Chapter Twelve: Cell
Snake watched as Liquid sat down, a hand running through his dark blonde hair. "Well, brother, we've been expecting you. That whole collapse thing was quite exciting, wasn't it?"
Snake grimaced. "Thousands died, and are dying. I don't see what is 'quite exciting' about that."
Liquid laughed. "Well, you wouldn't. We had quite the time down here, wondering if the ceiling was going to come down or not. Luckily, the Patriots have had this place fully reinforced against any type of attack."
Hidden in the shadows, Mantis snorted. Liquid turned to him, a smile on his face. "Ah, yes, our beloved comrade, returned from the land of the dead. So how are you, old friend?"
"When I said that I'm back from a world where such words do not matter, I mean it," Mantis snapped. Liquid put his hands up, as if to fend the psychic off. "I see. Sorry. But…" Liquid's eyes flashed. "I seem to remember going to that world myself, and still feeling much the same after I returned. Dreary place, really. Boring, at best."
Mantis stiffened. "Like you would know anything about it, parasite." His disgust was evident. "Lying there in Ocelot's arm… and now you and he stand side-by-side. I am amazed by it. In the motherland something like that was cause for a fight to the death…"
Liquid was up in a flash. "You are here by our grace," he said. "To my knowledge, you were dead when we began this little operation. You infiltrated this facility much the same way Snake did, we have tape of you killing FOXHOUND operative Tank, and several guards. I could have you killed on the spot."
"You cannot kill me," Mantis said. He glanced at Vamp for a moment. "'Unfortunately, Hell had no vacancies.' It never will, not for me. I can transfer from body to body, almost at will."
"Then why didn't you do it on Shadow Moses?"
"Ah, but I did." Mantis smiled. He turned to Snake. "I believe that your little girlfriend Meryl is no longer among the living. Hasn't been for years."
"What?!"
* * *
The man in the chair thrashed about, his hands and legs going into spasms as they strained against the restrained. His head was tied down with a leather strap, and some kind of high-tech goggles had been placed over his eyes. Similar-looking earphones covered his ears, and his body was literally covered with small electric nodes hooked up to five CRAY supercomputers.
"What's going on?" one of the many techs in the room asked with alarm. "Get the doctor in here," said another. "He's having a reaction to… something… in there."
"Find out what!" the head technician, a large, balding man, stood. "Get a monitor in here! I'm amazed we didn't have one before! Where's the chief engineer, I'm going to wring his neck—"
"Calm down."
The voice was soft, but immediately silence filled the room, save for the man's thrashing. Sphere walked in, flanked by two NSA agents with not-quite- concealed M4s behind their trench coats. Following them was a sniveling little man who seemed terrified of everything in the room.
Sphere pointed to the man on the table. "Gaius, probe him."
* * *
"She's not dead," Snake said vehemently, straining against his bonds. [Be careful, Snake your blood pressure is spiking,] Otacon said through the Codec. "I… don't… care…" Snake hissed. "I am going to kill that bastard."
Liquid's smiling face hovered above him suddenly. "Guards, take him away," he said. Two guards came over and began unstrapping him.
Bad idea… Snake thought.
As soon as his legs and one arm were free, a kick sent one of the guards flying into Ocelot. He freed the other arm, and the corresponding guard was sent into Liquid and Mantis, knocking them to the ground as well.
Jumping off the gurney he'd been strapped to, Snake grabbed the five five sixer the nearest guard had been carrying, pointed it at the struggling heap of men on the floor, and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. Snake checked the clip and the barrel. Nothing. The safety was off.
Ocelot was the first to rise, a Colt Single Action Army in his hand, aimed between Snake's eyes. "Put the gun down, boy," he said. "Slowly. I don't have time for your antics today. Haven't you ever heard of PIN? No pulling the trigger for you."
Snake slowly dropped the assault rifle to floor, and put his hands over his head. "Good boy," Ocelot said. He gave one guard a brutal kick in the side. Snake could dimly hear ribs cracking. "Get up!" the former Spetznaz yelled. "You lazy, worthless…!"
