=================-------------------------------------===================
- Metal Gear Solid: Capital Punishment
- Chapter Two: The Antagonists
- By: NeoNecron
=================-------------------------------------===================
The screen of the computer changed to the Windows XP logo. A few seconds later, a enter password box appeared on the screen. Otacon typed in his password. The computer took a few minutes to load, in those few minutes, Otacon getting Coffee.
After the message from Mei Ling, he decided to check up on the e-mail he had received. He took a sip of freshly brewed, hot coffee. That was all he had to drink in his apartment, aside from tap water. Otacon sat down in front of his computer, waiting for the computer to finish loading.
The computer finally came to a halt, the loading finished. Otacon set his coffee down beside the computer screen. He moved the mouse to the e-mail icon in the corner of the screen. He double-clicked on the screen, a message popping up. "Would you like to receive new e-mail?" is what it had said on the message. The options Yes and Cancel were present.
He moved his mouse cursor toward yes, the computer loading once more. When it came to a stop, new e-mail was received. He found the e-mail with the subject Patriots. He clicked on the e-mail. It loaded upon his screen. He began to read it…
--------------------------------------
Dear Hal Emmerich:
We have heard you want to join our Organization of the Patriots. We
are very glad to hear that you want to join. We have a special area we know you
excel in. Please come down to our building. A map is provided below. You start
at 7:00 AM Tomorrow. Come by today anytime if you have any questions.
--------------------------------------
And as it said, a map was provided at the bottom, not very detailed, but a map nonetheless, nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe Patriots had no involvements with the Patriots he knew. He had to be sure…
Otacon took a sip of his coffee, and quickly jerked away. The heat of the liquid had burned his tongue. He set the cup down next to the mouse, and then printed out a copy of the map. He stood up from the chair and grabbed his keys. The printing was half way complete, Otacon standing in front of the printer, waiting. When the printing was done, he grabbed the paper and stepped out of his apartment.
It was sprinkling small drops of rain as he exited the building. Puddles of water were left on the ground from the previous night. He stepped to the street curb. He stood there looking around for a taxi, cars splashing him as they drove by.
The wind blew gently, drops of rain getting into the space between his eyes and the glasses. Otacon took his glasses off momentarily to wipe of the drops that entered his eyes. He then placed the glasses back on. There was no cab insight from where he stood.
He walked down the street for a while, heading toward the business district. As he reached the business district, cabs were seen all over. Men in business suits exited and entered taxis ever few seconds.
Otacon headed toward a cab, not far from him. He was covered in water from the rain. He shook his head, water droplets being shaken out of his hair. He walked up to the driver. "Where to?" the man said, as he gestured for Otacon to enter.
He entered the passenger seats, handing him the map he had printed out. "I want to go here." Otacon pointed on the map. The driver nodded as he drove off, water being splashed up against the side by other passing cars.
"Rainy days ain't it?" the driver spoke, trying to spark up a conversation along the ride.
"Yeah. Weathers been kind of down lately." Otacon replied. He looked out the window, the water dripping down the sides.
The driver looked over at Otacon for a brief second, "So, where is this place we're heading?"
Otacon shrugged, "Not really sure… I guess you can call it my new work place."
"Heh, never had been to the place huh?" the driver grinned.
The driver pulled up to the side of the sidewalk, for they had reached their destination. "Damn… You are plannin' on workin' here?" the driver commented. Otacon couldn't blame him.
The place was a dump. The buildings in the area were all broken down storage facilities, the grass was yellowish/brown, and the air was stale. Pollution was in the air, with a nuclear plant off into the distant.
Otacon stepped out of the car. "How much do I owe you," He asked.
The man just grinned at him. "Nothing. I feel sorry for ya, this place bein' your job an all." The man drove off into the fog created by the pollution.
Otacon looked at the man strangely, seconds before the man drove off. Otacon then turned, facing the building ahead of him. This was in fact, the exact location on the map. Otacon stood their confused, the rain pouring down on him.
"Hey! You there! Your Hal are you not?!" a man had yelled at from the distance. The man had somewhat of a scratchy voice. He was in old rags and coat. The hat he wore was torn, dull, and dirty. He slowly walked over to Otacon with a cane in hand to help him stand.
Otacon froze, frightened by the sudden appearance of the man. A hard wind blew past by, Otacon's glasses falling off his face. He pressed his hand down on the moist and cold ground, frantically searching for his glasses.
A hand had appeared in his eyes as he bent down to look for it. Shocked, Otacon fell back into a puddle of water. The man who had been walking toward Otacon had picked up Otacon's glasses and handed it to him. "Who.. Who are you…?" he stuttered, backing away from the man cautiously but quickly.
"Please sir. Calm down. I'm a Patriots member. My name is William S. Jackson. Please call me Will," He informed, taking of the hat. "Please come with me. We like that you take initiative and came here today instead of coming here tomorrow. We're pleased to see that Mr. Emmerich."
