Chapter Thirty-Two: "I am the Lamb"
The button was highlighted as the elevator settled on the third floor. The heavy doors slid apart, and Jack stepped cautiously into the lobby area of the floor, Otacon slowly making his way out of the elevator and following close.
"A computer lab," Jack noted, as his eyes scanned the area. Past the small lobby, through a short corridor, they found a giant room littered with desks, assembled and unassembled computers, and tall black boxes that spoke very loudly, humming a tune and beeping. Otacon's eyes flashed and he hurried over to one of the tall black boxes, sliding his hand down its surface. Jack ran over to him and grabbed his arm.
"Calm down," Jack said, but Otacon wasn't listening.
"A Delta," he said, noting the triangle symbol on the box's body. "Most expensive supercomputer hardware available. Why would they need something like this in a building to be used solely for the Patriot?"
"Shh!" Jack put his finger over his lips and let go of Otacon, stepping toward the back of the room where another hall branched off. He had heard something. What it was, he wasn't sure, but he had heard something. He knew that much.
"Do you hear that?" he asked, stopping. Otacon walked over to him and stood patiently, searching for a sound. Something out of the ordinary, but all he could hear was the hum of the computers.
"Nothing," he said, and then hurried over to one of the desks where a computer was assembled. He took a seat in a swivel chair and Jack moved behind him. "Maybe we can get an idea of what this is all for if I can pull up a software check," Otacon indicated, moving the mouse at his side and watching the black monitor blink back on. "Sleep Mode," he said, waiting for the desktop to focus.
Once it had, he began moving through the windows and lists as there came a ringing in his ear. He put his hand to his ear and waited for a click to indicate his connection.
"Otacon?" Mei Ling.
"Mei Ling! Are you all right?" Otacon replied.
"I'm fine. So is Naomi and the Colonel."
"Good. What's the news? Any word on Dante's whereabouts?"
"None," she answered. "We're moving to Tower Two to find cover, but Fox and the woman went back to Tower One. They're looking for you."
"Why?"
"They're not letting you do this on your own." There was a pause. "The other man is with us. Protecting us."
"Who is he?" Otacon asked, baffled. Everyone wanted to know.
"We're not sure," Mei Ling answered, and then Naomi and the Colonel moved onto the line.
"Otacon?" the Colonel asked.
"Colonel Campbell," Otacon said briefly.
"I'm sorry…I couldn't keep from talking," the Colonel apologized.
"Its all right, Colonel. You're safe, and so are we."
"There is something else I want to tell you. It's not much, but it's all that I know." The Colonel paused. "Your operation to retrieve files from the Compilation wasn't decided upon by Dante or I. We had been working together for some time, and he always thought it too dangerous to think of confronting the Patriot ourselves…but someone else changed his mind."
"Who, Colonel?" Jack asked, moving onto the line.
"The agent called Esher," he answered. "She…or he…suggested it, and it was Formal who backed the idea. I don't know what it means, but I don't think that FACtion is the only group that wants the disc."
"Then who?" Jack inquired.
"We're not sure," Naomi answered.
"Naomi!" Otacon seemed surprised to hear her voice.
"Otacon," the Colonel began again, "don't worry about this information yet. We'll figure out what we can. Where's Snake?"
"He's on the second floor…investigating," Otacon answered.
"All right," the Colonel said. "We'll be in touch."
"Right," Otacon replied. "Don't be a stranger." Then, the transmission ended and Otacon cocked his head, watching as a list of installed software appeared on the computer screen. One seemed particularly interesting, and seemed…familiar. "IDT?"
"What is it Mr. Snake?" Tauran asked, his voice low and harsh. The victim who was clenched tightly in his hand had become no more than a pile of torn muscles and bone sitting before him, and the spiders had returned to their webs in anticipation of another great feast. "You eat meat, do you not?"
Snake thought he might answer, but thought not to. Instead, Tauran continued without him. "Of course you do. Think of the cattle…their bodies ripped and slashed, only leaving bone and various organs to litter the cold cement floor of the common slaughterhouse. Humans kill each other, their bodies being left in morgues and deep pits for years and years. Why can my spiders not make something of their kills. They do not kill and walk, but eat. Every last bit." Snake cringed, his eyes wandering the room. "And what they miss…I am sure to finish for them." Tauran took a long vein wrapped around one of the bones and bit it near its end, sending a surge of blood down his throat. He smiled.
