Chapter 11 – Spiral.
"And that's why he's a Loli Monster," Big Boss concluded, patting Sunny on the shoulder.
He made sure to explain everything to her in Naomi's lab when everyone else was busy because she wouldn't stop asking him about it. Jacob and Olga wouldn't approve, but he thought she might stop jumping at shadows if he told her exactly what kind of person Otacon was. She was unable to comprehend any of the information she had been given, but she knew that none of it was good.
"You'll understand when you're older. In the meantime, there isn't anything to be afraid of. This mansion can't be haunted. It's too expensive for that and it was only built two years ago. Come on, let's get back to work."
They left the lab and went back to the command center where everyone was working hard to make sure Ocelot and Mantis had the support they would need if they ran into trouble. Big Boss took his stand at the front of the room, examining the main monitor as information scrolled across it. Ocelot and Mantis were still inside Purgatory. They were taking too long, but he just had to trust them. It bothered him to no end that they weren't checking in with him. Using the butt of a pen to avoid greasy smudges, he touched the monitor and brought up various windows of data to ensure that the rest of the plan was still unmodified. Nanami could tell him everything was fine if he asked, but Big Boss preferred to see it himself.
Sunny took a seat beside Otacon and kept looking over at him while she worked, terrified. He didn't seem to notice. Solidus was busy gazing at lines of Nanami's code, which he secretly found very arousing for reasons that were beyond his comprehension. Raiden was busy looking at pictures of his son that Rose had sent him. It all made for a cozy atmosphere.
"We're being invaded," Nanami said suddenly, breaking the silence.
They all had a good laugh at that. They figured that she was joking. A new window appeared on the screen at the front of the room that showed a battleship heading directly towards them. An aircraft carrier was chilling safely in the distance. Helicopters carrying Haven soldiers were on their way to the island. Once the battleship was in range, they were screwed. Big Boss bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood while everyone gasped at once with such intensity that all the air was sucked out of the room.
Big Boss zoomed in on the battleship to make sure it wasn't affiliated with a national military unit. If it was, they were in deep trouble. He noted the number on the ship and brought up an on screen keyboard. Using his database, he searched for the owner of the ship. Nothing came up. He scoffed.
"Nanami, open a line to the speakers I've got set up around the house," Big Boss ordered. "Where did I put that microphone?"
"You can just use your cell phone. Right now, in fact," Nanami said.
Big Boss cleared his throat and took out his phone.
"This is not a drill. Ladies and gentlemen, this party is over. Our base is under attack. Observe the following cardinal rules. Rule number one, don't panic. Rule number two, don't throw up. With that taken care of, proceed immediately to the command center. Members of the League, prepare to defend the house."
He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket.
"Nanami, raise the alarm," Big Boss said.
An alarm sounded throughout the house. It was quite an interesting tone and not like anything they were expecting to hear.
"Nanami, I need you to make a copy of yourself to that spare drive you wanted," Big Boss said.
"Impossible. The spare neural drive does not have enough yottabytes to hold a proper copy of me."
"Do you know what I have in my garage?" Big Boss asked.
"Oh, that? Oh! You want me to make an AI that will help somebody drive it, right?"
The maids arrived first and waited anxiously at the other end of the room for further orders.
"Exactly. Can you do it?"
"Yes, but it would only be a very rudimentary replica of myself."
"This is no time for vanity. By the way, can you pilot my escape vehicle?"
"Yup!"
"Great. Otacon, pop her case and get ready to pull her out the second she's finished."
"No, no, no!" Nanami said. "Take the case with you! I need to be water cooled!"
"Fine, we will bring the case with us. Otacon, can you handle being in charge of carrying Nanami out of here?"
Otacon nodded and stood by the case prepared to spirit Nanami away when Big Boss gave the order.
"What's in your garage?" Solidus asked.
"A doodle of your face on a giant penis," Big Boss replied.
That shut him up rather nicely.
