
"The only thing is..." Snake interjected, "...they got the wrong Big Boss." He leaned forward, resting his hand on his leg. "...so how do you know all this? Wait, don't answer that. Why did you rescue me in the first place?"
"We've been looking for you for a good while," Chico grinned. "I've been coordinating the operations, by the way. You're welcome."
Snake half-sighed, half-scoffed. "Yeah, but who's 'we'? The Diamond Dogs-"
"The Diamond Dogs were reactivated following the failed Outer Heaven Uprising," Chico declared pointedly.
"...I'm not doing the whole body double stunt again," Snake growled.
"You don't have to," Chico said. "We're...ahem, your retirement package, essentially."
"...You've lost me," Snake protested.
"The Diamond Dogs are yours to command, Alan. No strings attached. Sure, we don't have the funding and infrastructure we once did," Chico jabbed at the air with his index finger. "but it's all yours. Big Boss made it happen, assembling the volunteers and giving us the necessary tools to get started. Our single directive was to find you. Afterwards, command was to transfer fully to your hands. You don't answer to anyone. It's all yours to do whatever you wish with it."
"Awful generous, coming from Jack," Snake said.
"Probably a crisis of conscience in his old age," Chico muttered.
"What about you?" Snake asked. "We all thought you dead. That includes your sister."
Chico's expression soured. "Yeah. I have my own beef with Big Boss, but I'm trying my best not to make a mess of that. So, here I am."
It was clear that there was some bad blood there, and Snake decided not to pry further.
"Anyways, what we do next is entirely up to you. You're our boss, Boss."
"Let's get back to the topic at hand," Snake said, realizing they'd gone on a tangent, even if it'd been an important one.
"Right. Uh, about that," Chico was evidently nervous now. "There's one more thing you should know."
Snake braced himself. "Give it to me straight."
"They, uh, they were aiming for something dangerously close to eugenics with their project. I think it's better if you see for yourself. Just...just don't take it too hard, all right?"
Carefully, Chico handed Snake an unassuming manila folder, which Snake set down on his lap and flipped open.
When he did, everything fell into place.
"They wanted to test a theory," Chico droned. "If the mother was an exemplary soldier herself, their offspring could possibly be an even better fighter."
Snake's vision wavered."...As she underwent the parasite procedure, XOF salvaged what they could from her battered body. That included preserving an oocyte...an egg cell."
Being denied of an impossible miracle, he had been blessed by another.
"The fertilization was successful, and... a healthy boy was born."
"...My son," Snake choked, a single tear running a trail down his cheek. He caressed the photograph of a newborn baby resting among papers in the file. "That's our son."
Chico smiled sadly. "Yeah. Yeah. That's who that is," he turned towards the window. "They... didn't even give him a name, outside a string of numbers that don't mean anything."
"He does have a name," Snake answered. "It's Ray."
"…Raymond Coburn, huh?" Chico said. "It's a good name."
"Of course," Snake tilted his head up, leveling his gaze at the fading picture just above. "His mother gave it to him, after all."
Somewhere so far away, Quiet was smiling.
Somewhere that could never be reached, the woman faded into the gentle breeze that kissed the white flowers and made them dance.
All she left behind were butterflies, their wings like sapphires.
Eli and Tretij witnessed the metamorphosis. Absentmindedly, Tretij reached out to one of the flapping jewels.
Wherever their mother had gone, they'd be following soon, too.
"Well, one thing's for certain," Chico started. "We Diamond Dogs have our work cut out for us."
Snake grinned a little. "Yeah. I don't even need to say it, do I?"
"No, you don't," Chico chuckled mirthfully. "We're definitely getting him back. Mission accepted, Boss."
"I'm glad I got to meet you again, Chico."
"Feeling's mutual, guv'nor," Chico answered, slipping back into his practiced cockney twang.
"Going to need a couple of things," Snake waved the stub where his left forearm had once been. "New prosthetic, for starters."
Before Chico could answer with some witty retort he no doubt had prepared, one of the soldiers that had been huddled around the bundle of blankets spoke out. "Sir, I think he's regaining consciousness."
Snake recognized the female trooper as Flaming Buffalo, but for now, greetings and gratitude would have to wait. "Who's that?" he asked, unable to see the face of the person wrapped in fabric.
"Beats me," Chico said. "He was in pretty much the same situation as you, though, so we bailed him out."
The stirring figure groaned, and Snake edged towards them, taking a knee before removing the cloth concealing their visage. His breath caught in his throat.
"You...you're...!"
The groggy youth groaned. Blinking, he slowly tried to take in his current situation, before settling his dazed, distant eyes on Snake. "Who...Who are you?"
The disoriented passenger had no idea the depth of the question he'd just leveled at the one-eyed, one-armed man.
Was he Venom Snake, the soldier? Alan Coburn, the doctor? Big Boss, the legend?
He was none of them. He was all of them. He was something more, too.
It occurred to him that for the very first time in so, so very long, he was truly free to answer that question however he pleased.
He'd been a mirage in the shape of another. Now, he was his own man, but he'd been shaped by those experiences.
That day, it wasn't just Ray who got his name.
The confused youth stretched his hand out pleadingly from under the fabric. The scarred veteran clasped it firmly in reassurance.
"Call me Snake. Phantom Snake. Don't worry; you're among friends, Spike."
Last Dance / [A Piece of the Sun]
My heart should be heavier with regrets, but it isn't.
We've all lived wretched lives, but right now, he's here, and he's holding my hand.
You can almost see the skull underneath his pale flesh, marred by scars.
I don't care. I squeeze his hand once more.
This man is my brother.