"Sometimes there's blood left over. Like a surprise cake…or a cream-filled donut." He paused, his eyes set on Snake, and then took the vein into his mouth and sipped it up like a strand of sticky spaghetti. With that, Snake fired again – this time sending the bullet through a large spider dangling eerily near him. There was a terrible scream as it splashed open, showering Snake with a wave of warm blood. He looked at his shoulder and noticed the spatter of crimson staining his sneaking suit. Then he looked up again to see Tauran's angry eyes opened as wide as able.
"My spider," he breathed unusually. There was a horror in his eyes, like he had just seen a terrible atrocity committed, one that had taken the lives of a thousand innocent people. But what he had seen was the murder of ten thousand innocent people to him – the murder of one of his several spiders. "You are a murderer!"
"And what are you?" Snake asked as Tauran stepped forward, stopping him in his place. Tauran's eyes began to look around, a sign of deep thought. Then, they were level with Snake. They grew wide and he cried: "A servant!"
He leapt forward and Snake fired off his SOCOM once more, putting a bloody mark in Tauran's right shoulder. The immediate sight of blood had sparked excitement in the spiders and they began to shift, slowly stepping down their webs.
Tauran turned behind a cubicle wall and sat for a moment, silence filling the room. Snake was still by the door, his gun raised high, but the blade that had once been at his feet was gone. Tauran began to laugh.
"It is called a Reaper," he said. Snake listened closely. "You see the twisted blade…make a single hole in one's body, then move the blade as you sink it into the flesh until you have the entire silver soaked in blood. Then…pull straight out, and the kinks do their job, tearing flesh, bone, and muscle from the victim." Tauran held the Reaper out of the cubicle, giving Snake another look. "It really is a magnificent piece of art."
Snake waited no longer and fired twice more, two bullets penetrating the flimsy cubicle wall and plowing into Tauran's right shoulder blade. "Aghhh!" he cried, dropping the Reaper at his side and laying on his left, tucking his legs into the cubicle and gritting his teeth in pain.
Snake took note to the spiders. Their eyes were gleaming with delight as they began to crawl down their long strands of blood, their legs working slowly and their mouths flexing and readying for the feast. The blood that stained Tauran was all that they saw, all that they wanted or desired. The red splotches overshadowed Snake's act of violence. They were scavengers, not loyal to Tauran, but to blood.
"They're still hungry," Snake said aloud, sending Tauran's eyes into the air where they found a mass of spiders all moving down toward him. He was shaking his head, slowly at first but then in wild denial.
"Snake!" Tauran cried, pulling himself along the floor and out of the cubicle. "Snake!" he cried again, reaching his arm out to him as the spiders came just a foot from the ground, and half a foot from his back. "You are to be the next sacrifice!"
Quickly, he took up the Reaper and turned onto his back slashing several spiders into fragments of blood-sopping skin. As Snake watched, not seeing Tauran as a threat any longer, the brute man moved onto his feet and once realizing his predicament, let the spiders come down on him. Tauran, the spider, was the first to land. She stepped down his face, his neck, and then sat on his shoulder licking at the wound. The brute smiled.
"They aren't going to feast me," he said in surprise and joy. "They are kind," he continued, but then Tauran looked into his eyes and sank her teeth deep into his wound, sending a strain of venom and poison through his body, coupled with a terrible pain that set his blood on fire. "TAURAN?! AGHH!" he yelled, dropping his Reaper to the floor as the spider worked its arms into his wound and bore its path, paving the way for the rest of the spiders that quickly followed, sinking into Tauran's shoulder and eating paths through his body.
He was panting…sweat was dripping down his face…his blood red eyes were turning a pale white as the silhouette of a spider moved through his pupils and then into his throat, stepping out on his tongue. His arms were shaking uncontrollably and his muscles were flexing and relaxing as the spiders tore them apart. Snake turned away, but Tauran's arm went up, his fingers stretched out.
"Sn…Snake," he breathed, taking several troublesome gulps of air. "I…will be-become stronger…coursing th-through them." He paused as the spiders busted through his chest and his back, looking for a new entry. "I…am the lamb."
Snake blinked and then started out of the room as the spiders devoured the last of what was keeping Tauran alive. "I… am the lamb!" he cried, laughing absurdly as Snake traveled down the halls. "I AM THE LAMB! THE LAMB! I AM…THE LAMB!"