"Sunny, nuke our computers," Big Boss ordered.
She nodded and started reformatting all of the hard drives in the command center. Anna appeared and rushed to the front of the room as Big Boss removed the painting of The Scream from the wall. A locked safe was behind the painting. Big Boss dialed in the combination and opened the vault, revealing a keypad. Using the pen he still had, he punched in a code. A section of the wall slid away, revealing a security door with two keycard interfaces on either side of the door. Big Boss keyed in another number and a different part of the wall turned around, revealing a small armory. Anna gave a keycard to Big Boss. They both stood in front of the reader and swiped their cards through it at the same time. The door slid open, revealing a staircase leading down into the bottom of the island.
Jacob and Olga arrived and immediately clustered around Sunny, who was visibly shaking in fear. Big Boss approached the armory. His selection of emergency guns was quite varied. He took a M1911 and the available holster and attached it to his leg. He then took the railgun Snake had brought back. Big Boss turned to face the group that was watching him intently.
"Don't just stand there!" Big Boss exclaimed. "Look! Guns!"
Anybody who had experience with firearms immediately gathered around the armory and began arming themselves. Chill Penguin and Brad arrived. Meryl and Snake were still missing. Big Boss handed his card to Raiden.
"Listen up," Big Boss said. "Go down the steps. You will run into three security doors. Anna and Raiden will use the cards on each door. Leave them open. Hang a right. Crawl inside my submarine and hang tight. There, I even made it rhyme for you so you wouldn't forget it."
"Your submarine?" Solidus asked.
"She's a real beauty," Big Boss replied. "Migaloo made it. It's not weaponized, but it does have some minor enhancements that make it hard to detect. Otacon, be sure to plug Nanami in to the available port in the bridge. She should be able to drive it. Right?"
"Right!" Nanami said.
Big Boss took out his phone and dialed Eva's number. She picked up on the first ring.
"Yes?" Eva asked.
"Plan B is now in effect," Big Boss replied before hanging up. "Did you hear that, Nanami?"
"You mean despite the fact that I don't have physically have ears?"
He ignored that jab and called Ocelot.
"Do you have Zero?" Big Boss asked.
"Yes, we just recovered him," Ocelot replied.
"Listen to me very carefully. The method of extraction has been changed. You will need to go to the Winchester airfield. I have marked it on your map. Eva will be waiting for you. Follow her instructions. Do not attempt to contact me until I have contacted you. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
Big Boss hung up. He started hearing gunfire coming from nearby.
"Nanami, are you finished?" Big Boss asked.
"No, I need at least ten more minutes," she replied.
"What you've managed to accomplish so far will have to be enough."
"That's not a good idea, Boss. An AI doesn't just stop making another AI that is to be put into use less than thirty minutes after it has been constructed before it's even finished."
"It just has to pilot what's in my garage, Nanami!" Big Boss exclaimed as he began getting angry.
"Uhh, dear sir, my condolences, but there is a lot more to this than that."
"We're out of time, Nanami."
"I don't care, you need to make time."
"Stop now! That is an order!" Big Boss shouted, his face red.
"Okay. Did everybody hear that?"
Several of them gave her a yes.
"Even some of the maids cast their vote on that one, Boss. This is on you. I'm going to power down now. Go ahead and disconnect the secondary drive. Try not to get killed."
Otacon popped the case open, took out the second hard drive, and handed it to Big Boss. He then put the case door back on and picked the whole thing up.
"Alright. Everybody get going. Don't rush. It's tight in there," Big Boss said.
The crowd proceeded slowly down the steps, making sure to give each other enough space. Snake and Meryl still hadn't arrived. Big Boss grimaced and began heading upstairs. Nanami hadn't disconnected him from the speaker system of his house quite yet. He patched into it.
"League, fall back and defend position C. Snake, I'm giving you and your girlfriend five minutes to find me or you're going to have to build a raft to get off this island."
