Chapter 2



It was a cold night. Cold and dark. Only a small sliver of the moon was showing through the clouds. It was starting to rain. The new crew of Arsenal Gear had worked hard to get it back in the water. Now it was fully prepared for launch. None of the men noticed the nearly transparent figure of a man slip by and onto the surface of Arsenal.

"Snake, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Otacon."

"Good. Let's go through this one more time. You are to infiltrate Arsenal and find out as much a possible about its destination, crew, and cargo. We need the information to find out what the Patriots are planning to do. Snake we have no other leads. It is imperative for you to get as much --"

"Yeah, yeah. I get the picture. Just get on with it, will ya?"

"Okay, get to the main computer room on the 2nd floor. It should be right below the hanger for the RAYs. Although Arsenal is completely automated, there still should be manual controls there. Arsenal is fully staffed and equipped this time. If you're caught, we're dealing with over 3000 marines on your tail. Remember, these are US Marines, not Russian mercenaries. Use the modified M9 with tranquilizer darts."

"You don't need to be so worried, Otacon. We've been through this before. Snake out."

Snake looked around. There were a few sentries around the site, but the top was all clear. It was so dark; the stealth camouflage was hardly necessary. Snake quickly found a hatch door, but before he could open it, a guard came out followed by two more. Snake backed away slowly, hoping that they wouldn't see the outline of himself in the rain. The stealth camo made him transparent but the rainwater on his clothes made a perfectly visible. Luckily, they walked away without noticing a thing. Snake quickly climbed down the ladder and into Arsenal.

Snake found himself in a hallway, dripping wet. He hoped that no one would notice the puddle of water he left. Carefully he inched along the hallway. A door appeared to the right of him. It was open. He peeked around the corner. It was a locker room leading to a shower. Something caught Snake's eye. Some careless recruit had left their ID card on the bench. Snake pocketed the card and moved on. The hatch Snake came through suddenly opened. Three marines came through and headed his way. Snake walked the other way. Another group of Marines appeared in front of him. Snake cursed under his breath. The first group had disappeared into the showers. He moved away from the group in the hallway.

He came across an elevator. The door said: 5th floor - Crew Quarters. The down arrow above the elevator lit up. Snake quickly flattened himself against the wall - counting on the stealth camouflage to hide him. The door opened and a man stepped out.

Snake hid his surprise. The man was himself, younger and stronger. He wore the same camouflage as the marines but carried no ID, no nametag, and no rank insignia. His hair was long and drawn back into a tail. It was as if he had stepped out from the past. He came out and paused. It was as if he sensed something. He turned his head and looked straight through the spot Snake was standing. His eyes narrowed and he sniffed the air as if he had caught a scent. Then he turned and left. Snake stood there frozen for a moment. After catching his breath he moved into the elevator and pressed the 2nd floor button.

Snake pressed a button on his head set.

"Otacon are you there?"

"Yes Snake. Are you in the com -"

"I just saw myself."

"What!? What are you talking about?"

"You heard me, I just saw myself. I was younger, a bit leaner, but I have no doubt."

"I still don't know what you mean. Are you talking about a vision or a hallucination?"

"No! I mean flesh and bone. Like a twin or something."

"But there were only three of you: Solid, Liquid, and Solidus."

"I know. That's what bothers me."

"Well be careful Snake."

"You don't need to remind me. Snake out."

The elevator doors opened. Luckily no one was there. Snake looked around. The entire hallway was dark. A flickering light bulb hung from the ceiling. An arrow pointed to the left labeled Computer Room. Snake headed for the door. It had a security card slot. He swiped the stolen ID card.

"ACSSESS DENIED"

"Damn . . ."

"Otacon, I'm locked out of the Computer Room."

"Is there anyway you could obtain the proper security card?"

"Not without causing a commotion."

"You may be able to open the door from another source. There's a node in the room down the other end of that hallway. From there you could hack into the system and open the door."

"Hack? I'm not much of a hacker."

"Don't worry I'll guide you step by step from here."

"Hey! How do you know about the layout plans of Arsenal?"

"I did a bit of hacking while you were gone."

"If you hacked into Arsenal there couldn't you-"

"Nope. Already tried. The entire Arsenal AI is like a giant lock box. I can't get into it. I had to hack into the Pentagon's files to obtain the structural info."

Snake walked down the hallway. It was eerily absent of life. Unlike the other parts of Arsenal, this place seemed to be unfinished, like a cut that hasn't healed. As he approached the door, it opened on its own. There was nobody there. Snake carefully entered. The gust air cold air was unexpected to say the least. The door shut behind him. Snake was in a giant freezing chamber. Round, glass vats containing vile substances and remotely human figures lined the walls. His Stealth Camo started to flicker and died.

"Damn, must be the cold."

