Author's Note: Okay, here it is, chapter two. It's time to flesh out more of the story, so that more things become clear.
Chapter Two: Insistence
Bonavero sat there for a second, nervous as hell. Damn, she got righ' to the point, didn't she? he thought. He looked her in the eye for a second.
"I've gotta buyer for ya," Bonavero finally replied.
"I need a name," Ms. Forrester asked coolly.
"Unfortunately, they didn't gimme one," Bonavero confessed. Ms. Forrester stayed silent. "They did give me a code word, though."
"Code word?" Forrester asked, peaking an eyebrow.
"La le lu li lo."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ms. Forrester asked in her elegant accent.
"Hell if I know," Bonavero replied, scratching his chin. "Sounds kinda fruity, though."
"When is the meeting?"
"'Tree days from now, on Saturday. Same place, same exact table, same time," Bonavero recited.
Ms. Forrester leafed through her hand bag and pulled out a small PDA. She typed some information into her schedule, and put it back away.
"I hope the original price is still in effect?" she asked.
"More 'n likely," Bonavero answered. "They didn't mention it at all t' me, so…"
"Well, I guess my business here is concluded," Ms. Forrester said, and slowly stood up. She went to walk away, when a last-minute decision by Bonavero caused him to bolt up and catch Ms. Forrester's arm.
"Miss," Bonavero asked, his tone very serious. He looked at the floor, trying to find the right words. "Just…be careful with these people, alright? Something's not right."
Ms. Forrester looked him in the eye. She walked towards the door, but Bonavero distinctly heard her say 'Don't worry, I will.'
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Snake woke up that morning with an instant craving for a cigarette. His hand lazily flew in an odd ark from on his chest to under the couch. He searched around until he found what he was looking for; a plastic bag filled with rolled cigarettes. Since Otacon had claimed the bedroom (or more over, won a game of rock-paper-scissors), the couch was Snake's domain. So he had complete control of it. He had a stash of cigarettes under the couch at all times, because he knew Otacon would throw them out if he found them.
Snake fished a lighter from under the cushion, and lit up his smoke. The fragrant aroma seemed to rouse him into proper consciousness, and he sat up. He inhaled his first nicotine fix of the day, and exhaled in a cloud of wispy grayness.
"Up, are you?" Snake heard Otacon say. Snake looked quickly at the source of the voice, and saw Otacon at the desk. He relaxed when he saw that Otacon was focused on the screen of his computer. Good, Snake thought, the stash is safe.
"What are you doing this early in the morning?" Snake asked. Otacon usually wasn't up before Snake…and Snake got up at 6:00 in the morning.
Otacon took a sip of some cheap-brand coffee, and set his mug down on the desk. He swiveled in the chair to face Snake.
"I have a very interesting 'rumor' that was run by me," he replied. Snake grunted in response. Otacon took this as a 'please continue.' "One of my contacts was in a restaurant yesterday, a place called 'The Shiny Penguin.' It's actually only a few blocks down the street. I've heard they're good for their French Toast--"
"The point, Otacon…"
"Anyways, my contact said 'he may or may not of heard something about a metal gear.'"
"Very well founded and deserves immediate checking."
"That's not the meat of it," Otacon said, ignoring Snake's sarcasm. "Apparently, they're going to meet two days from now, on Saturday."
"Where?" Snake asked, standing up and going to fetch his own cup of coffee.
"Same place, apparently."
Snake grunted again before pouring his coffee into an ivory white mug.
"I think this warrants a closer look," Otacon said. "I have to work that day, so…"
Snake stopped mid-sip.
"You're going to have to be the one to go," Otacon finished, confirming Snake's fears.
"Great."
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Lynn didn't know what time it was when her bunkmate finally woke up. She had her face to the ground doing more one-armed pushups when she become faintly aware of movement on the top bunk. Ignoring the girl, she continued doing her pushups, while counting mentally. 1056, 1057, 1058…
Lynn saw out of the corner of her eye between pushups that the girl had sat up and was rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She then noticed Lynn doing her pushups.
About an hour had passed, and after a few other exercises, Lynn sat on the floor, sweat trickling down her face. The girl had been watching her intently for the whole hour, fascinated. Lynn had ignored her the whole time.