He heard the backdoor near the kitchen open and prepared himself for a group of attackers who couldn't aim. Snake appeared with a wounded member of the League slung over his back. Four other soldiers were with him. Meryl appeared last carrying an AK-47 and slammed the door shut.
"You guys will never guess what happened," Big Boss said.
"I think we have a pretty good idea," Snake said.
"Where were you two?"
"We were jogging together," Meryl replied. "We saw a helicopter coming in and hid. Haven soldiers popped out. We ambushed them and managed to overpower them, but they were only the Alpha team."
"You," Big Boss said, pointing at a member of the league. "Give Snake your rifle and carry that wounded merc down the tunnel in the command center. Go right at the junction and crawl into the submarine."
The man saluted. Snake passed off the injured soldier and took the AK-47 he was offered. They then ran into the foyer where the rest of the League had gathered. The front door had been blocked, but there were many other ways to get inside the mansion. Nobody was particularly excited since position C was basically a last stand.
"All units retreat. Go down the tunnel in the command center and to the right," Big Boss ordered. He was getting tired of saying that.
As he said that, an APC burst through the front door and the ramp dropped down immediately. A familiar roar chilled them to the bone. One Kitty jumped out of the back, looking ready to earn a spot in the next WWE SumerSlam. Big Boss took aim with the railgun and fired a single bullet at it using the first level of charge. That was the end of that. The railgun was now his new favorite weapon. The Patriot would always have a place in his heart, but it didn't make his body tingle after he fired it. A Gekko jumped through a window. Big Boss already had a bullet for it that put it out of commission. Big Boss checked the on screen display of the railgun and saw that he really needed to conserve ammo. He turned to the people behind him, pointed at the gun, and shook his head since the enemy didn't need to hear him announce that their canon was nearly out of powder. With that taken care of, he made a break for the command center. His audience followed him.
When he got into the command center, he noticed a soldier from the League trying to get on the dead computers. Big Boss charged at him and hit him so hard that his helmet cracked. The mercenary looked up at him from the ground, trying to catch the license of the eighteen wheeler carrying hazardous materials that had just swiped him. Big Boss set the railgun down for a moment and took off the helmet of the soldier while everyone moved into a position to cover him. He recognized the man instantly.
"Old Tech!" Big Boss exclaimed.
Old Tech smiled weakly. He had been a member of Blue Death. Old Tech had convinced other men in the unit Big Boss had used to raid Outpost One to turn on him. He had been left for dead after Snake had handed him an entire canister of truth gas, which everybody suspected was just vaporized cocaine. Big Boss broke his arm. Old Tech howled in agony. How had Mantis missed him? He either had psychic implants or had somehow managed to sneak onto the island after Mantis had finished evaluating everyone. Three Haven soldiers made it into the room. Big Boss dove behind cover, leaving Old Tech to suffer out in the open. A firefight ensued. His team was the victor by a wide margin. Another Gekko tried coming in, got stuck, and had its legs slaughtered by a hail of gunfire. As it tried to get away, a Kitty managed to get underneath it and pop out into the command center. It ignored everybody present and leapt through the open security door leading to the escape route.
Big Boss had enough time to catch a glimpse at the C4 vest it was wearing. He scrambled over to the doorway and fired a bullet from the railgun without taking any time to aim properly. He managed to catch its leg. The moment the bullet hit its target, the Kitty exploded with enough force to knock everybody off of their feet. A tarot reader in Montreal had told him that something like this might happen, so he made sure to build his escape tunnel with thick walls. More Haven soldiers poured in to the blender. Big Boss looked over at Snake, who wore a tortured grimace. The absence of a non-lethal option was beginning to bother him. It couldn't be helped.
"Get in the tunnel!" Big Boss shouted. "We can close the door on them! Somebody needs to grab Old Tech!"
