Holly's eyes widened, lowering the switch she held. "That gun…"

"Yeah. It's the one you gave me." I held the revolver firm with both of my hands, keeping it pointed at my best friend.

"So that's how it's going to be." She then smiled. "What will it be, Jack? Loyalty to me or loyalty to your country?"

I thought my hands would shake the moment I pointed it at Holly but for some reason, they didn't. And then, something clicked in my mind. I finally understood why I wasn't shaking. I gazed back at Holly who seemed dead serious.

"You know, I always thought you were similar to The Boss," I said without pointing my gun away. "I admire you so much, after all. I'm not saying I'm Naked Snake though. I'd make a shitty Big Boss. And I realized something just now."

Holly raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"You're not The Boss."

For a moment, Holly looked confused, but then raised the switch again. "You're stalling."

I chuckled. "No, I'm just being honest with you."

"Then you should just give up." Holly raised the switch again.

"No. Not now. Not ever." I held my gun firmly.

"Then—"

"Don't!"

As Holly almost pressed the switch,I pulled the trigger. The revolver was loud and it hurt my arms a lot. It took a lot of effort not to drop it. She was shot on her right shoulder, making her drop the switch. Holly fell onto the floor, making a loud thud on the wood. At that point, I was hyperventilating. I just shot my best friend. No, I didn't. Calm down. I went over to her and saw her surprised face just staring at the ceiling. From where I shot her, it wasn't bleeding. Just a hole on her arm.

I pointed revolver at her face. "You're not The Boss. You're just an AI."

Holly looked at me, still shocked and mouth agape, and then laughed. "So you've finally played Peace Walker… No wonder I got shot. I finally got your analogy."

I weakly laughed. "Yeah."

This reminded me of Snake pointing Boss's gun at her; I held the same gun Holly gave me at her. It felt like a cruel twist of fate.

"I never thought there would be a day that you'd shoot me."

"I haven't." I retorted.

Holly looked confused. "What?"

"Holly died a year ago. You're just a copy."

"Like an AI pod, huh?" Holly closed her eyes. "Maybe I am not Holly."

"You'd never let anyone get hurt for the sake of another's happiness."

She then opened her eyes. "You're right. For some reason, I just wanted to help her ever since I found her. She went through a lot, you know."

"We all did."

Holly giggled. "You're right. And look how much you've grown. I think… the real Holly would be proud of you. But I feel proud of you too, Luce. I know it doesn't sound much from me, but I just want you to know."

I kept my revolver pointed at her.

"If it helps, I'm truly sorry." Holly genuinely smiled at me. "I think I failed you as a friend."

The gun in my hands felt heavier.

"Why are you crying?"

I touched my face and felt my tears on my fingers. I didn't even notice that. I lowered my gun, knelt down and held her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Right now, it feels like you really are Holly." I smiled at her.

"I see." Holly held my hands with hers. "I'm sorry for everything." She wiped the tears off my face. "Maybe I can at least be a close copy to the woman you once knew."

Holly lifted her hand towards my face. I felt her thumb pushing away the tears away.

"This is so weird. I feel like I am Holly but I know that I died already. Who am I then?"

"I believe…" Yuri started, "that you are Holly, a good person. Because there's no way a person Luce loves could ever be a bad person."

I looked at Yuri who knelt beside Holly's other side. "Yuri…"

Holly looked at Yuri and smiled at her. "I'm so sorry I used you."

Yuri placed her hand on her chest. "You were thinking of your friend. I know it's hard to make a decision between friends."

Holly shook her head. "What I did was wrong. There's no need to dance around it."

"Holly," I called. "Can you please help us stop Creuset?"

Holly closed her eyes in thought then opened them again. "Of course." She then sat upright.

"You okay though?" I asked. "I did just shoot you."

"It's alright, I turned off my pain receptors around there." Holly said as she pointed to the hole on her shoulder.

"Your what?"

"I can turn off pain, Luce. "


The three of us left the white room and began to climb up to reach the top floor. Holly explained that the only way to stop Creuset now was to… Well, Holly wasn't sure what was on the top floor but she knew Creuset was protective of whatever was in there.

"Wait, how come you've never been there?" I wondered as we walked briskly.

"I only woke up yesterday, Luce. I only heard Mackenzie mention it." Holly explained.

"Also, how far is the fucking top floor?!"

"We'll get there, Luce," Yuri reassured me.

"We better!"

We started running around and climbing about four sets of stairs, we reached a spiral staircase.

"Okay, this has to be fucking it," I panted.

"Yeah, this is it," Holly confirmed.

I then noticed I was the only one panting. Right, I'm the only flesh and bones in this shindig. I grabbed my knees as I wheezed like an asthmatic.

"Are you alright, Luce?" Yuri worriedly asked.

"Nah, I'm fine." I kept panting though. "Fuck."

"We should've slowed down a bit..." Holly realized.

"No… fucking shit." I agreed.

"What are you three doing outside your room?"

We all looked behind us and saw Mackenzie. How the hell did she got there without us noticing!? Mackenzie just looked at us with a smile.

"How long were you hiding there, Mac?" I asked as I stood straight.

"Lucretia, I do not hide. I only know where I'm supposed to be."

"Mac," Holly said worriedly, "we have to stop Creuset. She's going to do something really bad if we let her continue."

"Oh, Holly." Mackenzie looked at Holly disappointed. "To think you'd go against us."

"Mackenzie, I'm trying to stop Creuset from doing something she'll regret!" Holly protested.

Mackenzie shook her head. "That's not for you to decide."

And then, a voice boomed from above. "You're absolutely right, mother."

Footsteps rang from the metal stairs. A girl wearing a white dress stepped down slowly and smiled at us. Her face seemed familiar to me…

"Creuset." Holly called out.

I, of course, pulled out my revolver and pointed at the son of a bitch.