Chapter Four: A String-Bound Stranger
As soon as the six men from the U.S. helicopter had been hastily escorted away, the area was immediately reinforced with more armed soldiers. Snake sat, his back rested against the crates, trying to make sense of the scene that had just been played before him, but it didn't seem possible. It seemed wrong.
He put his hand to his ear.
"Yes?" Otacon asked.
"Ocelot is here."
"Revolver Ocelot? That doesn't make any sense. None at all."
"He was speaking with the living head of Philosophy.Jack the Ripper."
"Jack the Ripper? That seems so familiar."
"It's Raiden. Everything is the same. His hair, his voice, he's still wearing the Smart Skin he had at the Big Shell. I guess he's gonna sport it as his official trademark."
"He'd need a publicist for that, but.how? And why?"
"I don't know. But, it looked as if one of the delivery boys frightened him."
"Delivery boys?"
"Weren't you watching?"
"I'm using feedback data from the Soliton Radar to compile the images, but I can't see anything more detailed than a dot or two."
"Hmm," Snake grunted.
"What were they delivering? Were they U.S.?"
"Money. 15 million. Their transport was marked with the U.S. seal."
"So the government paid up? No one said anything about that while I was digging around."
"Otacon, where are you right now?"
"Snake, I can't give you my location. If anyone were to track it."
"What city are you in?"
"Washington D.C."
"So, you're not using Codec to contact the people in the Pentagon?"
"Right. I'm mobile."
"Can you do something for me?"
"You don't have anyone to say goodbye to, Snake."
"Funny. I need you to check with your sources. Ask them anything and everything you can think of. If they didn't send that money, then we need to know who did."
"All right, Snake. I'm on it."
The Codec conversation ended there, and Snake peered around the edge of the crate tower. It was hard to make out the bodies of the soldiers close by, so he quickly flipped down his NVG's and took another look. After a moments delay, green engulfed the world around him. He watched as the soldiers paced back and forth, as the spotlights sought dark shadows about the plateau, and as the snow drifted through the air, falling to its rightful resting place - the earth.
It was so strange to Snake, how the world was so peaceful. Even as he sat in his position, waiting only to kill and fight, there was so much happening around him that had nothing to do with his mission or his life. Things as peaceful as the light falling snow.the sparsely arranged pine trees.the tall peaks of the mountains. So much that would not die, even if he were to meet his end that night. But, they were dangerous things. They made him feel too relaxed.too at ease. And that was a dangerous thing.
He quickly left his thoughts and flipped up his NVG's. Suddenly, everything returned to normal and the darkness became the norm yet again. Standing guard at the two entrance doors were two armed soldiers: wearing that odd camouflage. They had not moved all the while, and he waited and watched, expecting them to do something. Still, they did not move. But, just then, he heard something in the direction of the plateau.
"Hmm? What's this?" Snake straightened his back against the tower of crates when he heard the voice. "Huh?! Footprints?!"
Snake's eyes widened. 'Damn!' he thought. The soldier ran to the two guards that stood by the doors. He stressed to them that there was an intruder; that much, Snake had gathered.
"They are footprints! There is an intruder in the area!" The soldier cried, but the two at the entrance shook their heads.
"You and your partner just returned from the plateau, dumbass. They're your own prints! Now get back to your damn post!" One of the guards retorted. But, the soldier did not back down.
"They're not our prints! There's only one trail, and we came back from over there!" The soldier pointed and Snake looked around the crates. He saw the soldier's hand fly up to the left and at that time, another ran up to the two guards.
"It wasn't us. The prints are strange," the other soldier claimed. At that, the two guards at the entrance followed the others to where the prints lay. Snake watched them go over, and saw them trace the path with their eyes. He swung behind the crates and heard them begin stepping toward him. He took notice to the unguarded entrance and in one bolt of enthusiasm, jumped up from his place in the snow, and ran for them.
"Hey! You! Freeze!" The soldiers yelled out, but he did not stop. His legs moved like pistons, pushing him forward as they drew their guns and aimed. He was on the helipad when they fired. Quickly, he flew behind the first helicopter - the U.S. one - and then weaved behind the next with another clear view of the entrance.
The soldiers still fired, but he heard less guns than he had. They were moving. Two of them had held their position, but the other two had begun to move about the area, their legs taking them behind crates and boxes to where they waited for a safe time to run again. Snake knew that if he waited, he would be surrounded, and he would have no way of escape, but it was obvious that at least one of the soldiers would have an aim on the doors and that another would have all ready called in for reinforcements that would surely come bursting from the entrance. 'Keep your nerve,' he thought.
