Chapter 6
The guard entered the generator room and saw the other guard on the opposite side. They walked to each other only breaking the silence when they came face to face.
"Any problems?" One guard asked the other in Russian.
"No it's all quiet here, but there seems to be an intruder on Shell 1." The other talked back.
"That's their problem." The other guard sighed with relief and turned to face the amazing generator. "I really like this room. This machine is so…"
Before he finished the sentence the other guard cut in. "I know, but don't get to close."
"What is it for anyway?" The guard asked. "Why can't they use a normal generator?"
"I don't know, she doesn't tell us much anymore."
"Yes I know, she has changed since that thing two years ago."
Silence sat in for a few seconds.
"I'm off then." One of the guards began walking out of the room and after a few seconds so did the other.
Snake saw the feet of the guard as he walked away. He had managed to crawl into a very small vent that fortunately missed the cover. Once the guards left the room Snake crawled back out and immediately called Otacon.
"Otacon are you there?"
"Of course I am. I told you I'm stuck here." Otacon snapped at Snake.
"I'm in Strut J right now. And I can tell this is very weird." Snake was still amazed at the room he was in.
"What do you mean?" Otacon sounded puzzled.
"This Power Plant is anything but normal, it seems something out of a…a videogame."
"Well as soon as you get the power back on I can start snooping around."
"You're right." Snake focused. "What do I have to do to restore the power over there?"
"Alright first you have to locate the power board."
Snake was already heading for some kind of electronic board placed behind the generator that wasn't tiled over. "I'm there, now what?" Snake opened the panel and several circuit boards with the names of the struts appeared.
"You just have to take power to someplace and share it with the Computer room on Strut I."
Snake saw a couple of spare wires inside the panel so he picked them up and started looking across the board for the computer room.
The board was divided in sections so with a quick inspection on Strut I he quickly found the computer room. There was no wire connected to it so he carefully inserted it in and placed the other end on the Strut I general circuit.
"That did it Snake." Otacon reaction was fast.
"Good." Snake closed the panel and looked over at the radar. The guards were still away and the yellowish blur was all across the map. "Otacon I've to get a move on."
"Okay Snake. When I find some information I'll contact you." Otacon signed off and Snake got ready to find the third C4. The yellow blur appeared right by the generator and after a few seconds of inspection Snake found nothing near the iron grid. Not again. Stillman was second guessing Fatman's work but from Snake's perspective Fatman was doing everything right. Snake was wasting time trying to find the C4's. Following a second look on the iron grid Snake found a small opening on the grid probably used to repair the cylinders. Snake crawled down and looked at the place underneath the cylinders and there it was. The C4 was placed under the cylinder near some electronic equipment. Snake frowned, but he knew he had to hurry. He quickly crawled inside carefully not to touch the cylinders. Once he got near enough he used the coolant spray and he rendered the C4 useless for at least twenty four hours. Third one down. Before Snake hurried to the next strut his headphones came on.
"Pliskin are you there." Raiden's voice was unmistaken.
"Yeah." Snake crawled out of the cramped space making sure he didn't touch the revolving cylinders. He quickly noticed that the cylinders were in fact connected by a very thin piece of metal. "Raiden, I've defused another C4. This one was in a spot so narrow I had to crawl in to get at it."
Raiden had other concerns apart form the C4's. "Pliskin what do you know about Fatman?"
Snake could only remember of only one more thing that Stillman hadn't said about Fatman. "Fatman... Supposedly he's nicknamed after an atomic bomb, but to me he's just a fat man." The picture on Otacon's files was too big to miss. "Something straight out of a sideshow. If he even has a bit of spare time, he spends it disassembling and assembling his Glock, over and over again. He can't stand to have his hands still. He's extremely vain about his hands …keeps his fingers as slender and soft as a woman's."
Raiden was silent on the other side, perhaps that wasn't the information he wanted.
"They say he's always looking at his hands, giving himself manicures. Is that enough Raiden?" Snake got to his feet, checked the radar for the guards and headed for the JK connecting bridge.
"Yeah." Raiden turned off the radio.
"Humph." Snake smiled and without any guard on sight he got to the door that led to the connecting bridge.
The sun was still shining brightly and it gave a warm feeling to the otherwise barren orange industrial look of the Big Shell. Snake walked calmly as he noticed that the bridge was again devoid of guards, before him stood Strut K Biochem Lab. According to what Snake had read, this was where the scientists researched of new ways to clean the oil spill more efficiently. The door to Strut K opened the minute Snake stood just a few inches from it.
Several big workbenches were spread across the Strut and by the door that led to KL connecting stood a big room with windows, probably used for experiments. The node was by the left side near a few other computers that were off. He logged on, tough he didn't need to check for guards it was apparent that it was empty, but the radar would help find the C4.