The button was highlighted as the elevator settled on the third floor. The heavy doors slid apart, and Jack stepped cautiously into the lobby area of the floor, Otacon slowly making his way out of the elevator and following close.
"A computer lab," Jack noted, as his eyes scanned the area. Past the small lobby, through a short corridor, they found a giant room littered with desks, assembled and unassembled computers, and tall black boxes that spoke very loudly, humming a tune and beeping. Otacon's eyes flashed and he hurried over to one of the tall black boxes, sliding his hand down its surface. Jack ran over to him and grabbed his arm.
"Calm down," Jack said, but Otacon wasn't listening.
"A Delta," he said, noting the triangle symbol on the box's body. "Most expensive supercomputer hardware available. Why would they need something like this in a building to be used solely for the Patriot?"
"Shh!" Jack put his finger over his lips and let go of Otacon, stepping toward the back of the room where another hall branched off. He had heard something. What it was, he wasn't sure, but he had heard something. He knew that much.
"Do you hear that?" he asked, stopping. Otacon walked over to him and stood patiently, searching for a sound. Something out of the ordinary, but all he could hear was the hum of the computers.
"Nothing," he said, and then hurried over to one of the desks where a computer was assembled. He took a seat in a swivel chair and Jack moved behind him. "Maybe we can get an idea of what this is all for if I can pull up a software check," Otacon indicated, moving the mouse at his side and watching the black monitor blink back on. "Sleep Mode," he said, waiting for the desktop to focus.
Once it had, he began moving through the windows and lists as there came a ringing in his ear. He put his hand to his ear and waited for a click to indicate his connection.
"Otacon?" Mei Ling.
"Mei Ling! Are you all right?" Otacon replied.
"I'm fine. So is Naomi and the Colonel."
"Good. What's the news? Any word on Dante's whereabouts?"
"None," she answered. "We're moving to Tower Two to find cover, but Fox and the woman went back to Tower One. They're looking for you."
"Why?"
"They're not letting you do this on your own." There was a pause. "The other man is with us. Protecting us."
"Who is he?" Otacon asked, baffled. Everyone wanted to know.
"We're not sure," Mei Ling answered, and then Naomi and the Colonel moved onto the line.
"Otacon?" the Colonel asked.
"Colonel Campbell," Otacon said briefly.
"I'm sorry…I couldn't keep from talking," the Colonel apologized.
"Its all right, Colonel. You're safe, and so are we."
"There is something else I want to tell you. It's not much, but it's all that I know." The Colonel paused. "Your operation to retrieve files from the Compilation wasn't decided upon by Dante or I. We had been working together for some time, and he always thought it too dangerous to think of confronting the Patriot ourselves…but someone else changed his mind."
"Who, Colonel?" Jack asked, moving onto the line.
"The agent called Esher," he answered. "She…or he…suggested it, and it was Formal who backed the idea. I don't know what it means, but I don't think that FACtion is the only group that wants the disc."
"Then who?" Jack inquired.
"We're not sure," Naomi answered.
"Naomi!" Otacon seemed surprised to hear her voice.
"Otacon," the Colonel began again, "don't worry about this information yet. We'll figure out what we can. Where's Snake?"
"He's on the second floor…investigating," Otacon answered.
"All right," the Colonel said. "We'll be in touch."
"Right," Otacon replied. "Don't be a stranger." Then, the transmission ended and Otacon cocked his head, watching as a list of installed software appeared on the computer screen. One seemed particularly interesting, and seemed…familiar. "IDT?"
"What is it Mr. Snake?" Tauran asked, his voice low and harsh. The victim who was clenched tightly in his hand had become no more than a pile of torn muscles and bone sitting before him, and the spiders had returned to their webs in anticipation of another great feast. "You eat meat, do you not?"
Snake thought he might answer, but thought not to. Instead, Tauran continued without him. "Of course you do. Think of the cattle…their bodies ripped and slashed, only leaving bone and various organs to litter the cold cement floor of the common slaughterhouse. Humans kill each other, their bodies being left in morgues and deep pits for years and years. Why can my spiders not make something of their kills. They do not kill and walk, but eat. Every last bit." Snake cringed, his eyes wandering the room. "And what they miss…I am sure to finish for them." Tauran took a long vein wrapped around one of the bones and bit it near its end, sending a surge of blood down his throat. He smiled.
