SNAKE
Otacon nearly floored himself the first time he fired his new PPK. The kick was not what he had expected. I don't mock him for that, most people are surprised the first time they shoot a gun. And a little giddy.
I doubted he would ever need it, but we practiced anyway. At first he didn't want to, but once we got out to the forest and started shooting some trees, he was a regular woodsman with that gun–within a reasonable distance.
It was the first time I'd fired a gun since Shadow Moses. This was the best time I'd had since I teamed up with Otacon. I should say, it felt the most natural to me. Holding that gun, it made me feel whole. I didn't want to believe I was just a killing machine, but I'm good at it. I can admit that much. But I won't kill for anyone else. Not anymore.
Speaking of the gun, it was a new one for me. I didn't get any choice at Shadow Moses, or at any of my previous missions, for that matter. This time was different. The Salamander had a large selection and I had my pick. I got a Sig
210. It's a 9mm, so it has less stopping power than the SOCOM, but it's lighter and the accuracy is higher. Actually, it has the highest benchmark accuracy of any production handgun.
I was able to shoot down one centimeter-thick branches at 50 yards that day.
Otacon asked me, the day the Colonel called, if I would go to England after all. I told him I'd think about it, just like I told the Colonel.
That day, he asked me, "So what do you think about that thing in England? It's been three days, and they're still can't find anybody else to go help."
"Are you saying that the Colonel called again?"
"Yeah. When you were out drinking last night."
"I told him I'd think about it. We're under no obligation to help him."
"Don't you mean 'we,' Dave? We're supposed to be partners aren't we?"
This is the conversation I was waiting for. Better to get it over with now.
"Alright, Hal. What do you think we should do?"
"The reason we teamed up this way is to help mankind isn't it? Not just for generation, but for future generations as well. Now, this monkey problem might be nothing or might be something important. If Ocelot is really involved, as goes the rumor, it has to be important."
"You said it yourself, it's a rumor."
"But what if it's true? At worst, we'll help get rid of some dangerous pests. At the cost of only a few days out of our busy schedule."
Otacon gets sarcastic when he's serious. And he was right. We had nothing to do, no plans, no training, no more setting up base. I spent most of my time drinking or working out or plinking. He spent most of his time reading or doing his computer thing.
Even though this job the Colonel suggested seemed like a waste of time, I decided to go along with it. That day, in the woods, just like that, I decided we should go.
Otacon seemed happy when I told him. I guess he felt like he convinced me. I'm not hard to convince, just give me two options and I'll choose the most logical one. Whatever my gut tells me, that's what logical means to me. But I let him believe his reasoning skills got to me anyway.
"Hal, once we set foot in England, we're officially on a mission, so you can call me Snake."
"Alright, and you can call me Otacon."
It's the way I always think of him, as Otacon. He probably thinks of me as Snake all the time, most likely. I guess we both don't like to believe we're just two guys. Snake and Otacon, defenders of peace, or something like that. Something important.
Killing apes is the last thing I thought we'd be doing. I hoped that it wouldn't be as simple as that, and that Ocelot really was involved. It was all I could think about, so we left as soon as we could.
