Back in the Present, Snake used the codec to show Raiden an article that used the photos he took of RAY.
"I took these photos two years ago…" said Snake.
"I know these pictures," said Raiden. "They were on the news, several websites. If I remember right, the reporters blamed you for sinking the tanker…"
"That's right," said Snake. "Otacon… Me… We were used –"
"We'd hoped that by going public with the photos of the new Metal Gear we could persuade the government," Otacon explained. "At least that was the plan at the time…"
"I've gone through VR training of the tanker mission before," said Raiden.
"Yeah? Well I doubt it accurately simulates the events of that actual mission," said Snake. "I'd infiltrated the dummy tanker to obtain proof that a Metal Gear was under development. Shortly after I made it aboard, an armed group led by Colonel Gurlukovich raided the ship and gained control."
"Olga and Ocelot were among the raiding party," Otacon added.
"Yeah. And him..." said Snake.
"Who're you talking about?" asked Raiden.
"A man that was supposed to be dead," said Snake.
"Their target was also Metal Gear RAY," said Otacon. "But Ocelot eliminated Colonel Gurlukovich and Marine Commander Scott Dolph - and he hijacked RAY."
"So he betrayed them?" asked Raiden.
"I don't know what kind of deal was going down," said Snake. "All I remember is what Ocelot said at the time - something like, 'I'm taking it back'… "
"Ocelot then sank the tanker along with the soldiers of the Marine Corps..." Otacon added.
"How did you manage to get out?" asked Raiden.
"Otacon managed to have a small boat ready for me," Snake answered.
"That was the easy part," said Otacon. "The tough part was not getting dragged down with the sinking tanker - small miracle when you think about it. It turned out that the whole thing was a setup to lure us. Photos of Snake - taken by the Cypher - were released to the public. In turn, we became the world's most wanted environmental terrorists...
"It was definitely a move aimed at putting a stop to our anti-Metal Gear activities," said Snake.
"But why did they choose Snake?" asked Raiden.
"Since the Shadow Moses incident, Snake became sort of a hero," said Otacon. "I think the Patriots weren't too happy about that."
"You knew about the Patriots!?" asked a surprised Raiden.
"Well yes... to a certain degree," said Otacon."
"It seems like everyone knows about them except me," Raiden complained.
"They didn't choose Snake to be a hero..." said Otacon.
"So they decided to do a smear campaign," said Raiden.
"I think the Patriots wanted to make an example of him so everybody would think twice before opposing them," said Otacon.
"That's it! They set all this up just to nail you guys?" said Raiden.
"No. There's more to it than that -," said Otacon. "The Marines' Metal Gear RAY project headed by Commander Dolph was carried out in opposition to the Navy's Arsenal Gear project. To be more precise, the Patriots considered Metal Gear RAY to be a thorn in their side. Hence, they attacked the dummy tanker and stole RAY... They followed this up with the perfect plan. They immediately sent a fully loaded tanker to the same location and sank it, then set up facility to camouflage the development of Arsenal Gear."
"And we fell for it - two more puppets in their show," said Snake.
Raiden couldn't believe what he was told an started to wonder about the others involved in the incident.
"Colonel Gurlukovich... and his daughter, Olga?" asked Raiden.
"Both fell victim to Ocelot's plot," Otacon answered.
"Was Solidus behind all this?" asked Raiden. "He used Ocelot to get hold of RAY, huh?
"No. He was underground, keeping a low profile at the time," said Otacon.
"Then it must be the Patriots..." Raiden concluded.
"If that's the case, what's Ocelot doing alongside Solidus?" Otacon wondered.
"Forget it," said Snake. "We're wasting time. We can figure this out later. The nuclear strike's been prevented, but Arsenal still has a massive payload of missiles to deal with."
"Right," said Otacon. "If the opposition gets control of those missiles..."
"Raiden - you've got to find Emma," said Snake.
"Wait a second," said Raiden. "Isn't Emma Emmerich –"
"My sister," Otacon answered.
"What's she doing here?" asked Raiden.
"You got me," said the equally confused Otacon. "She's a computer whiz who specializes in neural-AI and ultra-variable volume data analysis using complex logic. How she got involved in weapons development is beyond me."
"Whatever her reasons, we need her in order to stop Arsenal," said Snake.
"Raiden - find her," Otacon instructed.
"I'm on my way," said Raiden.
