The chopper sped along on its way, leaving the snowy mountain location behind. The holding chamber which kept the two soldiers safe on the way to their base was silent. Several times, Sisko looked over at Soap in an attempt to spike conversation, but nothing was ever produced. He ultimately refused to make eye contact with her. Something struck her as odd, though.
"…Wait, where are we going?" she asked him, suddenly confused about what was going on. Soap looked at her like she was stupid, which, granted, she would've expected his reaction to be.
"Uh, we're going to the base, don't you remember? Did you get a bullet through your brain or something?" he interrogated sarcastically. Sisko was perplexed. Hm…Doesn't the screen usually go dark and I'm with Sergeant Foley screaming at me/Ramirez to do stuff by now? She thought. Obviously, this wasn't the case. She scratched her head. She'd never really been good with socializing; she could never work out small talk. Of course, she knew these guys so well that she'd probably work better off, but still. She didn't want them to think she was weird by explaining how they were 'voiced' by people. She huffed, trying to figure out her predicament. The roaring of the engines began to slow and Sisko felt the helicopter descending. Eventually, it stopped moving and the back of the chopper fell open, allowing them to easily walk out. Sisko had no clue where they were. It was sandy and just a bit chilly, with no trees and little vegetation in general, and the only thing in sight for miles was a small, square building without much on it. Apparently, that's where they were headed. Soap led them off the chopper onto the thick, rocky ground and didn't stop walking until he reached the structure. Once at the door, he pulled a key out from his pocket and opened it, allowing them both to walk inside. The first thing Sisko noticed was the ridiculous amount of technology that they managed to fit into such a small space. There were more computers there than they'd had in all of her schools combined, plus they all looked much more advanced. She gawked at all of the fascinating equipment long enough for her to find something else to gape at.
Standing before them was the mysterious, dark, but overall adorable Simon Riley, or, as many know him, "Ghost". Sisko couldn't stop staring. So many times in the game, all she'd do was look at him, not thinking twice about the mission or whatever it was they were doing. He was so cute, but at the same time he was one of those people you knew you wouldn't be able to talk to in real life, but that made you like him even more. Ghost looked up at them, face concealed behind his trademark mask and deep red sunglasses. He adjusted his headphones and began to speak.
"Glad you two made it back alive," he said in his usual flat, British tone, "I just got General Shepard on the radio, he wants to talk to you, sir." He handed Soap a pair of wireless headphones similar to his own. Soap put them on and walked away from the other two, trying to increase the power of the connection. Sisko could hardly breathe. What could she possibly say to him that would keep him thinking she was normal? Could she even bring herself to say anything at all? Ghost decided to start the talking for her.
"That's a nice wound you got there," he noted, pointing out the bloody bandages on her arm. She brought her hand up to cover it and shook her head.
"N-no, it's nothing, really. I'm used to it at this point," she fibbed, still feeling quite a bit of pain from the hot metal. Ghost gave her a blank stare-or she thought he did, she couldn't see, honestly.
"Used to it? You just joined the 141 three months ago, how could you be used to it?" he interrogated, the tone in his voice showing that he was just a bit agitated. Sisko knew she had to stop before she got him too pissed off. For so many occasions, she recalled how he had killed his therapist for making a suggestion, so what could possibly happen if he got more angry than he had been? She shook her head.
"I mean I'm used to getting shot. I'm not very stealthy, you know," she admitted sheepishly. Ghost chuckled.
"Trust me, I've noticed," he noted. She glared at him playfully, as she was hoping he'd deny it and say she was the stealthiest person in the entire universe or something. She sighed contently, letting silence settle upon the room. For a few minutes, no one said anything, they just listened to the faint sounds that the computers would make. Sisko perked up, realizing something that she hadn't before. Whenever anyone brought up the subject of Modern Warfare 2, they never talked about a duo, rather three people. She decided that she'd bring it up with Ghost, if even just to strike up a conversation.
"Oh, hey, where's Roach?" she asked, "Is he here, or what?" Ghost looked up at her. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't read the look on his face, since his mask covered up any emotions he could be feeling.
"…Bloody 'Ell are you talking about?" he interrogated. Sisko thought for a minute, unsure about what to do next. Roach was always with Soap and Ghost, so why was Ghost acting like he'd never heard of him? Then it hit her- she must be Roach. Well, not Roach in the sense that she was actually Gary Sanderson, but rather she was playing through the game as he would've. She broke free of her pondering in order to come up with a response for her comrade.
"Uh…Didn't you see that one roach over there in the corner? I wanted to find it so I could kill it…yeah," she fumbled, hoping that Ghost wouldn't think much of it. Ghost was silent for a few seconds, but ended up shaking his head, just letting the conversation drop. In the other section of the room, Sisko heard Soap talking to Shepard on the radio, something about a man named Alejandro. She remembered that after Cliffhanger, the next mission was Takedown, where she had to fight in the Favela in order to incapacitate and arms dealer named Alejandro Rojas. She got excited, knowing that the Favela was one of her favorite places in the game.