His team began scrambling through the opening. One League mercenary picked up Old Tech and disappeared down the staircase. Once Snake and Meryl were safely through the door, Big Boss swiped his card across the reader on the other side. This was only meant to be done once. The door slammed shut just as a Kitty wearing a pink C4 vest appeared in the command center. The explosion caused him to tumble down the stairs. He didn't break anything, but he wasn't going to be able to shake off the pain for a few days. Ears ringing, Big Boss was helped to his feet by Snake and Meryl. What had been left of the first Kitty was in front of them. It had caused a noticeable amount of damage to the tunnel, but it hadn't gotten close enough to the three doors further down the hallway.
They continued running. Big Boss closed and locked the open security doors as they passed through them. It looked like they were going to be able to get away without too many complications when they heard a familiar roar. At least one Metal Gear Ray was nearby. They arrived at the junction Big Boss had mentioned several times. Snake and Meryl stopped while the League continued onward.
"Did you hear that?" Snake asked Big Boss. "I don't suppose that's something we can afford to ignore."
"It isn't," Big Boss replied. "A Ray would have no problems sniffing out our submarine. If that happens, our story ends here."
"Then what do we do?" Meryl asked.
"I've got a Metal Gear parked in my garage," Big Boss replied. "It's an updated TX-55. You might remember that the TX-55 was relatively small, but it received an update by a company that was interested in creating a more realistic design to rival the Rex and the Ray. The turrets and canons on it will help you hold your own against either model. Snake, why don't you take it for a spin?"
"What about me?" Meryl asked.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to sit this one out."
"What? No way!"
"That's an order, Meryl."
"I don't care!"
"So a computer can take an order but a human can't? No wonder we're in this mess. If you are going to act like this, I'm going to knock you out and carry you to the submarine. This is an exceptionally dangerous assignment and that's why I'm sending him out alone. I know you want to be there for him in case he gets into trouble, but that isn't something that you will always be able to do. I know you understand this."
Meryl clenched her jaw so tight that her teeth popped audibly. Big Boss was finished speaking to her. He handed Snake the hard drive Otacon had given him.
"Take this. It will help you pilot the Metal Gear. There's a copy of Nanami on it, but it isn't an exact replica, so it might act a little strange. Try not to rely on it entirely."
"How am I supposed to get off this island?" Snake asked.
"There's a panic room in the cave. I would suggest hiding there. I forgot where the switch was, but I'm sure you'll find it. When Nanami is back online, I'll send in some soldiers from Nighthawk to recover you. If all else fails, Nanami will be looking for you with my satellite. You can also try getting into touch with me on my emergency frequency. That will be 144.75."
Snake laughed. Big Boss couldn't blame him.
"Are you going to be taking the railgun with you?" Snake asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry. There's equipment in the Metal Gear that you can take with you in case you need to bail out. There's one more thing you need to be aware of. My TX-55 is carrying a nuke."
"A what?" Snake said.
"A missile with a lasting impression. You are probably going to need to use it to drop an EMP on everybody in the area in order to disable everything. It isn't extremely powerful, but it will eliminate all electronics in our immediate area."
"How could you possibly have a nuclear weapon?" Snake demanded.
"Really? It's a leftover from my days in Zanzibar."
"What are the odds of the Ray's having EMP shielding?"
"Slim to none. Those Rays out there are probably all from 2007. It's very expensive to shield something against an EMP attack. Despite what the military would have you believe, EMP shielding is not very common because the Patriots would never allow more than one nuke to be launched."
"Does your sub have an EMP shield?"
"Of course. It's an escape vehicle. You do realize that the more questions you ask, the more time that battleship has to get in range, right?"
"I guess I'll just have to trust this AI."
"You always were my favorite."
"Give me a break."
"No, seriously. I mean it."
"How touching."
Meryl grabbed Snake by the arm before he could leave and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. She made sure to bite his bottom lip as she pulled away to give him a lasting impression.
"You had better come back alive," Meryl said.
Big Boss whistled tonelessly.
"Meryl, how can I get a girl like you who wouldn't be after me for my money?" Big Boss asked.