The grated floor clunked as Snake walked across. The node was all the way across on the other side. Something caught his eye as he made his way across the room. A baby boy floated in a tank. A label near the bottom said: Gurlukovich.

"Olga's child." Snake whispered.

Unlike the other vats, this one was not frozen. The boy opened its eyes and saw the face of a man. It was a face that he would remember.

Snake pressed the button on his headset again.

"Otacon, you won't believe it. I've found Olga's child. Otacon, are you there? Otacon! Respond!!"

"He can't hear you - Solid Snake! We traced your other calls back to his location." Snake turned around and pulled out his M9. A figure stood at the doorway. A familiar figure.

"No. NO! This can't be . . . Who are you?!" Snake's hands were trembling. Never before had he felt this much fear.

"I am you. I am your shadow!"

"NO! Impossible! You're not Liquid!"

"Indeed I am not. Liquid may have been your brother, but then I would be your son!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"It's time for you to learn the truth, Solid. After your success at Shadow Moses, they decided to take another look into the Les Enfants Terribles. What a wonderful thing technology is! Now, clones can be made in less than a sixth of the time it took to create the Genome Soldiers. And they can surpass even you. Your body is weakening, Snake. The effects of time have already taken their took on you. I'm surprised you're still doing this after Shadow Moses."

"NO!!! YOU LIE!!!" Snake fired the M9. The bullets curved around his target and hit the wall behind him.

"You're not as good as were before. Technology has improved and your ways have not. We detected your presence well before you were even on board Arsenal. You are long overdue for retirement Snake. It is time that you join your generation of weak and pathetic clones. Join these other specimens around you. Yes, these are all the failed Snakes. The experiments that went horribly wrong. Maybe someday, we'll even put you in a museum, so people of future generations can learn and laugh at you pathetic ways."

Snake felt the ground tremble beneath his feet. He leaped back just in time before the floor where he was standing collapsed. The figure just stood there laughing. Snake quickly took in his surroundings. The vats were in several rows. He was at one end and his opponent at the other.

"So it comes to this . . ." the clone whispered. "You can't hurt me with those weapons and I am unarmed. Do you dare to fight me Snake? Are you ready for that kind of humiliation?"

"The only ones who will be humiliated are those who created you after they out how pathetic you are!"

"Fighting to the last moment . . . I am honored to be of your flesh and blood. Ever since my creation, I have awaited this day. The day that I would finally meet the one with the same face as I . . ."

"And what do they call you? Solid Snake, too, right?"

"No. . . I've surpassed him. I am . . . Silver Hawk!!!! I kill snakes!!!! And I'll kill you!!!!"

He launched himself across the room. Snake couldn't believe his eyes. The man called Hawk had literally flown across the room; clearing at least fifty some feet with a single bound. Snake didn't have time to defend against the attack. He was thrown of his feet by the sheer force of the impact.

Dazed, Snaked picked himself off the floor. He charged at Hawk. Snake threw all his weight into the punch but his fist met thin air. He felt the sharp blow to his back and his legs being kicked out from under him. Snake found himself staring into Hawk's face - his own face.

He tried to trip Hawk with a sweeping kick, but Hawk jumped up and landed full force onto Snake's lower leg. They both heard the sickening crack as his bone gave in. The kick sent him a full five feet into the air. By either luck or calculation, Snake had landed on his feet. He could feel his entire body burning with pain and could taste the blood in his mouth. He shifted his weight to his good leg and threw another punch at Hawk. Hawk caught the punch with lightning speed. His fingers tightened against Snake's fist, breaking it like a styrofoam cup. Then in one fluid motion he threw Snake against the wall behind him.

Whatever left of Snake's breath had been knocked out by that blow. Before he even fell to the ground, he found himself dangling above the ground, pinned to the wall by the throat by Hawk's iron grip. The two men stood there gazing into each other's eyes as a predator would to its prey. The remainder of Snake's strength disappeared along with his hope of survival.

"Don't worry, Snake. My nanomachines won't let me kill you. The Patriots still want you to be displayed in that museum. We'll take good care of your body, Snake, we can't let a good specimen go bad, now can we?"

Snake was flung into the air in a great arc, landing precisely into the place where the floor had disappeared.

He found himself in a large vat like the ones above him. Cold gases were pouring in from all sides. Snake felt the life being drained out of him.

A voice inside of him said 'It was bound to happen. You knew that this day would come. The day Solid Snake became no more. And deep inside of you, you were looking forward to that day. Yes, Snake, you were looking forward to the end. And now that it has found you, do you have any regrets? Stop struggling and embrace the truth . . ."

Snake felt his fingers stop responding, then his arms and legs, then his chest. The numbing feeling of the fluids was slowing entering his body. The last sight he saw was the life support mask lower from the top of the vat. Then all went black . . .