"That's enough, Ocelot," Liquid said, getting up, brushing himself off. Nodding to the guards, he said, "take him away. And make sure you do it right this time." The guard nodded. He swiftly brought the butt of his rifle up, and Snake could hear a crack as pain exploded in the back of his head. He could dimly hear Liquid's laughter as he was dragged away, and then blackness overtook him once again.
When he awoke, Snake found himself in a cell set up much like the holding pen on Shadow Moses. A single mattress (no cot, Snake thought), one door, and wall-to-wall windows so the guards could watch him. Or, in his case, one guard. Also like Shadow Moses.
Wait a minute… that one guard looked a lot like… a lot like…
"Sasaki!" Snake whispered through the bars on his door. The guard turned, and ran over to the door.
"How do you know my name?" he said suspiciously. "Who're you, anyway? How'd you get in here, and you must be the stupidest ass who ever lived if you got caught!"
"Shut up, Sasaki," Snake said. "Its Snake."
The man's eyes widened. "Hey!" he yelled. "You… and that girl… five years ago! You guys embarrassed me so much! Shut up in there! Don't make me come in."
Snake laughed. "How'd you get back with the Genome Army?" he asked. "I heard you escaped off that God-forsaken island, but I thought you'd slowly disappeared into the woodwork."
Sasaki gave him a suspicious look before saying, "I tried to get a job, but it was so boring there! I mean, I do have an IQ of 180—"
"Sasaki, you are an ordinary soldier who was stationed at Shadow Moses in the hopes of having you killed in the uprising by a particularly vicious division CO who you had been secretary for," Snake said. "Now open this door, Jonny, I don't have the time to sit here and figure out some elaborate plan to get out of here."
"W-what are you talking about?" Sasaki said. "Open the door," Snake said slowly. "No way!" Sasaki yelled.
"What's going on in there?"
The voice was gruff, and sounded old. The door to the cell block opened with a silent whir, and a man whose appearance in no way matched the preconception one received when they heard his voice walked up to Sasaki. He was about 6'4", with jet black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in a simple black flightsuit, without all the accompanying gear one usually added on. In one arm he casually held an MP40 Schmeisser submachine gun, a relic from World War Two. "My name is Griffin, Solid Snake," he said. "Specialist in interrogation, and a formidable gunfighter."
"Don't you already have one of those?" Snake asked, pointing to Ocelot, who had entered the cell block behind Griffin.
Griffin laughed. "I suppose so," he said. "But it never hurts to have two." He nodded to Sasaki. "Take him to the interrogation chamber," he said. "I'm sure our friend has—many—things to tell us."
Sasaki nodded, visibly trembling. He opened the cell door and grabbed Snake. "C'mon, you," he said, feigning an air of toughness and superiority for his bosses. Too bad they didn't see him on Shadow Moses, Snake thought.
He was led through a twisting series of corridors, Griffin's MP40 painfully jabbing into his back the entire way, until they entered a large circular room with a large torture device in the middle. "Looks like you got a new mattress for your bed," Snake said to Ocelot.
Ocelot chuckled. "You could say that, Solid Snake," he said. "Or we could say I have found myself a new partner, and he has some very nice toys he brought over."
Ocelot knew that most of the instruments on the device were harmless pieces of plastic, but the ones that weren't were very very deadly. "Strap him in," he said to Sasaki. Turning to Griffin, he said, "now we can test your little toy."
"Its very nice," Griffin said, as Sasaki strapped Snake onto the table. As soon as the legendary warrior was contained, he said, "what's your name, guard?"
"J-Jonny Sasaki, sir."
Griffin smiled. The look sent a shiver down Jonny's spine. "Turn the power on, Mr. Sasaki," he said. Jonny nodded and pushed a large red button on a control panel standing beside the torture device. Immediately, Snake's back arched, as he felt a mild electrical current begin to run through the device (and through him). "Mr. Sasaki, turn the black dial to your right to… oh, I don't know, three," Griffin said.
Sasaki, gulping, did so, and Snake felt his left arm begin to spasm. It didn't really hurt, more than a feeling that something was wrong over there. The arm continued to jerk uncontrollably. "Now, Snake, I'm going to ask you some questions about Philanthropy, the Patriots—" Griffin's eyes seemed to harden and his smile disappeared—"and your 'father,' Saladin."
