"Hey, Otacon?" Snake called. "Any more signs of that giant ball?"
The other man paused the game and glanced at his computer. "No, nothing on the radar. I haven't heard any reports about that thing in ages. Maybe it got scared off when it saw you coming?"
"I doubt that. And I'd rather not repeat that day in Pigeon Town." Snake still had a few bruises from the few moments he'd spent as part of the ball.
"Hey, that reminds me. Where's Sakura? I wanted to show her something."
"Oh, she went home. Apparently I'm too manly for her, and her city needs its' flower girls." Snake got up, began to pace. His girly mag fluttered to the ground. "Say, do you hear something?"
∗∗∗
From the depths of one of the Patriots' strongholds, an elderly but far from frail man picked up the ringing phone. The call was right on schedule, just the way he liked it.
"Hello, sir. Might I say that it is quite an honour to speak to such a distinguished leader as yourself?"
He smiled, faintly, as the personage on the other end made his inquiries. It was more of an honour to be able to report the death of his greatest enemy.
"No, sir. Philanthropy HQ was directly in the katamari's path. There were no survivors. No one escaped, I'm sure of it. We know Snake's habits quite well by now. It was a simple matter to find his base of operations, thanks to the tracking bug that your son planted on him. We have yet to produce an agent capable of taking out Solid Snake, and we thank you for your...assistance."
Idly, he twirled a revolver, the former half of his codename, around a finger as the scratchy voice of the speaker on the other end continued.
"Oh, I agree, sir. Children can be troublesome, but at least your son has succeeded this time. We will do our part, and develop the Great Cosmo Metal Gear as promised."
He looked around. It was fairly barren down in the Patriots' basement. Pinned to one wall was a photograph and bio of one of their other projects, a blonde former child soldier. Ocelot had heard that they had something special planned for this one.
"Of course, sir. Snake is your prisoner, and you may do with him as you wish, as long as he never troubles Earth again. I believe that we have nothing more to discuss, sir. Goodbye. Again, it is truly an honour to work with you...Your Majesty."
Click.