Snake's radar lit up and a yellow blur appeared inside the experiment room. He got close to it and quickly became aware that he couldn't get inside. Locked. A red light stood beside the door and underneath a small slot.
"Otacon!" Snake reached for the CODEC.
"What is it Snake?"
"I'm in Strut K right now. There's a door here, but it's locked. It seems that I need some card key to get the door opened."
"I'll see what I can do." Otacon replied
Snaked heard pushing keys and mumbling.
"I got it."
The door slid opened and the smell came rushing out of the room.
"This smells awful."
"Be careful in there Snake. That's were the Life Reaction Tank water is."
"Life reaction what!" Snake asked puzzled.
"The Life Reaction Tank cleanses polluted water with microorganisms. These organisms are activated by pumping them with large volumes of oxygen. As a result, the water's specific gravity is extremely light, making it impossible to remain afloat. According to what I'm reading that's where they research the stuff."
Snake surveyed the entire room and noticed a few silver canisters.
"Alright Otacon thanks. I'll take it from here." Snake turned off and looked at the entire room and then the radar. Where's the C4? After a few minutes of wasted time Snake still had no clue where the C4 could be. The room had not much hiding places, the silver canisters were filled with the Life Reaction Water, and Fatman would be crazy to put the C4 there. The workbench and the lavatory were the only other places, and yet the C4 was nowhere to be seen. Where is it! Snake was getting aggravated by the second. The radar only indicated a broad area, but Snake need a specific place. Maybe I should work on the others and then worry about this one. Snake was about to leave the room when something strike him as odd. The tiles on the floor were all extremely polished, probably they were cleaned because of the President's tour, but one however was pretty dirty. Snake crouched and on close inspection he noticed a smear resembling the mark of fingers, probably made by the overuse of cleaning products. Fatman? Snake would've have dismissed this detail if it wasn't for the fact that he had just had a conversation with Raiden about him. He reached for the tile with both hands and with some skill lifted it up. Gotcha! The C4 was blinking merrily, but not for long. Snake quickly sprayed it and the entire bomb froze. Snake grinned as he got up and left the Biochem Lab behind.
The connecting bridge to Strut L was like most of Shell 2 deserted. It had an eerily feel to it. Snake walked and saw the bridge that led to the core section of Shell 2.The Core. I hope you're right Pete… He began walking towards it when a faint noise invaded Snake's ears. It sounded like a propeller of some sort. Snake looked left and right but saw nothing. The noise was still there and it got even closer. A Cypher! A Cypher was coming from under the connecting bridge Snake got the M4 ready and shot, but not before the Cypher had the chance to film him. The Cypher exploded, but the damage had been done. Snake had been seen. He dashed over to the Core section, several seagulls that rested by the bridge flied off as Snake ran as fast as he could. He got to the core entrance and rested there for a few seconds. If any guards came from the other Struts they wouldn't see him. Snake looked at his arm and noticed it was no longer hurting. He began removing the bandage and saw the wound had healed. Snake sighed and headed for the door to the core, leaving behind much more than he would've wanted. The entrance to the Coregave Snake no advantage whatsoever, due to the walls that surrounded it. Snake had no way to see where the enemies where and with no radar it raised the bar even more. He drew his USP and walked forward silently, so far it seemed that the core was deserted. Snake walked to the right to a corner. He peeked out and saw a closed door and a special kind of floor. Electrified floor. It wasn't activated though, so it gave Snake the opportunity to check the room.
Suddenly the door from where Snake had come from opened wide and the sounds of footsteps echoed in the room. Snake quickly got to the door and entered the room. He kept his ears pressed against the door.
"He must have come through here." Snake heard one of the guards speaking.
"Maybe he left it to fool us." As another guard said this Snake felt stupid.
What...Oh no! The Bandage… Snake had left the bandage near the entrance.
"Let's check that room." The voice was nearer and Snake knew they were coming to where he was. He turned around and looked at every inch of the room. To his right there were generators, probably for the electrified floor, and right beside them a good hiding place.
The guards entered the room in a tight formation, with their AK's 74u ready to fire. After a few seconds of moving around inside the room one guard pointed his gun down. "It's clear. Let's move out and check the rest of the core."
As the guards moved outside the room Snake risked to take a peek, however there was still a guard inside the room who took notice of something moving.
Snake clenched his teeth. Dammit! He could sense that the guard would come and investigate.
The guard looked attentively at the generators. He would swear he had seen a shadow just now. He walked close to it in order to lift up any suspicions.
Snake grabbed his USP tightly and got into a combat stance. He would have to be fast and accurate or the whole operation was over. Snake could now see the shadow of the guard and a second later he saw the tip of the AK.