"Big Boss…" Snake muttered. "Turn off your wind-up toy here, and maybe we'll talk. About my 'father.'"
"I'll consider it." Griffin's smile was back. "Mr. Sasaki, turn it up to… nine." Even Ocelot let out a little gasp of astonishment. "You do know how much the body can take, Griffin," he said. "Seven would be much more appropriate."
"I know," Griffin said. "Mr. Sasaki, nine."
Jonny slowly turned the dial, and Snake's vision went red with pain. He let out an inhuman howl that shook Jonny to the bone, and even Ocelot appeared a bit shaken. "Turn it off, Mr. Sasaki," Griffin said after a moment. Then he turned to Snake. "So," he said, "tell us all you know about Saladin."
Snake bit his lip and said, "you'll have to do better than that."
"That dial goes all the way up to level twenty, Solid Snake," Griffin said. "Sasaki, thirteen," he snapped.
Snake's arm began to blister and turn red as electricity arced through it. He passed out within seconds. "Wake him up, Sasaki," Griffin said. Jonny did, and the interrogation went from there.
* * *
The pilot said, "Mr. Smith, United States airspace is restricted. If we attempt to enter, we'll be shot down by one of those F-34s."
"I have clearance," 'Sears' said. "Transmit them the signal on this disk. We'll land at JFK." He handed the disk to an attendant, who gave it to the pilot. Turning and heading back to his seat, he pulled a slim cell phone hardly bigger than a large cigarette lighter out of his pocket and dialed a number. "I'm landing at JFK in ten minutes."
"Understood, father," the man on the other end said. "We've captured Snake. I hope you'll get here before he dies. The interrogation Griffin is putting him through is… quite… rigorous, Ocelot said.
Big Boss cursed. "Tell him to lay off, or he will die along with Snake. I want a talk with my son. Proceed as planned, Liquid. Outer Heaven is so close." Hanging up, he looked out at the massive cloud of dust and smoke obscuring Manhattan. By the end of the day, Heaven itself would rise out of the ruins of the United States.
Or Outer Heaven, at the least.
Snake watched as Liquid sat down, a hand running through his dark blonde hair. "Well, brother, we've been expecting you. That whole collapse thing was quite exciting, wasn't it?"
Snake grimaced. "Thousands died, and are dying. I don't see what is 'quite exciting' about that."
Liquid laughed. "Well, you wouldn't. We had quite the time down here, wondering if the ceiling was going to come down or not. Luckily, the Patriots have had this place fully reinforced against any type of attack."
Hidden in the shadows, Mantis snorted. Liquid turned to him, a smile on his face. "Ah, yes, our beloved comrade, returned from the land of the dead. So how are you, old friend?"
"When I said that I'm back from a world where such words do not matter, I mean it," Mantis snapped. Liquid put his hands up, as if to fend the psychic off. "I see. Sorry. But…" Liquid's eyes flashed. "I seem to remember going to that world myself, and still feeling much the same after I returned. Dreary place, really. Boring, at best."
Mantis stiffened. "Like you would know anything about it, parasite." His disgust was evident. "Lying there in Ocelot's arm… and now you and he stand side-by-side. I am amazed by it. In the motherland something like that was cause for a fight to the death…"
Liquid was up in a flash. "You are here by our grace," he said. "To my knowledge, you were dead when we began this little operation. You infiltrated this facility much the same way Snake did, we have tape of you killing FOXHOUND operative Tank, and several guards. I could have you killed on the spot."
"You cannot kill me," Mantis said. He glanced at Vamp for a moment. "'Unfortunately, Hell had no vacancies.' It never will, not for me. I can transfer from body to body, almost at will."
"Then why didn't you do it on Shadow Moses?"
"Ah, but I did." Mantis smiled. He turned to Snake. "I believe that your little girlfriend Meryl is no longer among the living. Hasn't been for years."
"What?!"
* * *
The man in the chair thrashed about, his hands and legs going into spasms as they strained against the restrained. His head was tied down with a leather strap, and some kind of high-tech goggles had been placed over his eyes. Similar-looking earphones covered his ears, and his body was literally covered with small electric nodes hooked up to five CRAY supercomputers.