"You seem different than the other Recruits," the girl's soft voice finally spoke up. Lynn stayed quiet, like she normally did. She grabbed a towel from her belongings and wiped her face with it.
Then, something crossed Lynn's mind.
"I've also been trained in something since birth," Lynn said, standing up, grabbing a change of uniform.
"Trained in what?"
"Hand to hand combat, weapons, stealth, survival, sabotage, and tactics, among other things." The girl's eyes widened, her eyebrows raising.
"W-wow," the girl murmured. "You must've been trained pretty young. How old were you? Ten?"
"I said 'since birth.'" With that, Lynn headed off to the showers. She saw a look of shock and horror on the girls face as she left the bunk room. Another one, Lynn thought.
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Bonavero wasn't necessarily a rich man, but he was important. To one person, anyways. A person who he admired and respected for their work. But they didn't know who he was, and he preferred it was kept that way.
So it astounded him when a blue sedan pulled up next to him as he walked down the street.
"Are you Barney Bonavero?" someone with a deep voice from within the car asked.
"M-maybe, w-who wants t' know?" Bonavero replied, moving away from the car as it slowly kept pace with him as he walked down the street.
"Ms. Forrester would like to have a word with you," the same voice said. Bonavero's anxiety downed a bit, feeling lucky that the encounter wasn't about what he thought it would be.
"What's Ms. Forrester want? I told 'er the meeting place and time…"
"Just get in the car, Mr. Bonavero, I don't have all day."
He hesitated for a moment. He figured, or rather hoped, was that he was wanted so that Forrester could clarify some things. So he walked over to the car. The door was pushed open, revealing a dark-skinned, bald, tall guy at the wheel, and a relatively short, thin woman who looked about twenty, with a dark blue business suit and skirt in the back. Once Bonavero begrudgingly entered the car, he noticed that she was Asian, and intelligent-looking.
He hoped this was a business meeting.
"Please close the door," the driver asked, in his booming deep voice.
Bonavero complied. As the car started moving, he glanced nervously at the young businesswoman beside him and the driver.
"Can I ask what this is about, then?" Bonavero asked, both nervously and politely at the same time.
"Just sit tight and enjoy the ride," the Asian woman said from beside him, in the same elegant British accent that Ms. Forrester had. Strange.
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The next day was Snake's day to prepare for the recon mission he'd be doing tomorrow. He gathered up all stuff he'd managed to pilfer some way or another. A small optical disk recorder, and a wire that would transmit directly to Otacon's computer. He also had a microphone that was stuck to the inside of the collar of the shirt he'd be wearing to his little recon mission. Last but not least, his Codec was checked to make sure it was in proper working order. Three different ways of recording the conversation.
But Snake knew something was up: Otacon never sent Snake to check out a 'rumor' with this much equipment before. Otacon had told him that 'he trusted the source,' but still…
"Everything checks out for tomorrow," Snake said, walking past Otacon to the fridge. He pulled out a can of pop, pulled the tab off, and took a hearty mouthful.
Otacon was intent on reading something on his computer monitor. "That's odd…" he mumbled.
"What?" Snake asked, sitting down in his usual place on the couch.
"My contact was supposed to have responded to my email today… But he didn't."
"Mail delay?"
"It's the internet, Snake."
"Maybe he forgot?" Snake suggested.
"No, he's the kind of guy who would respond even if he had to type with his feet. Something's very wrong for him not to have responded…"
This got Snake's attention.
"You sure?" Snake asked.
Otacon stayed silent, browsing his Email inbox.
"I'm adding a new item to the list of things to take with me," Snake said. "My SOCOM." Snake trusted Otacon. If he said something was up, then something was definitely up.
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Saturday morning was a bloodlust for people stationed at the Manhattan army base, as it was their first of two days off to do basically what they wanted and attend to their needs.
Lynn, however, saw it as a useless day, good for nothing if not training or studying. However, she found out her first Saturday at the base was going to be a bit different.
Lynn was coming back from the showers, when she saw her bunkmate conversing with a Drill Sergeant outside her bunk unit.
"Sorry, but I don't know the directions," the Sergeant said in a gruff voice as Lynn approached.