Otacon stood up, brushing himself off. He wiped his glasses off and placed it back on his head. "Sorry… You just scared me a bit. Please... Call me Hal."
Will grinned at Otacon. "Come on Hal, we'll get you something new to wear and then give you a tour, answering any questions you may have concerning the Patriots work, ideals, etc."
The wind blew fiercely again. "Let's get inside before we catch a cold." Will smirked and led Otacon up to the broken down facility. Otacon stared at Will oddly. "Is… Is this it?"
"Ha! Don't be silly Hal. This is a secret organization. We need a secret base for something of our standards." He continued laughing as he removed a rug that covered a trap door. The rug was muddy and wet from all the rain and mud as of late.
Will lifted the door, a gust of cold air blew into the faces of Otacon. Otacon faced away, almost frozen solid. The rainwater and that cold air wasn't a good combination in Otacon's point of view. After the door was open, darkness was the only thing seen. The dim lights didn't appear very well. "Right this way," Will told Otacon, both walking down steps leading to an underground headquarters more likely.
They came upon a door that required a PAN security card. Haven't seen many of them lately, Otacon had thought. As they approached, the door slid open, revealing a futuristic look of the world as Otacon saw it.
Otacon looked around to familiarize himself with the entire area. Computers were everywhere in each cubicle, giant monitors filled the left wall, most showing news broadcasts. The underground headquarters was tremendously huge, like the facility back on Eva Island. He was shocked on how up-to-date this place was, with the latest equipment and electronics. The lighting was dim in the room, but he could see clearly.
"Wow… This place is extraordinary." Otacon remarked, stepping forward a bit, still soaking wet. Will took off the rags and placed them on a rack beside the door. Men brought Otacon a new lab coat to wear and a towel to dry off his hair.
Will laughed a bit. "That's the reaction we get from everyone." He grinned and walked up to Otacon. "Welcome to our HQ. The place where all work takes place. Well excluding the actual missions."
"Of course," Otacon responded, still gazing at the digital items.
"Hal! Hal! Hey!" a woman's voice came from somewhere in the back. The voice seemed so intelligence yet almost kid-like. Otacon faced toward the direction of the noise. He knew it all along. Mei Ling.
Mei Ling was waving toward Otacon with a handless phone around her head, standing above her cubicle. Otacon waved back, adding a grin with it. Mei Ling then sat back down and began typing. Will put his hand on Otacon's shoulder.
"Any questions yet?" he asked, Otacon turning toward him, completely forgetting where he was.
"Huh?" he said, being caught of guard. "Oh… Yeah, there is something I've been meaning to ask… This… This may sound stupid…"
"There's nothing stupid about a question," Will had reassured.
"Well… Is this organization related to those of the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo? I'm not even sure if you heard of them… You know what? Forget I asked." he began to question.
Will's face had turned a bit more serious nodding. The grin left his face. "Hal. There was a reason behind our selection. There is a reason we chose you."
Otacon looked toward Will. "What is that reason?"
"We are called the Patriots not because we are related to them. We call ourselves the Patriots because we don't want any attention from the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo. We are in fact, an anti-patriot group. We chose you because you are the only few who know of the Patriots, and can prove useful to our studies. That's why we chose Mei Ling also. She was involved in one of the Patriots test, the Shadow Moses incident."
Otacon was shocked. His theory had been wrong, although he had never came to a full conclusion about this. "So… Why name yourself the Patriots?"
Will turned away to look at the monitors, then faced back toward Otacon. "We chose that name because we are somewhat of a government group. Who would expect the name Patriots to be suspicious when dealing with American government? The La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo wouldn't think this was an anti-Patriots organization either. Our true name is the Antagonists. The Patriots a name we used to direct attention off us slightly, we aren't that well known to the public, but some know us in the government business. We needed some sort of cover up so they don't get suspicious."
Otacon grinned. "You sound more and more like the actual Patriots."
"Well do you have anymore questions?"
Then the thought came to his head. A thought he had forgotten as he did in the past. "Solid Snake, name rings a bell?
Will looked toward Otacon, his eyes making contact with Otacon's. His eyes had become filled with rage, as the words Solid Snake were spoken. Otacon was scared, afraid he triggered this happening. They stared at each other, neither of them blinking.
Within a few seconds, a man in a black trench coat came up to Otacon. He held a disc on one hand. "Mr. Jackson. We've found the current location of 'AI S2' inside the mainframe. Time to test out 'GW'." He whispered, but loud enough Otacon could eavesdrop.
Will turned around, the awkward moment passing by. Otacon was relieved; frightened that Will might have done something to harm him. Will spoke softly, the anger slowly fading. "Otacon. Something's come up. We've something of importance and needs attending too. Please direct yourself out. See you tomorrow."
Otacon was shocked by Will's reaction as quickly head toward the exit door. He then stopped abruptly as he stood at the base of the door. "GW?"