He shot a quick glance to his right. There, mounted on the side of the helicopter, was a small mirror. Conveniently enough, it was turned just so that he could see something moving in its shiny depths. He flipped down his NVG's and as he peered into the mirror, he saw a gun, set on top of a crate, and a man holding it in position. Snake wondered why the soldier had not shot him, for he was easily in sight, but he put the thought aside as he had before.
He examined the reflection more closely and determined that the gun was aiming at the doors. Snake checked his SOCOM pistol and realized again that it was without ammo. He darted around the helicopter and found himself between the two. Both choppers were accessible from where he stood.
His gut drove him toward the Philosophy chopper and he quickly pulled on the door. It didn't open. He raised his pistol and ran it through the window installed in the door. It shattered and he opened the door from the inside.
When he jumped in, he saw a trashed interior. Items of all sorts strewn the floor of the chopper and sitting on the top was one SOCOM magazine. He had come to memorize almost every type of everything regarding the military, and he knew a SOCOM clip when he saw one.
Quickly, he snatched it up and bolted back out of the chopper as he reloaded his weapon. The spotlights had moved over the helipad and it seemed as if a sniper team had moved onto the roof of the building. There was much more security than he had expected to find.
Without further hesitation, he swung around the helicopter and fired once in the direction of the soldier camped behind the crate. He heard a squeal and assumed him dead. Then, he went to the other side of the helicopter, and swung out from there, taking aim at the top of the building. He fired twice, but heard only one yelp. Then, he retreated behind the chopper, all the while, shots being fired aimlessly from the two soldiers in the direction of the plateau.
Snake analyzed the situation, and pondered whether to contact Otacon. Before he had answered to himself, he ran 'round the chopper and threw himself toward the entrance with every step. Time seemed to halt before his eyes and bullets whizzed by his head. He could not take cover. He could only run. And that he did; all the way to the doors, which opened invitingly as he neared them.
He took a hard right the moment he entered the building, and took cover behind the wall. He waited for the doors to close, and he shot the controls mounted in the wall beside them. Sparks flew about the place, and Snake fell against the wall, his body trying to understand what his eyes only saw in a blur.
But, he did not wait for his body to catch up. He gave it only the time he used to search the room, but that was not much time considering that the entrance was a tiny room with only a staircase inside.
There was no time for sitting against walls, catching breath, or pondering the meaning of life. Not when four soldiers or even twenty soldiers were searching for a route into the building. But, just as he had mastered the staircase and had found himself on the first floor, he heard an odd voice, and felt an icicle run through his heart.
"Vat do ve have here?" The voice was high yet feeble. It seemed shaky, but it was one Snake had never heard before. It moved around him and even as he jerked this way and that, to try and find where the voice came from, he saw nothing.
"Huh?! Show yourself!" The room froze and six strings fell to Snake's arms. He jumped back and down fell a life-size puppet. It's hands, knees, feet, and head were suspended by strings that fell from nowhere and were mounted to nothing.
It was a woman. Her legs as pale as wood and her clothes as thin as paint. Her cheeks were accented with red circles and her hair fell like thick red rope. Her smile was stationery. When her face changed, the transition was sudden. Smile to frown in a millisecond.
"You are not happy to zee me?" The voice screeched through the night and Snake raised his gun, aiming it for the doll's head.
"You're a puppet?" Snake spoke without emotion. His voice was blank.
"I am Little Mary! Queen and ruler of the Marionettes!" The odd puppet disappeared into the ceiling and quickly fell back down behind him. He shifted and kept his gun pointed at her forehead. She only smiled, her face not changing at all, as she stalked toward him.
"A Marionette is still a puppet."
"You are confused, my friend. Marionettes are nozing like puppets."
"." Snake watched her intently, even as she appeared behind him time and time again
"Vhere are you headed? Going to save ze hostages?"
"I haven't decided yet. First, I have to take care of you," Snake sneered, but Little Mary continued to smile.
"I hate to disappoint you, but ve vill fight later. For now, I must be gone. Tata, my toy." At that, she disappeared into the ceiling, her menacing laughter echoing through the empty hallway. Snake looked left and right for a moment, to confirm that she had disappeared, and then he lowered his gun.
He frowned to himself, having been referred to as the Marionette's "toy." The idea was unsettling, but before he had any time to think on the topic any longer, he heard a buzzing in his ear and quickly retreated to a nook in the hall. He crouched and put his hand to his ear.