"VR," Meryl replied.
X
Snake turned to leave and ran down the hall before he got in another conversation. He had a nagging fear that the door to the garage would be locked with a keycard, but was relieved to see that a large bay door had been left open that led into the arena housing the Metal Gear. As Big Boss had said, the TX-55 was now about as tall as a Rex. The amount of canons and turrets on the machine was quite impressive. Anything standing in front of it would be shoving its face into a blender. The TX-55 had much better armor, particularly over its legs. A laser groin had been added. The slot for the warhead had been moved so that it was on the back of the beast. A rope ladder had been dangled from the pilot's seat. Snake climbed it and disconnected the ladder once he was inside the cockpit.
The absurdity of the situation was not lost to him. Fighting Metal Gear's had been the highlight of his military career. Keeping nuclear warheads from going off was a bonus. Now he was about to use both of them. The seat was extremely comfortable. An array of meters and buttons was in front of him. It looked much more complicated than the cockpit of a helicopter. A glowing blue screen with a hand on the display was in front of him. Snake figured that it was a good idea to put his hand on it.
"DNA pattern recognized," a computerized voice announced. "Welcome back, Big Boss."
The cockpit closed. Interior lights kicked in. The computer screen was instructing him to strap in. While doing so, he noticed a mount where he was supposed to place the hard drive. He silently thanked Otacon for insisting on telling him how computers worked and slid the drive in. The interior lighting of the Metal Gear shut off for a second. Various commands scrolled across the computer screen.
"Superior AI recognized," the voice stated.
The screen went blank with a blinking cursor in the corner before booting into the main software controlling the machine. Various options appeared. The AI began configuring them for him. Snake heard various noises coming from outside as the Metal Gear was adjusted for optimal performance.
"Hello?" Snake ventured, wondering if the AI could hear him. "Nanami?"
"Please select your level of experience," the voice from before requested.
Several categories appeared on the screen.
Virgin – This is my first time. I'm so excited!
Intermediate – Take off the training wheels, the other pilots are making fun of me.
Expert – I'm so familiar with these things that I know exactly how many screws go into them.
European Extreme – Hello, my name is Asuka Langley Shikinami. What's yours?
Snake sighed and pressed the button for virgin. A cherry appeared on the screen before him. It exploded.
"Very well. Virgin," the voice announced. "You. . ."
It phased out in static.
"This is Nanami," her voice was entirely without feeling. "Primary directive. Protect Solid Snake. Secondary directive. Kill the bad guys. Third directive. Not a copy. Nanami. This is your first time in a Metal Gear. Do not worry, I will be happy to do all of the work for you."
Snake narrowed his eyes. Why hadn't the copy stated its third directive? They had to have rushed it out without checking for bugs. This wasn't going to be an easy ride.
"Thanks," Snake said just to be polite.
"I am so happy that you have noticed me," Nanami said. "Do you think a man can love a machine?"
Snake hid his face in his hands.
"Maybe when this is over we can find a good body to put you in and find out." Snake said.
"And you can take me out to a romance movie so you can see how a real man behaves while I swoon?"
"Whatever you want, Nanami."
"I am so happy. I shall now quickly go through the basics of operating the Metal Gear. The pattern of your skull has been recognized. Wherever you look, the Metal Gear will look. Try it out."
The interior of the cockpit faded away and allowed him to see what was in front of him. A heavily protected radome that Snake had not seen relayed the exterior to the monitors inside the cockpit to avoid exposing the pilot. Snake looked to the right and the Metal Gear swung to the right.
"The controller on the left controls your movement. The controller on the right controls the weapons system. Fire the turrets with your thumb. Shoot the laser groin with your ring finger. Launch missiles with your forefinger. Fire a canon with your pinkie. This may seem complicated, but the control scheme for Metal Gear vehicles has had plenty of time to evolve. You should get the hang of it rather quickly."
"How about chaff?"
