8
The cargo bay of B1 was dimly lit and was filled with fairly large steel crates, all of which had CG-186 painted in white on the side. Rayne sat against one of the crates, awake. Raiden was crouched beside her, asking her question that she didn't have answers to. Soren had made it up the ladder, followed by Snake.
"Hm... The B1 Cargo Bay. Well, it shouldn't take long for us to get down to B3 and B4 from here." Soren had his arms crossed.
"B3 and B4?" Snake lit a cigarette, breathing out a large puff of smoke."I though that this place only had four floors, including the 2F, 1F, B1, and B2 areas."
Rayne stood, still leaning against the crates. "B2 is the lowest level shown on any map, isn't it?" Soren nodded. "We should try to get down to another level and see if we can find another Control Room. I'm guessing that there's one on B3?"
"Yeah."
Raiden was ready to catch her, along with Soren. "So what? We still have to locate SIN. We don't have a clue where it is!"
Snake exhaled again, this time, with a larger puff of smoke rising in the air. "Soren, Rayne, both of you find that Control Room and get what we need. Raiden, you'll come with me to the lower level." He looked at each of them. "Let's go. We don't have all day."
Raiden looked at his watch. It was now 12:56am. "Five hours." He whispered. "Snake, are you sure?"
"Snake?" Soren chased after the military man who was waiting in the oversized elevator for Raiden. "The COntrol Room is on B3. We'll meet you there?"
Snake glanced back at him. "Fine, but don't take forever." He stepped into the elevator, waiting impatiently for Raiden beside the control panel. "If you're coming, let's go." He tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground and crushed it with his right foot.
"What about the two of you?"
Soren's arms were crossed. "We'll be fine. Go. Raiden, you and Snake need to get down to the loxest level of this building." He glanced at Snake. "Security will get tighter the farther you go down, so stay out of sight. Scientists and members of the Development Team will be working down there. You'll need to find some way to get Level A clearance once you're down there. Chances are that some areas of B3 and most of B4 will be unaccessable as well. You shound be able to find a keycard somewhere down there. Good luck."
Raiden stepped onto the elevator, which began its slow descent. The steel door closed just after Snake's head had vanished from their sight.
"So what now?"
"Hold on for a minute."
141.63 to 141.33
"Damon, you there?"
There was no response.
"Zack? Zackary?"
Again, there was no response.
-codec off-
"That's strange..." She took a few steps. Soren gave her a peculiar look. "Damon won't answer me on the codec. Maybe Snake can reach him."
Soren sat down, leading against a wall. "Might as well give it a try." He pulled out a clip of ammon for his G-18 and loaded it. "He might have better luck, but this also raises a question. Where do we go if he doesn't respond? Ground level, or down to B3?"
"B3. We'll meet with Snake and Raiden down there."
141.63 to 141.80
"Snake, try to contact Damon."
"Is there a reason?"
"I'm asking you to do a simple task. It won't kill you, will it?"
"Fine, but give me a minute." Everything was silent for about twenty seconds. "He won't answer me. Guess you're out of luck. "He paused for a moment. "Hurry up and get down here. You got ten minutes before I leave."
-codec off-
She walked over to a keypad and pressed a few numbers. A blast door on her right opened slowly. "We head down two levels and carry on from there."
"Can you handle walking that far?"
"I'm walking around now, aren't I? Besides," She sighed, her back still turned toward him. "My legs aren't as numb as before, not to mention that I've been walking and standing on both my feet for around fifteen minutes now." She stepped onto a smaller elevator than the one Snake and Raiden had taken down. "Coming, Soren?"
The elevator came to a slow stop and the large door opened. The B3 cargo area was empty and the lighting was fairly bright. The room itself was nearly twice the size of B1's cargo bay. Snake stood still while in the elevator, trying to hear footsteps or voices of enemy soldiers.
"It's clear. Let's go."
"Wait, Snake. Someone's contacting me."
140.96 to 141.27
"Jack, is that you?"
"Rose. I told you I'm busy, and I promised I would come back to you. Again, I promise I'll come back to you, alive."
"Jack... This isn't about us. It's about Dr. Hartman. Things aren't what you think."
"What do you mean?"
"I... Something felt wrong, so I checked into his background. He doesn't exist in any military, company, or civialin files. Then I hacked into the FBI's Witness Protection Program files. Dr. Zackary James Isaac Hartman isn't his real name. However, that was all I could find at the time. I'm looking into a few more files at the moment. I'll contact you once I find something else."
"Rose, you don't trust him? If he's in the WPP, then..."
"I know. It's just... Something about him just doesn't seem right. Maybe I'm just worried about you, you know, a little paranoid. Still, something feels wrong. Be careful, okay?"
"I will. Bye Rose."
"Bye Jack."
-codec off-
Snake was impatient. "Done? Who was it, anyway?"
"Rose. She doesn't trust Damon, so she's checking into his background." He sighed and followed Snake out and to a door. "I'm not going to worry about it."
"Good choice." He flattened himself against a wall, as did Raiden as soon as the door slid open. Two SEALs walked in, not noticing the two operatives. They fell dead shortly after entering. "Hm."
"What? They're US Navy SEALs. Big deal... other than you just killed two soldiers of the United States of America."
"Don't forget, they're both a part of S-4." He turned them over so that they layed on their backs. "I know both of these men. I trained with them when I first entered FOXHOUND." Reaching for their dogtags, Snake knew for sure who they were. "Both of them were passed over for the Genome Soldier project." He stood, dropping the dogtags. "Enough reminiscing. Let's move."
The small elevator they had taken had stopped, the door opening to reveal what looked like either a security room, or lobby. Soren was the first to step out, followed by Rayne. There was a desk with files scattered out in front of them.
"Is this B3?" Soren walked over to a map on the wall, while Rayne mover toward the desk.
"Yes, it is."
He turned around and saw her looking through the files. "How do you know? It doesn't say what floor this map is of."
"It's actually quite simple." She held up one of the files. "This folder has all sorts of data regarding accomplishments that were made here, in the B3 laboratories." She walked around the side of the desk and stood beside him. "By the way, Soren." She pointed to the bottom-left corner of the map. "This map does say 'B3' on it."
"Well, looky there!" Not amused, he bagan tracing a path to the B3CR with his index finger. "So, if we take the door on our right, and then take the door at the end of the hallway, we'll be in the 'Carrying Out' room. Hm, sounds like it might just be another cargo bay. "He paused to think. "From there, we can probably follow Snake and Raiden's path just by finding dead bodies. That sounds easy enough, doesn't it?"
"I suppose..."She, too, was looking at the map, trying to make sense of Soren's path. There was a high-pitched ringing in her ear.
141.80 to 141.63
"Rayne, how you holdin' up?"
"Just fine. We're in the B3 lobby, on our way to the Control Room. Where are you?"
"Both of us just made it here. We've...left a path of sorts. Think both of you will be alright getting down here? We came across some fairly heavy resistance on our way here."
'I think we can deal. The lobby's empty, and there weren't any guards positioned in or outside this room. Besides, you've already cleared the way. What about security lockouts?"
"We haven't come across any yet."
"Alright. We'll be there momentarily. See ya, Snake."
-codec off-
She took a deep breath. "You were right about being able to follow their path. Snake and Raiden are waiting for us at the destination." Her head turned toward the door. "Shall we?"