"Sometimes there's blood left over. Like a surprise cake…or a cream-filled donut." He paused, his eyes set on Snake, and then took the vein into his mouth and sipped it up like a strand of sticky spaghetti. With that, Snake fired again – this time sending the bullet through a large spider dangling eerily near him. There was a terrible scream as it splashed open, showering Snake with a wave of warm blood. He looked at his shoulder and noticed the spatter of crimson staining his sneaking suit. Then he looked up again to see Tauran's angry eyes opened as wide as able.
"My spider," he breathed unusually. There was a horror in his eyes, like he had just seen a terrible atrocity committed, one that had taken the lives of a thousand innocent people. But what he had seen was the murder of ten thousand innocent people to him – the murder of one of his several spiders. "You are a murderer!"
"And what are you?" Snake asked as Tauran stepped forward, stopping him in his place. Tauran's eyes began to look around, a sign of deep thought. Then, they were level with Snake. They grew wide and he cried: "A servant!"
He leapt forward and Snake fired off his SOCOM once more, putting a bloody mark in Tauran's right shoulder. The immediate sight of blood had sparked excitement in the spiders and they began to shift, slowly stepping down their webs.
Tauran turned behind a cubicle wall and sat for a moment, silence filling the room. Snake was still by the door, his gun raised high, but the blade that had once been at his feet was gone. Tauran began to laugh.
"It is called a Reaper," he said. Snake listened closely. "You see the twisted blade…make a single hole in one's body, then move the blade as you sink it into the flesh until you have the entire silver soaked in blood. Then…pull straight out, and the kinks do their job, tearing flesh, bone, and muscle from the victim." Tauran held the Reaper out of the cubicle, giving Snake another look. "It really is a magnificent piece of art."
Snake waited no longer and fired twice more, two bullets penetrating the flimsy cubicle wall and plowing into Tauran's right shoulder blade. "Aghhh!" he cried, dropping the Reaper at his side and laying on his left, tucking his legs into the cubicle and gritting his teeth in pain.
Snake took note to the spiders. Their eyes were gleaming with delight as they began to crawl down their long strands of blood, their legs working slowly and their mouths flexing and readying for the feast. The blood that stained Tauran was all that they saw, all that they wanted or desired. The red splotches overshadowed Snake's act of violence. They were scavengers, not loyal to Tauran, but to blood.
"They're still hungry," Snake said aloud, sending Tauran's eyes into the air where they found a mass of spiders all moving down toward him. He was shaking his head, slowly at first but then in wild denial.
"Snake!" Tauran cried, pulling himself along the floor and out of the cubicle. "Snake!" he cried again, reaching his arm out to him as the spiders came just a foot from the ground, and half a foot from his back. "You are to be the next sacrifice!"
Quickly, he took up the Reaper and turned onto his back slashing several spiders into fragments of blood-sopping skin. As Snake watched, not seeing Tauran as a threat any longer, the brute man moved onto his feet and once realizing his predicament, let the spiders come down on him. Tauran, the spider, was the first to land. She stepped down his face, his neck, and then sat on his shoulder licking at the wound. The brute smiled.
"They aren't going to feast me," he said in surprise and joy. "They are kind," he continued, but then Tauran looked into his eyes and sank her teeth deep into his wound, sending a strain of venom and poison through his body, coupled with a terrible pain that set his blood on fire. "TAURAN?! AGHH!" he yelled, dropping his Reaper to the floor as the spider worked its arms into his wound and bore its path, paving the way for the rest of the spiders that quickly followed, sinking into Tauran's shoulder and eating paths through his body.
He was panting…sweat was dripping down his face…his blood red eyes were turning a pale white as the silhouette of a spider moved through his pupils and then into his throat, stepping out on his tongue. His arms were shaking uncontrollably and his muscles were flexing and relaxing as the spiders tore them apart. Snake turned away, but Tauran's arm went up, his fingers stretched out.
"Sn…Snake," he breathed, taking several troublesome gulps of air. "I…will be-become stronger…coursing th-through them." He paused as the spiders busted through his chest and his back, looking for a new entry. "I…am the lamb."
Snake blinked and then started out of the room as the spiders devoured the last of what was keeping Tauran alive. "I… am the lamb!" he cried, laughing absurdly as Snake traveled down the halls. "I AM THE LAMB! THE LAMB! I AM…THE LAMB!"