This is it. Snake grabbed the tip of the AK with his left hand and pulled. The guard screamed as he was pulled towards the intruder.
As the AK was no longer in the guard control Snake threw it away and grabbed the guard by his neck giving him the opportunity to use him as a shield. "Don't move!" Snake said pointing the USP to his head not willing to let him go.
"You won't make it American we…aarghh"
Snake didn't let him finish the sentence, instead he tighten the grip on his arm.
The others guards began moving into the room, guns pointed out, when they heard one of their comrades screaming. They could see him being used as a human shield for the intruder.
"Nobody shoot." One of the guards said. "Let him go and we won't shoot you?"
Snake gave a dire sigh.
"Did you hear me?" The guard was putting pressure on Snake. "LET HIM GO!" The guard shouted, but Snake didn't budge.
Snake knew what he had to do. Unfortunately it was the one thing he excelled at. Snake took the gun from the guards head.
"Very good, now drop the…." Snake wasn't dropping the gun he was pointing it towards the other guard. "What are you…"
A shot broke from Snake's USP hitting the guard right on head and making him fall backwards. Everything after that happened at an incredibly speed. Snake pushed the guard that was on his grip forward which gave the others guards a small angle in which they could hit Snake, but not the other way around. Snake was precise and he got most of the guards as the other was still falling down. As they were all down Snake ran to the exit as he reloaded the USP, placing the empty magazine in his equipment.
Snake was running towards the KL connecting bridge when the entrance door opened and several guards appeared right in front of him. "INTRUDER!" Several shouted and got their guns ready to fire. Snake decided to run into the opposite direction. He went down and then up some steps and then he saw it a big hall and to his left the other exit door. HI connecting bridge. However this door also opened up revealing even more soldiers.
"Aghh." Snake frowned as the situation got worse by the second. He decided to run the hall and not soon enough he saw the node. I don't have time. Snake had to find a hiding place.
"He's there!" The guards behind him shouted and started firing on him.
At the end of the hall Snake turned right and saw hiss only escape. An elevator. He pressed the call button twice and the elevator reached him.
The guards were already making the corner and firing on him. Snake took a grenade from his equipment and placed it on the M4 grenade attachment.
The elevator door opened up and he got in as bullets grazed over his head. Snake jumped inside the elevator and at the same time fired the grenade to where the guards were located. Snake landed of the floor of the elevator, got up swiftly and pushed the B1 button. As the door began closing the firing noise began to muffle down as he got to the basement floor. As the elevator stopped Snake felt calmer, but it wasn't over yet. The elevator door opened and revealed a spacious room empty. Snake peeked outside of the elevator and noticed the node to his left, but he couldn't reach it without the elevator door closing. Think! Snake groped inside his equipment. It'll work. Snake took out the empty magazine from his USP and held it in his hands. He walked out of the elevator making sure he left his hand to hold the door. As the door closed Snake placed the magazine on the ground and prevented the door from closing. He was safe for now, but he couldn't go back up.
"Otacon are you there?" Snake reached for is CODEC.
"Yes Snake, what's going on?"
"Well I've ran into some trouble and now I'm trapped in the core section B1 filtration chambers."
"Trapped?"
"Yes, the only apparent way out is through the elevator."
"I can't do much from here. I don't have access to the architecture of this place. But I'll see what I can do anyway."
"Fine I'll be here." Snake turned off the CODEC and sighed heavily. The situation had turned for the worse. He cleared his head and headed for the node to log in. When he finished Snake noticed that a yellowish blur on the radar. Stillman was right. There were also bombs in the core section of Shell 2. Snake was quick to call Stillman on the radio.
"Pete, are you listening?"
"I'm here Pliskin. Have you checked the core section?"
"I'm there now and there seems to be a C4 in this area."
"Humm…" Peter sounded disappointed. "Just like Raiden, this is all wrong."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The locations are wrong so far and these bombs in the core just confirm it."
"I don't understand."
"You see the C4's on the Struts and indeed dangerous to the overall integrity of the Big Shell, but those in the core section are just a waste of explosives. It's seems almost like child's play compared to Fatman's skills."
"So there was no point in me coming here." Snake was getting more and more suspicious of Peter Stillman.
"They are a danger as all explosives are, but they don't serve the higher purpose of destroying the Big Shell."
"Should I freeze them?"
"Yes I think its better. Anyway I'll recheck the Big Shell architecture and try to find something that maybe I've missed."
"Fine, bye." Snake turned off the radio. He could have told Peter to find him another way out of B2, but there was no point of rushing it as he still had a C4 to take care of.
A flight of stairs led to the rest of the core section, Snake started making its way to the yellow blur near the filtration chambers.
