chapter TWELVE: Philanthropy1
Getting inside Trinket was hardly a task at all. Snake had managed to find a sizeable air duct hidden behind several loose iron bars, the cement in which they were mounted having begun to erode and crumble. And, when he made his way inside the building, he found that the insides were much the same. Walls were weak to the touch, even, and it was no warmer inside than it was out. "Hmph," he grunted disapprovingly as he examined the corridor he'd come to through the duct.
Running his hands along the walls, paint chipping and gathering in piles along the edges of the floor, he seemed to be going about the mission rather casually. But, from the looks of it, the area was largely deserted. He wondered, knowing that Trinket had only been operational for the past few days, if the team that inhabited it had even seen all the rooms, swept all the halls. But, even if they had, it didn't seem as if the area of the building in which he stood was of any real importance to them.
He just took it as laziness and continued down the hall, but before long he heard something shift around the corner and he flattened his back against the wall. Looking at his empty hand he cursed. 'No gun,' he thought. 'Hands, then.' And he edged closer to the corner and shot a quick look around it before turning out into the intersecting hallway.
He came no more than an inch from something and stepped quickly back, catching himself as he recoiled. Then, pulling a cigarette from its box and a lighter from a suit pocket he lit the cigarette and knelt on the grimy floor, letting the smoke blow out ahead of him.
A red line appeared parallel to the floor. He grimaced, upset to know that he was wrong in thinking the area had not been looked over. And then, rising swiftly to his feet and looking grim over the wide hall he tapped the ash from the end of his cigarette.
"Lasers," he grumbled, taking another breath of the smoke and then sending it through the air before him. "Joy."
~*~
Brant stared through the window, shocked and afraid, but also curious. There was a man, at least that was what he thought it was, standing outside his door, eyeing him through the window. Their eyes were locked. But, in an instant, the man pulled the door wide open and tore Brant from his seat, the seatbelt stressing and tearing under the tension. He tumbled out onto the street and the man reached inside the truck to turn the keys and pull them from the ignition. The truck scuttled, puffed a little, and went dead.
Brant peered up in the darkness, tried to identify the man, but couldn't tell that he had a face at all. It looked more like a mask. Two gleaming red slits like eyes and one circle of red at the bridge of his nose. When he grabbed the shoulder of Brant's jacket and pulled him up from the pavement Brant slipped a sidearm from where it had been concealed and pinned it against the man's chest.
Both of them froze in that position, neither of them sure what the other would do.
Brant was breathing heavier than usual, a scratch from which blood was slowly seeping had come across his cheek. "Who are you?" he demanded more than he asked. The other man stared back at him, though Brant couldn't really tell that he was doing that at all because of the mask, and then said, simply: "I am neither friend nor enemy."
And with a quick twist, he stepped out of the way of Brant's gun, snatched it from his palm, and sent him reeling backward against the hard pavement.
Lights out.
~*~
Desperado had moved to a bench on the sidewalk just beyond the gates of the White House lawn and pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket. Alex Moore was a real pain in the ass. Sure, he had to give him credit for being the Vice President, but he really couldn't stand the guy. Trust, too, was hard to see in the man, but Springfield had sold him on the operation. For some reason, Springfield's word seemed strong and true. That was certainly a surprise, seeing as Desperado had never had a strong liking for him either.
He put the cell phone to his ear and let it ring. The moon was beginning to fade into the sky as the sun, though absent from the scene, sent an orange haze from beneath the horizon. It was comforting, seeing daylight come. The darkness of the morning, particularly this morning, had cast an ominous feeling over Washington, but with the coming of day Desperado felt an increasing desire to hit the hot dog stand on G and 13th street. It was right across from Café 1200 and right outside a Panera. The thought of Panera Bread aroused as much delight as the hot dog stand, but he was a usual customer at the stand and he'd never be able to show his face there again if he got caught by Fred – the hot dog extraordinaire - while trying to slip into Panera.
He was suddenly drawn back to the eighth ring of Brant's cell phone. Pulling the phone from his ear he eyed it strangely and then slipped it into his jacket pocket again. "Well," he said to himself as he stood. "Maybe we should pay old Fred a visit."
Stepping up to the curb, he pulled his wallet from his pant pocket and checked to make sure he had money. Then, slipping it back in his pocket, he made a subtle wave to a passing taxi and it screeched to a stop before him. He winced, not sure he wanted to ride with this guy, and then stepped back and waved him on.
"Maybe, I'll just walk then."
~*~
[00:00:00]
SAT Search…
//Enter Search Loc Below
USER INPUT: Trinket, Russia
SAT Connected…Tracking…Locked
Awaiting Transmission… … … … …
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - || | ||| || - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Codec Transmission Detected
CODEC Transmission Recording… [00:48:26]
//Recording to LAPTOP
RECORD LOC: Moscow, Russia…
CALLER LOC: Scramble Device Present… … …Unknown
RECEIVER LOC: Trinket…
UNIDENT 1: "So, what's happening there?"
UNIDENT 2: "Not much. It looks like they're pretty lax on security. I found a hall of sensors, though. Looks like they were still expecting a few uninvited guests."
UNIDENT 1: Pause {00:00:03} "But you got through them all right?"
UNIDENT 2: Pause {00:00:05} "Yea, but…listen, I saw him…he's here. Just when I got through the lasers he showed up."
UNIDENT 1: "Who?"
UNIDENT 2: "You know…Snake."
UNIDENT 1: "He's there…?"
UNIDENT 2: "Sure is. And he got a trim."
UNIDENT 1: "Finally wizened up…how's he look?"
UNIDENT 2: "Not bad. Younger than he was when I knew him. Took off some weight, too, it looks like."
UNIDENT 1: "Were you watching him that long?"
UNIDENT 2: "He was staring right at me for a couple of minutes. He knew the lasers were there. Blew some smoke over them."
UNIDENT 1: "That's Snake, all right…he didn't see you?"
UNIDENT 2: "No way. The camouflage works great. I forgot to mention that."
UNIDENT 1: "No problem. So, where are you now?"
UNIDENT 2: "I was on my way to the cold bay, but I imagine you'll want me to scout out Snake now, huh?"
UNIDENT 1: "Make sure he stays out of the second building – don't let him cross the connecting bridge."
UNIDENT 2: "Why would you wa -?"
UNIDENT 1: "Keep him away from there…for now, at least."
UNIDENT 2: "All right then."
UNIDENT 1: "Stay safe."
UNIDENT 2: "Will do, Otacon."
//Computer ID Change
UNIDENT 1 _rename_ OTACON
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - || | ||| || - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CODEC Transmission Ended… [00:51:22]
Archiving to C://LOG…Archived
Reenter Transmission Access PASSCODE for replay
//Enter Title Below
USER INPUT: Philanthropy 1
//SAVED