"Thank you anyways, sir," the young girl replied, looking down and disappointed.
"Recruit," the Sergeant said, nodding at Lynn as she approached.
"Sir." Lynn stopped and stood at attention.
The Sergeant's face lit up a bit, like he thought of something important. "Recruit, do you know the streets of Manhattan very well?" the Sergeant asked.
"I know most of it, Sir," Lynn replied.
"Well then, I think I just solved your problem," the Sergeant said to the young girl.
"Sir?" Lynn asked.
"You see, young Delintoro here needs to buy some 'items' that we unfortunately do not have at the moment. And she does not know this area at all, and I need someone to accompany her."
"S-sir, she doesn't n-need to do that, I can find my own way," the young girl stammered.
"I can't risk you getting yourself lost," the Sergeant said. "So I am ordering your bunkmate to accompany you on your travels."
"Yes Sir," Lynn said.
"At ease," the Sergeant said, turned briskly on his heel, and strode away.
"I'm so sorry," the girl said quickly, "I didn't mean for you to have to come with me…"
"An order is an order, and this one is 'to accompany Recruit Delintoro as she purchases some 'items,''" Lynn replied. She obviously didn't like her orders, but she was going to obey them. Besides, she could study and train once this child was done her shopping.
"Please call me 'Andrea,' and I really am sorry about this…"
"Get ready, we're going in three minutes."
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Betrayed. No money was going to him whatsoever. He had told Forrester to be careful, damnit! But she was the one that turned on him!
Bonavero was dimly aware that Saturday had come, that today was the meeting with the unseen buyers and Forrester. The damn bitch.
After he had been driven to a rather large weapons facility on the outskirts of Manhattan, he had found out three things: The tall dark guy was a professional driver, the Asian woman was Ms. Forrester's Secretary, and lastly, that he was screwed.
He was beaten up a little, and tossed into a decrepit office and locked in. There was no way out, and the place offered little hospitality. The office obviously hadn't been used for quite some time, as a thick layer of dust lay over everything. Bonavero cursed himself for getting into the Sedan to begin with. He sensed something was up. They had thought that he was a double agent or something, and he was scheduled to be killed within a few days.
Not that he hadn't tried to escape. He had surmised that from the distance from the window to the ground he was about seven stories up, and the door was barricaded and had four different locks. Somehow, he had managed to pick through one, but gave up on the second. He knew he had only one hope, and his life was literally staked on it. The one person who really knew his true purpose in all of this… Would they figure it out? Would they come?
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Ms. Forrester checked her watch, and nodded to her driver. The dark man revved the car, and the blue Sedan slowly irked out of the swerving driveway that lay to the front to the massive Forrester Industrial Building. Luckily, her 'product' was somewhere safe, ready to ship out on her customer's order.
She was glad that her buyers had contacted her and told her of Bonavero's plans to kill both of them at the meeting, take the money, and run.
That was another thing that was strange. Why did the buyers want paper money? She told them that the wire transfer would be completely untraceable, that her Secretary had seen to that.
This is why she had ten members of her 'union' that would be there, pretending to be enjoying their time eating, who were toting H&K MP5's. Safely stored, of course, under coats, in suitcases, in backpacks, and the like.
The time lingered to an hour until the arranged meeting time.
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Snake looked himself over in the mirror. He looked like a geek. But it was the best that Otacon could put together to hide the recording equipment without arousing too much suspicion. Snake wished he could use his sneaking suit, but that would be extremely suspicious, to say the least. What's more, is he had to do it in public. No hiding in a vent shaft, no ear up against a wall, he had to sit quite literally right next to them.
"Ready?" Otacon asked from the living room.
"You ask me that again, see what happens."
"Good. The meeting is supposed to take place in an hour, so get going. Early seats will help."
"Who am I supposed to be looking for?"
"Just pay attention to anything suspicious."
"Great, spying on someone who might not exist and I don't even know what they look like."
"Glad you're so enthusiastic," Otacon replied. "Go."
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"What exactly is it that you're purchasing?" Lynn asked as she briskly waked down the street.