"Aw yeah, I forgot, we get to go to Brazil now!" she said, almost to herself, "I'm gonna kill me some Militia when I get there!" Again, Ghost looked at her like she was crazy. Sure, it was no surprise if she was goofing off, seeing as she usually acted like that, being desperately immature, but somehow, she seemed just a bit stranger than usual. Soap returned from the separate section of the small meeting house and took off the headset, setting it on the table. He sighed before he began to talk.
"Alright, you two, General Shepard has just briefed me on a mission. Tomorrow, we'll be headed off to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. You know that Allen guy they hired for the undercover mission up in Russia? Well, it didn't turn out so well. Makarov shot him point blank, killed him on the spot. Now, the Russians ain't so happy. Our job is to track down his supplier, Alejandro Rojas, and squeeze every last drop of info out of him," he finished. Despite the grim circumstances, Sisko had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. The only thing that went through her head was that Lady Gaga song "Alejandro", and she couldn't help but laugh every time she heard that name. Seeing her struggling to contain herself, Soap gave her an angry glare.
"Are you alright, Nike?" he interrogated, crossing his arms. Sisko coughed in an attempt to rid herself of the giggles, and took a deep breath before answering.
"I am just fabulous, Captain," she replied, adding just a bit of sarcasm. Looking at his face made it harder to keep from laughing than before. No matter how she looked at his sober countenance, all she could see was the Soap that she'd always joked about with friends. However, she knew that she didn't want to make him upset either. She swallowed her laughter and brushed her bangs out of her face. Soap huffed, irritated by her childish acts. Glancing at the watch on his wrist, Soap noticed that it was almost Midnight. He sighed.
"Well, we better get to sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow and I need you to be awake and alert," he instructed, "Wake up at 0-400 hours, we'll board Nikolai's Pavelow and get moving." Without another word, he walked through a door that Sisko hadn't noticed before, shut it behind him, and left the room silent. Sisko stretched her arms behind her head, worn out from the difficult day, from being thrown into a different universe to killing Russians.
"I'm going to hit the sack, too, Ghost," she noted, "…Where am I supposed to sleep, anyway?" Ghost motioned toward a cot that rested on the side of the room.
"You get to stay in here, Soap and I get our own rooms," he informed her flatly, "Since you're a Corporal you don't get any special treatment." Sisko groaned, rolling her eyes.
"I bet you guys are going to keep me as a Corporal forever, just so you get to watch me suffer," she joked, sitting down on her less than comfortable makeshift bed. Ghost chuckled lightly
"No, we keep you as a Corporal so we can boss you around," he teased, "And you can't do anything about it. If you do, we have the right to kill you." Sisko smiled and laughed at the silly remark. Ghost moved to the door leading to his room, looking back just to finish the conversation.
"I wasn't kidding," he said gravely. Before Sisko could find out if he was just pulling her leg, he shut the door behind him. Sisko sighed, too lazy to get up and look for pajamas. She simply brushed her hair with her fingers before she pulled it up with a ponytail holder she had on her wrist. She rested her head back on the cot, simply looking at the blank design on the ceiling. She began to consider what she got herself into. This wasn't just a game anymore. She had to think about the serious problems that this could bring. She could get lost, she could get hurt. She could even die. There were no respawns, no second chances to beat the level. Just a dependence on the skills she didn't have to keep her ass alive. Another thing was the fact that she had no idea how to get home. Rest assured, she didn't plan on going back any time soon, but once her business with the army was complete, where would she go? Would she just magically find herself awake at her house to know it was all a dream? Or would they expect her to live out what happened after the end of the game? She clenched her fists in frustration. Who was "they" anyway? How on Earth did this happen? She had so many questions without a single answer. Regardless, she thought she should at least use her brain power for something that could help her at the moment. She recalled the list of Task Force levels in her head.
Tomorrow, she was headed off to 'Takedown', which subsequently lead to 'The Hornet's Nest', in which she could look forward to falling off the side of a building. After that, she would learn that 'The Only Easy Day…Was Yesterday'. Then, 'The Gulag' would introduce them to Captain Price, who would take them to Russia in 'Contingency', where he would be an asshole and nuke the U.S. After that…
Sisko slapped herself on the forehead, extremely upset with herself. How the Hell could she have forgotten so easily? The worst moment in the whole game had completely slipped her mind. Not only had her favorite character been killed, but Roach got shot and set on fire. It only took her a minute to realize that she was destined for the same fate. She knew that there had to be some way around it. She could dodge the bullet, convince Ghost to keep his gun on Shepard, even kill him before he could shoot her, anything. She sighed, knowing that she had to get to sleep in order to even make it to the next mission. She'd have plenty of time to ponder the future later, but she needed to stay with the present. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.