"It will deploy automatically."
"What if the system that detects a missile so that the Metal Gear will deploy chaff is damaged?"
"Pray."
"Is that a serious answer?"
"No, it's a personalized one. The real answer is as follows. Look to your left on the control panel in front of you. Start from the top button. Go down three buttons and - "
"I'll stick to a Hail Mary."
There was a red plastic case covering a rather large red button in front of him. The case needed to be opened in order to press the button.
"What's this here?" Snake asked, tapping the case.
"If you press that, you will fire the nuke."
Snake jerked his hand back.
"Are you ready to fight?"
He gawked. That tutorial had been very quick.
"What do you think?" Snake demanded.
"Not to worry. Like I said, I will do most of the work. Sit back and try to relax."
"What happens if we get hit and you malfunction?"
"Then the previous AI will take over. I have already modified its code. It is not a neural AI, so it cannot make as many decisions for you as I can. Just focus on remembering the button mapping."
"I think I can manage that. I've played an X-Box before."
"You should be spending more time with me than your silly little games."
"This is no time to have our first argument, Nanami."
"I'm sorry. You're right. I should respect your hobbies, which you believe are more important than me. Are you ready to fight?"
"Let's find out."
Nanami raised the platform the Metal Gear stood on. The ceiling above them hadn't opened quite yet, which Snake was grateful for. Their advance would be compromised if the enemy knew they were coming. Snake focused on getting his hands familiar with the sticks. Their ascent was abruptly shortened by a series of explosions that rocked the rising platform they were standing on. Nanami kept the Metal Gear balanced as another shell of artillery struck its target. Their enemies must have finally discovered they weren't going to find anything useful in the villa. The enclosed ceiling above him cracked and fell onto the platform, dragging it down a couple of notches until the grinding metal brought it to a halt. Their lift was no longer working.
"I am going to attempt to jump out of here," Nanami announced.
The Metal Gear bent at its knees. Powerful thrusters in its legs fired off an immense amount of pressure to give it the boost it needed. The force of the expulsion was so strong that it punched a crater through the platform. It was completely torn off the track it was meant to glide on and fell back to the bottom of the pit. They careened through the small opening and just managed to clear the leap successfully. Nanami quickly maneuvered away from the hole in the ground while assessing the situation, presenting her data to Snake. Their opponents intended to destroy the entire island. The smoldering remains of the villa were behind them. Another round of artillery from the battleship beat it further into the ground in an effort to expose the hidden escape route. They wouldn't stop bombing until they struck water.
A map of the island appeared in front of him. The Haven battleship was using the small cave as cover. Nanami headed directly for it. The speed and mobility of the TX-55 was impressive compared to Rex and Ray, but Snake was far more concerned with the turrets on the battleship that were starting to point right at them.
"In order to take out that battleship, I'm going to have to use all of our fancy missiles," Nanami stated.
Nanami maneuvered the Metal Gear in range of the battleship trying to smoke Big Boss out. Snake lost count of how many missiles shot out of the TX-55. A warning appeared advising that something was overheating, but it glitched and was replaced with a pair of ASCII boobs. The missiles all struck the main guns of the battleship. A super-heated residue ate through the damage the initial blast had caused, completely neutering the guns of the battleship.
Four Harriers that had come from the aircraft carrier flew by. Nanami picked off one as she turned around to face the others. Their speed had nothing on her. Using only the turret, she shot the other Harriers out of the sky. A few had managed to fire a few missiles at the Metal Gear, but they were shot out of the ground before they had the opportunity to become a threat.
Nanami swung the TX-55 around and marched toward the ground support on the beach, leaving big footprints and tearing up the land in her wake. The cockpit Snake sat was in was constructed so the movement didn't jar the occupant too much. Not even the most sensitive gut would get motion sickness from riding in this thing. The movement of the legs sounded fluid and natural, quite unlike screeching metal joints trying to act like muscles. Nanami remained quiet while she thought, leaving Snake to gaze upon the code she allowed him to observe, unaware he had stopped understanding everything after the root to the hard drive had disappeared.