"What's going on?" one of the many techs in the room asked with alarm. "Get the doctor in here," said another. "He's having a reaction to… something… in there."
"Find out what!" the head technician, a large, balding man, stood. "Get a monitor in here! I'm amazed we didn't have one before! Where's the chief engineer, I'm going to wring his neck—"
"Calm down."
The voice was soft, but immediately silence filled the room, save for the man's thrashing. Sphere walked in, flanked by two NSA agents with not-quite- concealed M4s behind their trench coats. Following them was a sniveling little man who seemed terrified of everything in the room.
Sphere pointed to the man on the table. "Gaius, probe him."
* * *
"She's not dead," Snake said vehemently, straining against his bonds. [Be careful, Snake your blood pressure is spiking,] Otacon said through the Codec. "I… don't… care…" Snake hissed. "I am going to kill that bastard."
Liquid's smiling face hovered above him suddenly. "Guards, take him away," he said. Two guards came over and began unstrapping him.
Bad idea… Snake thought.
As soon as his legs and one arm were free, a kick sent one of the guards flying into Ocelot. He freed the other arm, and the corresponding guard was sent into Liquid and Mantis, knocking them to the ground as well.
Jumping off the gurney he'd been strapped to, Snake grabbed the five five sixer the nearest guard had been carrying, pointed it at the struggling heap of men on the floor, and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. Snake checked the clip and the barrel. Nothing. The safety was off.
Ocelot was the first to rise, a Colt Single Action Army in his hand, aimed between Snake's eyes. "Put the gun down, boy," he said. "Slowly. I don't have time for your antics today. Haven't you ever heard of PIN? No pulling the trigger for you."
Snake slowly dropped the assault rifle to floor, and put his hands over his head. "Good boy," Ocelot said. He gave one guard a brutal kick in the side. Snake could dimly hear ribs cracking. "Get up!" the former Spetznaz yelled. "You lazy, worthless…!"
"That's enough, Ocelot," Liquid said, getting up, brushing himself off. Nodding to the guards, he said, "take him away. And make sure you do it right this time." The guard nodded. He swiftly brought the butt of his rifle up, and Snake could hear a crack as pain exploded in the back of his head. He could dimly hear Liquid's laughter as he was dragged away, and then blackness overtook him once again.
When he awoke, Snake found himself in a cell set up much like the holding pen on Shadow Moses. A single mattress (no cot, Snake thought), one door, and wall-to-wall windows so the guards could watch him. Or, in his case, one guard. Also like Shadow Moses.
Wait a minute… that one guard looked a lot like… a lot like…
"Sasaki!" Snake whispered through the bars on his door. The guard turned, and ran over to the door.
"How do you know my name?" he said suspiciously. "Who're you, anyway? How'd you get in here, and you must be the stupidest ass who ever lived if you got caught!"
"Shut up, Sasaki," Snake said. "Its Snake."
The man's eyes widened. "Hey!" he yelled. "You… and that girl… five years ago! You guys embarrassed me so much! Shut up in there! Don't make me come in."
Snake laughed. "How'd you get back with the Genome Army?" he asked. "I heard you escaped off that God-forsaken island, but I thought you'd slowly disappeared into the woodwork."
Sasaki gave him a suspicious look before saying, "I tried to get a job, but it was so boring there! I mean, I do have an IQ of 180—"
"Sasaki, you are an ordinary soldier who was stationed at Shadow Moses in the hopes of having you killed in the uprising by a particularly vicious division CO who you had been secretary for," Snake said. "Now open this door, Jonny, I don't have the time to sit here and figure out some elaborate plan to get out of here."
"W-what are you talking about?" Sasaki said. "Open the door," Snake said slowly. "No way!" Sasaki yelled.
"What's going on in there?"
The voice was gruff, and sounded old. The door to the cell block opened with a silent whir, and a man whose appearance in no way matched the preconception one received when they heard his voice walked up to Sasaki. He was about 6'4", with jet black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in a simple black flightsuit, without all the accompanying gear one usually added on. In one arm he casually held an MP40 Schmeisser submachine gun, a relic from World War Two. "My name is Griffin, Solid Snake," he said. "Specialist in interrogation, and a formidable gunfighter."