It would be funny to an onlooker, seeing two young recruits walking down the street in Standard Issue Casual Civilian Wear, as Andrea, though timid and shy, fit in even though she was easily identified as being from the base by her attire. Whereas Lynn stood out, from the way she walked, her cold look, and a small belt with utility pockets that was around Lynn's waist that held various equipment—none of which Lynn would tell Andrea when she asked. Andrea guessed it wasn't something she should know about.
"We're going to buy some medical equipment," Andrea replied softly, looking at the ground because of all the people staring. "I always keep everything I need handy, since I'm the bases head medic—" she stopped short, covered her mouth and turned a slight shade of red.
Lynn stopped as well, but otherwise ignored the girl's sudden action.
"I… wasn't supposed to say that," she said softly through her hand. "Please don't say anything,"
"Why?" Lynn asked.
"Yesterday they officially made me the base's head medic."
Lynn, for once in her life, was stunned. She could tell that the girl wasn't lying… But was it that she had that much medical knowledge, or was the base desperately in need of a medic?
Lynn started walking again.
"Fine, but don't let anyone know about my training, either. I don't want attention."
"I don't want it either…I just want to help people."
They walked for a few more minutes, until a noticeable grumble erupted from the general area of Andrea's stomach.
"Sorry…" Andrea apologized softly. "They had me busy yesterday so I haven't had many chances to eat…" She looked at Lynn, who continued to look ahead and walk at a normal pace. "Do you mind if we stop somewhere to eat?"
Lynn stayed silent.
"Uhm… my treat," Andrea said, blushing a little.
"We're supposed to be buying medical supplies, that's it," Lynn replied, but she was betrayed by a grumble of her own stomach.
"How about there? Andrea said, spotting a black and white restaurant dominating the next block. It had the name 'The Shiny Penguin' stenciled on the sign in curly handwriting, and featured a penguin that looked like it fell in oil holding a plate of bacon and eggs.
Lynn looked at the restaurant, and for a second displeasure managed to insert itself into Lynn's expression, but only for a second.
Lynn didn't say anything, so Andrea decided to go ahead and enter the restaurant. As she did so a large geeky-looking man with a bandana tried to go in at the same time, and nearly toppled the poor featherweight Andrea to the ground.
"Sorry" the guy mumbled gruffly and went inside. Andrea had managed to catch herself using the wall, and she was busy apologizing back.
The two polar-opposites entered the restaurant, and Andrea immediately went pink from all the people who turned to stare. She searched for an empty seat, and she followed closely behind Lynn.
'Cute couple' someone murmured from somewhere to the left, causing Andrea to turn pink again. People here aren't nice, Andrea thought, sitting down. Lynn sat down directly across from Andrea, her eyes scanning the room, arms crossed.
The bandana geek who nearly toppled poor Andrea sat down at the table directly beside the two girls, and he, too, seemed to be searching the room.
They waited for a bit, and eventually a waitress came to attend them.
"Can I get you two anything?" she asked politely. "Girls from the base are always welcome here."
"Uhm…" Andrea said, looking at the menu, her indecisive nature showing. "I'll have a Saturday Evening Special, please."
"And your date?"
Lynn and the waitress were surprised someone could turn that shade of red.
"N-no, were not—we're just—" Andrea stammered.
"You didn't know that this area is a date hotspot for residents of the Manhattan base?"
"N-no," Andrea admitted.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to judge you, but your friend looks a little…anyways, what will she be having?" the waitress asked, quickly changing the subject.
Lynn stayed silent.
"I guess the same thing as me," Andrea answered for Lynn, her face still the same color. The waitress left. Andrea glanced at Lynn, who apparently had no reaction to the waitresses' misjudgment. It seemed like nothing fazed her. Still pink but returning to normal color, Andrea looked away and noticed a beautiful older lady with a white business suit enter with a tall dark man and a young Asian woman….
Author's note: End of the second chapter, yeah! Got things set up for the extraordinary meeting of Snake, Lynn, and Andrea! I fleshed out my characters a bit more to give you some idea of what they're like. And if you're analyzing the foreshadowing correctly, yes, there is something special between the two girls… but that'll have to wait a bit until it develops further.
And yes, Bonavero is more than he initially seems… See for yourself! Next chapter on it's way soon!