As soon as the six men from the U.S. helicopter had been hastily escorted away, the area was immediately reinforced with more armed soldiers. Snake sat, his back rested against the crates, trying to make sense of the scene that had just been played before him, but it didn't seem possible. It seemed wrong.
He put his hand to his ear.
"Yes?" Otacon asked.
"Ocelot is here."
"Revolver Ocelot? That doesn't make any sense. None at all."
"He was speaking with the living head of Philosophy.Jack the Ripper."
"Jack the Ripper? That seems so familiar."
"It's Raiden. Everything is the same. His hair, his voice, he's still wearing the Smart Skin he had at the Big Shell. I guess he's gonna sport it as his official trademark."
"He'd need a publicist for that, but.how? And why?"
"I don't know. But, it looked as if one of the delivery boys frightened him."
"Delivery boys?"
"Weren't you watching?"
"I'm using feedback data from the Soliton Radar to compile the images, but I can't see anything more detailed than a dot or two."
"Hmm," Snake grunted.
"What were they delivering? Were they U.S.?"
"Money. 15 million. Their transport was marked with the U.S. seal."
"So the government paid up? No one said anything about that while I was digging around."
"Otacon, where are you right now?"
"Snake, I can't give you my location. If anyone were to track it."
"What city are you in?"
"Washington D.C."
"So, you're not using Codec to contact the people in the Pentagon?"
"Right. I'm mobile."
"Can you do something for me?"
"You don't have anyone to say goodbye to, Snake."
"Funny. I need you to check with your sources. Ask them anything and everything you can think of. If they didn't send that money, then we need to know who did."
"All right, Snake. I'm on it."
The Codec conversation ended there, and Snake peered around the edge of the crate tower. It was hard to make out the bodies of the soldiers close by, so he quickly flipped down his NVG's and took another look. After a moments delay, green engulfed the world around him. He watched as the soldiers paced back and forth, as the spotlights sought dark shadows about the plateau, and as the snow drifted through the air, falling to its rightful resting place - the earth.
It was so strange to Snake, how the world was so peaceful. Even as he sat in his position, waiting only to kill and fight, there was so much happening around him that had nothing to do with his mission or his life. Things as peaceful as the light falling snow.the sparsely arranged pine trees.the tall peaks of the mountains. So much that would not die, even if he were to meet his end that night. But, they were dangerous things. They made him feel too relaxed.too at ease. And that was a dangerous thing.
He quickly left his thoughts and flipped up his NVG's. Suddenly, everything returned to normal and the darkness became the norm yet again. Standing guard at the two entrance doors were two armed soldiers: wearing that odd camouflage. They had not moved all the while, and he waited and watched, expecting them to do something. Still, they did not move. But, just then, he heard something in the direction of the plateau.
"Hmm? What's this?" Snake straightened his back against the tower of crates when he heard the voice. "Huh?! Footprints?!"
Snake's eyes widened. 'Damn!' he thought. The soldier ran to the two guards that stood by the doors. He stressed to them that there was an intruder; that much, Snake had gathered.
"They are footprints! There is an intruder in the area!" The soldier cried, but the two at the entrance shook their heads.
"You and your partner just returned from the plateau, dumbass. They're your own prints! Now get back to your damn post!" One of the guards retorted. But, the soldier did not back down.
"They're not our prints! There's only one trail, and we came back from over there!" The soldier pointed and Snake looked around the crates. He saw the soldier's hand fly up to the left and at that time, another ran up to the two guards.
"It wasn't us. The prints are strange," the other soldier claimed. At that, the two guards at the entrance followed the others to where the prints lay. Snake watched them go over, and saw them trace the path with their eyes. He swung behind the crates and heard them begin stepping toward him. He took notice to the unguarded entrance and in one bolt of enthusiasm, jumped up from his place in the snow, and ran for them.
"Hey! You! Freeze!" The soldiers yelled out, but he did not stop. His legs moved like pistons, pushing him forward as they drew their guns and aimed. He was on the helipad when they fired. Quickly, he flew behind the first helicopter - the U.S. one - and then weaved behind the next with another clear view of the entrance.
The soldiers still fired, but he heard less guns than he had. They were moving. Two of them had held their position, but the other two had begun to move about the area, their legs taking them behind crates and boxes to where they waited for a safe time to run again. Snake knew that if he waited, he would be surrounded, and he would have no way of escape, but it was obvious that at least one of the soldiers would have an aim on the doors and that another would have all ready called in for reinforcements that would surely come bursting from the entrance. 'Keep your nerve,' he thought.