"Don't you already have one of those?" Snake asked, pointing to Ocelot, who had entered the cell block behind Griffin.
Griffin laughed. "I suppose so," he said. "But it never hurts to have two." He nodded to Sasaki. "Take him to the interrogation chamber," he said. "I'm sure our friend has—many—things to tell us."
Sasaki nodded, visibly trembling. He opened the cell door and grabbed Snake. "C'mon, you," he said, feigning an air of toughness and superiority for his bosses. Too bad they didn't see him on Shadow Moses, Snake thought.
He was led through a twisting series of corridors, Griffin's MP40 painfully jabbing into his back the entire way, until they entered a large circular room with a large torture device in the middle. "Looks like you got a new mattress for your bed," Snake said to Ocelot.
Ocelot chuckled. "You could say that, Solid Snake," he said. "Or we could say I have found myself a new partner, and he has some very nice toys he brought over."
Ocelot knew that most of the instruments on the device were harmless pieces of plastic, but the ones that weren't were very very deadly. "Strap him in," he said to Sasaki. Turning to Griffin, he said, "now we can test your little toy."
"Its very nice," Griffin said, as Sasaki strapped Snake onto the table. As soon as the legendary warrior was contained, he said, "what's your name, guard?"
"J-Jonny Sasaki, sir."
Griffin smiled. The look sent a shiver down Jonny's spine. "Turn the power on, Mr. Sasaki," he said. Jonny nodded and pushed a large red button on a control panel standing beside the torture device. Immediately, Snake's back arched, as he felt a mild electrical current begin to run through the device (and through him). "Mr. Sasaki, turn the black dial to your right to… oh, I don't know, three," Griffin said.
Sasaki, gulping, did so, and Snake felt his left arm begin to spasm. It didn't really hurt, more than a feeling that something was wrong over there. The arm continued to jerk uncontrollably. "Now, Snake, I'm going to ask you some questions about Philanthropy, the Patriots—" Griffin's eyes seemed to harden and his smile disappeared—"and your 'father,' Saladin."
"Big Boss…" Snake muttered. "Turn off your wind-up toy here, and maybe we'll talk. About my 'father.'"
"I'll consider it." Griffin's smile was back. "Mr. Sasaki, turn it up to… nine." Even Ocelot let out a little gasp of astonishment. "You do know how much the body can take, Griffin," he said. "Seven would be much more appropriate."
"I know," Griffin said. "Mr. Sasaki, nine."
Jonny slowly turned the dial, and Snake's vision went red with pain. He let out an inhuman howl that shook Jonny to the bone, and even Ocelot appeared a bit shaken. "Turn it off, Mr. Sasaki," Griffin said after a moment. Then he turned to Snake. "So," he said, "tell us all you know about Saladin."
Snake bit his lip and said, "you'll have to do better than that."
"That dial goes all the way up to level twenty, Solid Snake," Griffin said. "Sasaki, thirteen," he snapped.
Snake's arm began to blister and turn red as electricity arced through it. He passed out within seconds. "Wake him up, Sasaki," Griffin said. Jonny did, and the interrogation went from there.
* * *
The pilot said, "Mr. Smith, United States airspace is restricted. If we attempt to enter, we'll be shot down by one of those F-34s."
"I have clearance," 'Sears' said. "Transmit them the signal on this disk. We'll land at JFK." He handed the disk to an attendant, who gave it to the pilot. Turning and heading back to his seat, he pulled a slim cell phone hardly bigger than a large cigarette lighter out of his pocket and dialed a number. "I'm landing at JFK in ten minutes."
"Understood, father," the man on the other end said. "We've captured Snake. I hope you'll get here before he dies. The interrogation Griffin is putting him through is… quite… rigorous, Ocelot said.
Big Boss cursed. "Tell him to lay off, or he will die along with Snake. I want a talk with my son. Proceed as planned, Liquid. Outer Heaven is so close." Hanging up, he looked out at the massive cloud of dust and smoke obscuring Manhattan. By the end of the day, Heaven itself would rise out of the ruins of the United States.
Or Outer Heaven, at the least.