Brother. A word that I always uttered with the utmost vitriol.
Always cursing my fate. Simmering in frustration over the genetic stock that was used to make me.
It all seems so meaningless now.
Our time here was short, but I learned what really matters in life. Maybe too late, yet...I got a chance to be a little happy for once. In retrospect, joy was completely alien to me in life.
I'll take responsibility for that. I never fought it, I just let anger and hate consume me.
All because of my genes...
Dad doesn't care about those.
Dad.
It feels a little strange, having a Dad, but it's the good sort of strange.
Had I been a different child, had I not been so overcome with my fury at the world which I felt spurned me...would my fate had intersected with Dad, like it did here?
No.
That didn't matter anymore.
Our fates are forever intertwined now. He'll always carry me with him, and we'll meet again.
I love him.
I love my dad.
I love my mom.
I love my brother, Tretij, who moves closer and embraces me.
"You were...always with me," I utter. "No matter how wrong I was."
"I wasn't all that better, myself," he answers back. I can hear him grinning.
"Our lives were a goddamn mess, weren't they?" I say. "Not just for us, but also everyone around us. Mom. Dad. Uncle Kaz. Ocelot."
"They were." By this point, we're no longer pressed tightly against each other, yet we still hold onto each other by the arms.
I look at him straight in the eye. "No matter how much we'd want to, we can't change that."
He smiles at me and I can see some freckles under the scars. "No. No, we can't. All we can do is hope for the future."
He's taken on a brilliant glow, and I release my grip on him. He does the same.
"Eli, I'm going ahead. There's still something you want to do, isn't there?"
Just like that, he's left the field of flowers, but I feel he can still hear me.
"Right. Wait for me."
Somehow, I find my way back to Mother Base.
The platforms, the sea, the very sky...they're all collapsing. Soon, this world would cease to be.
I find myself oddly at peace with this.
I make my way to the top of the Command Platform, where I quietly spectate the end of the world.
Soon enough, company arrives.
"How do you feel?" she asks as she seats next to me, legs dangling just past the railing.
"It's hard to believe, but...never better."
Paz gives me a knowing look filled with sympathy. "You never had the chance to be a child."
"I enjoyed it, even if fleeting," I say, not even sparing it a second thought. For once, I hold no barriers. I bare myself, here in the end. "You had a part in this, didn't you? Thank you."
She casts her gaze down at a pair of silver-rimmed glasses I've never seen before, resting in her hands. "We were just observers. This world was born from wishes..."
"Including mine," I finish for her, all too aware of my looming mortality. "Though mine were nowhere near being of the same nature."
"Anger, pain, sorrow...those are parts of being human, too. You shouldn't deny them."
I grin a little. "Of course. I think I understand what it truly means to be human now. I won't curse my birth, not anymore."
"Sounds like you did some growing up," she tilts her head a little, looking at me with the same gentle eyes that made my childish self blush.
"I did, thanks to everyone," I turn my head to witness the apocalyptic spectacle that fills me with calm. "So, how long do I have?"
"Not long," she says sadly. "On the other side...the outcome's inevitable. Unlike Alan, there's no choice but to let go. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize for things that were my own doing," I answer. "Tell me, can I go back?"
"The result won't change," Paz says dejectedly, "but yes. You can go back. You just can't change anything."
"You're wrong," I beam. "It'll change everything."
"Hm?"
"Rather than perishing as Liquid Snake," I explain, "I'll die as Eli Coburn. A man with a family, friends, and loved ones. The person I want to be. The person I truly am now."
Her expression is a bright as my own, I know. "Yes, that does change everything. One more thing before you leave, though. I have a message from Kazuhira."
"Uncle Kaz?"
"He says he forgives you."
I close my eyes and see his face again. "...Of course he would."
Something wet falls on my shoulder, but even as the sky falls, there's no rain.
I grit my teeth and fight it. I recall the words Glaz shared with me that day. Has it been a lifetime, or just a couple of minutes ago?
"...I've done horrible things. Things that can never be undone. It's precisely because of it that I must see this through. For the sake of all I hurt selfishly, I must live; truly, truly live, even if only for a few seconds. I won't..."
Fire burns within me, far hotter than the Armageddon unfolding around me.
"...I won't let a single person die in vain!"
My shout reaches every corner of the world,
touching everything that is, ever was, and ever would be.
I cannot hear what
Paz is saying, but,
she touches my cheek, and the words she utters, I'm sure
are filled with love and care.
I love Paz
and I love Uncle Kaz
and I love Mom
and I love Dad
and I love Tretij
and the little brother I can never meet
I love the Diamond Dogs, I love them all,
you're all
my shining lights.
Thank you all.
My bare back feels the cold soft of snow.
Smoke from a nearby wreckage fills my nostrils.
My right hand is holding onto something. It's a rifle. I fight against my dying body to release it from my grip. I no longer have need of such things.
I cannot get up, or even move. Through blurred eyes, I can see two figures walking away from me.
I want to stretch my hand out and call out to him. Solid Snake, David, brother...
David, there are so many things worth living for. I want to tell you all about it; about those wonderful days I saw.
I have no voice left. No matter what I do, my words will never reach you.
...It's fine.
I'm certain you don't need me to tell you there's more to life than fighting because we're told to. You'll come to find out in your own.
I believe in you.
The hum of an engine reaches my ears.
I don't have long left.
Hey...has the sky always been this blue?
The sun...has it always been this bright?
My paralyzed body, soon to perish, wills itself one final action.
My hand reaches out to the heavens, to the star burning bright above.
My fingers grasp at it. They want to hold a piece of the sun.
Ah...
This, too, was...
...a wonderful
...world.