He shot a quick glance to his right. There, mounted on the side of the helicopter, was a small mirror. Conveniently enough, it was turned just so that he could see something moving in its shiny depths. He flipped down his NVG's and as he peered into the mirror, he saw a gun, set on top of a crate, and a man holding it in position. Snake wondered why the soldier had not shot him, for he was easily in sight, but he put the thought aside as he had before.
He examined the reflection more closely and determined that the gun was aiming at the doors. Snake checked his SOCOM pistol and realized again that it was without ammo. He darted around the helicopter and found himself between the two. Both choppers were accessible from where he stood.
His gut drove him toward the Philosophy chopper and he quickly pulled on the door. It didn't open. He raised his pistol and ran it through the window installed in the door. It shattered and he opened the door from the inside.
When he jumped in, he saw a trashed interior. Items of all sorts strewn the floor of the chopper and sitting on the top was one SOCOM magazine. He had come to memorize almost every type of everything regarding the military, and he knew a SOCOM clip when he saw one.
Quickly, he snatched it up and bolted back out of the chopper as he reloaded his weapon. The spotlights had moved over the helipad and it seemed as if a sniper team had moved onto the roof of the building. There was much more security than he had expected to find.
Without further hesitation, he swung around the helicopter and fired once in the direction of the soldier camped behind the crate. He heard a squeal and assumed him dead. Then, he went to the other side of the helicopter, and swung out from there, taking aim at the top of the building. He fired twice, but heard only one yelp. Then, he retreated behind the chopper, all the while, shots being fired aimlessly from the two soldiers in the direction of the plateau.
Snake analyzed the situation, and pondered whether to contact Otacon. Before he had answered to himself, he ran 'round the chopper and threw himself toward the entrance with every step. Time seemed to halt before his eyes and bullets whizzed by his head. He could not take cover. He could only run. And that he did; all the way to the doors, which opened invitingly as he neared them.
He took a hard right the moment he entered the building, and took cover behind the wall. He waited for the doors to close, and he shot the controls mounted in the wall beside them. Sparks flew about the place, and Snake fell against the wall, his body trying to understand what his eyes only saw in a blur.
But, he did not wait for his body to catch up. He gave it only the time he used to search the room, but that was not much time considering that the entrance was a tiny room with only a staircase inside.
There was no time for sitting against walls, catching breath, or pondering the meaning of life. Not when four soldiers or even twenty soldiers were searching for a route into the building. But, just as he had mastered the staircase and had found himself on the first floor, he heard an odd voice, and felt an icicle run through his heart.
"Vat do ve have here?" The voice was high yet feeble. It seemed shaky, but it was one Snake had never heard before. It moved around him and even as he jerked this way and that, to try and find where the voice came from, he saw nothing.
"Huh?! Show yourself!" The room froze and six strings fell to Snake's arms. He jumped back and down fell a life-size puppet. It's hands, knees, feet, and head were suspended by strings that fell from nowhere and were mounted to nothing.
It was a woman. Her legs as pale as wood and her clothes as thin as paint. Her cheeks were accented with red circles and her hair fell like thick red rope. Her smile was stationery. When her face changed, the transition was sudden. Smile to frown in a millisecond.
"You are not happy to zee me?" The voice screeched through the night and Snake raised his gun, aiming it for the doll's head.
"You're a puppet?" Snake spoke without emotion. His voice was blank.
"I am Little Mary! Queen and ruler of the Marionettes!" The odd puppet disappeared into the ceiling and quickly fell back down behind him. He shifted and kept his gun pointed at her forehead. She only smiled, her face not changing at all, as she stalked toward him.
"A Marionette is still a puppet."
"You are confused, my friend. Marionettes are nozing like puppets."
"." Snake watched her intently, even as she appeared behind him time and time again
"Vhere are you headed? Going to save ze hostages?"
"I haven't decided yet. First, I have to take care of you," Snake sneered, but Little Mary continued to smile.
"I hate to disappoint you, but ve vill fight later. For now, I must be gone. Tata, my toy." At that, she disappeared into the ceiling, her menacing laughter echoing through the empty hallway. Snake looked left and right for a moment, to confirm that she had disappeared, and then he lowered his gun.
He frowned to himself, having been referred to as the Marionette's "toy." The idea was unsettling, but before he had any time to think on the topic any longer, he heard a buzzing in his ear and quickly retreated to a nook in the hall. He crouched and put his hand to his ear.