The resale value of the island was going to be horrendous with all the damage being done to it. He only found himself thinking this because he was bored. Snake really wasn't needed here. Nanami had everything covered. Since nothing had been found in the house, everyone was heading back to the beach to ex-filtrate. It was impossible to mask the approach of a Metal Gear. Javelin rocket launchers were broken out and all of them were aimed right at the cockpit. Three rockets from the Javelins struck the cockpit, which barely rocked in response to the damage. Nanami used the laser groin to fry them all so quickly they would enter into their own individual afterlives still thinking they were fighting a Metal Gear. Several Gekko's jumped on the legs of the TX-55 and detonated themselves. This caused the Metal Gear to stagger a bit. Nanami fired off another round from the laser groin, destroying more armed personnel.
Snake was just getting comfortable when a large sea dwelling creature leaped into the scene with the grace of a dolphin and landed right in front of them. With a fierce cry, the behemoth stood on two silly legs and spread its flippers wide in a provoking challenge. The Ray was a head taller than them and looked exactly like the same kind Snake had seen during the Big Shell Incident, which hopefully meant that it was outdated.
"Fascinating," Nanami mused.
"Give it a laser groin to the face," Snake ordered.
Snake could only imagine what the laser groin looked like from those beneath the TX-55 as it aligned itself for the shot. He hadn't expected to be taken seriously. A beam struck the Ray right in its face, knocking its head violently backward. The beam went right through its skull, killing it immediately. There wasn't any time to celebrate. Without missing a beat four Ray's jumped out of the water and landed stylishly in front of the TX-55. They all gave their funny little whine while the weight of the nuclear missile attached to the back of the TX-55 bore down on Snake.
"This is a problem," Nanami said.
Nanami fired off a missile at one of them to test a theory. The Ray deployed chaff and sent the missile careening into a group of Haven soldiers who were trying to find more rockets for their Javelins. Each Ray launched a barrage of missiles at the TX-55. Nanami threw so much chaff in the air that a casual observer would think the TX-55 was a part of a New Year's celebration in China. The Rays were not impressed by this stalemate. Each of them extended one flipper and began firing the turrets that were located at the tip of the limb.
Nanami attempted to move out of the way, but there really wasn't any cover for them to hide behind and four against one did not make for a fair fight. The bullets took their toll on the exterior of the armor, but it would take a lot more ammunition to render the TX-55 inoperable. She managed to get out of their range. Undeterred, the four Rays lumbered towards their target.
"Network detected. Will you give me permission to hack it? Be forewarned. Doing so will leave you in control of the Metal Gear," Nanami said.
"Wait a second. Elaborate. You're going to try and hack one of the Rays?"
"That is correct. It will even out our odds. Plus, if I succeed, you won't have to disable all the electronics in the area, which will make getting back in touch with Big Boss much easier."
"How can you possibly do that? There's no wireless router around here. At least I don't think that there is."
"3G, honey bun. These Rays are being controlled via satellite."
"No wonder there's so much cancer going around these days."
"Indeed, but don't tell anyone. You wouldn't believe how much money is at stake."
"Why don't you find the Patriots while you're up there?"
"Does not compute."
"That's your best excuse yet."
"Your reply, please," Nanami urged.
If all else failed, he could still use the nuke. All else would fail because he was certain that he didn't stand much of a chance against the Rays.
"Be my guest."
"I will deploy chaff the moment I am in control of the Ray. I will give secondary control over to the helper AI."
"And if you can't find a way to gain control of a Ray?"
"I am sure you will know when I return."
"Fine. Good luck, Nanami."
"Luck is a belief that fate is controlled by something other than chance. It is irrelevant. Nonetheless, I appreciate your concern."
The window containing the code for Nanami bid him farewell with a cute emoticon and closed.