Chapter 3

It seemed like a very strange warehouse, a dark haired man with a strange looking suit stood in the middle of it wielding two weird looking swords. Several echoes and noises erupted across the warehouse making the dark haired man look around left and right. Out of nowhere bizarre looking monsters, bearing blue jackets with the word 'POLICE' written on them appeared all around the man. They advanced towards him in a threatening way, but the dark haired man didn't flinch. He got ready and started waving the swords across the monsters bodies. One by one the monsters fell to the ground and vanished. As the last monster died the man holding the two swords, now with blonde hair noticed a very big mirror in one of the warehouse walls. He headed there and not surprisingly saw his reflection, but as he got closer the reflection started to change, it became a different person altogether. It was none other than Solid Snake. Snake saw himself in the mirror, the swords had disappeared and he was wearing his old sneaking suit. Suddenly he heard a whisper. Brother. The reflection changed again. It was Solid Snake's shadow. Liquid!

"Liquid!" Snake woke himself up. Sure enough he was still standing by the stairs in Strut B Transformer Room. He dozed off again. What the hell was that! Snake stood asleep for a couple of minutes before getting up. Once he did he tried to contact Otacon but the CODEC gave a "NO RESPONSE" signal again. Dammit. Snake headed for Strut C Dining Hall through the BC connecting bridge. However upon arriving at the bridge he saw an incredible sight. The part of the bridge that led to the Core section was gone. Several pipes were jetting out water and there were no signs of any SEAL's. What happened here?

Snake continued to walk towards door on Strut C. Until he found Otacon everything else would have to wait. He opened the door and saw that in front of him stood a large vase with a plant and two entryways, one on the right and one on the left. Toilets. The markings on each entrance were clear.A long corridor stood between them probably leading to the dining area and kitchens. Snake grabbed his M4 tightly and pressed on through the corridor. He could now hear several noises. Two voices. Snake noticed that one of them seemed to be of Raiden, the other though he hadn't heard before. He saw that there were two doors into the mess wall and that the voices were coming near the second one. I have to tread carefully. Snake rested his M4 by the entrance. He would enter the room with only his USP. He could keep it hidden and find out what was happening inside. He opened the first door and entered. There were a few tables around and all the normal things you would see in a Mess Hall. He walked on a little bit more and saw, between the shelves that held the tableware, Raiden pointing a gun downwards.

"Who are you with? And what happened to SEAL Team 10?" Snake heard a voice but he couldn't see from where it was coming.

"They're all dead…" Raiden spoke out with his gun still pointed.

"All of them? That's bad…" Suddenly Snake saw that a man was standing up. The bomb expert. Snake started to makes his way to join the two.

"Did I tell you that you could move?" Raiden spoke out louder and pointing his gun in a very threatening way.

"It's all right. He's not one of the bad guys." Snake spoke out interrupting Raiden. Maybe I shouldn't haven given him that gun. Snake walked on eyeing both the bomb expert and the suspicious Raiden.

"Don't go pointing that thing everywhere, kid." Snake stopped and Raiden lowered his gun. "What's your name?" He directed his voice to a black man wearing a blue NYPD coat and black pants.

"My name is Peter. Peter Stillman." Stillman leaned on the counter as he spoke. He wasn't a young man, there were wrinkles on his forehead and a moustache gave me an old look.

Snake knew who this man was. "Lecturer at NAVSCOLEOD Indianhead... Also a consultant for the NYPD Bomb Squad." Snake spoke out with great admiration.

"A poor old man who got dragged along for this picnic." Stillman moved away from the counter.

"I thought you'd retired." Snake pointed out.

"I did. Can't keep up with everybody, as you can see."

Snake saw the cane in Peter's right hand that he was using to aid his walk. His right leg was probably a prosthetic.

"A famous church got wiped off the map thanks to me. With too many lives inside. All I lost with this leg." Peter continued. It almost seemed he had the necessity to tell what had happened to him.

"So you're the bomb disposal guy?" Raiden asked.

Snake looked over at Raiden and saw him a bit apart from everything. "Kid, this is THE bomb disposal guy. Open any explosives disposal textbook and you'll see his name."

"…" Raiden seemed a bit embarrassed by Snake's tone of voice.

"Heh, just ancient history now." Peter tried to cover Raiden's embarrassment.

"Why did they bring you out of retirement then?" Raiden asked.

"Because the terrorist group includes one of my students."

Snake knew of whom he was talking about. Fatman.

"The Emperor of Explosives, Fatman. He built an atomic bomb when he was only ten. I created him in a sense."

"And that's why you're here..." Snake spoke out.

"I'm pretty rusty. I was supposed to supervise the bomb disposal, looks like it was taken care of before I had my turn."

"I wouldn't say that." Snake spoke out again. "There are at least two people here who claim to be experts at bomb disposal." Snake looked over at Raiden and Raiden gave a weird face.

Peter sensed a bit of suspicion in the air. "Are you two with SEAL Team 10, I didn't see you at the mission briefing."

Snake took a step forward towards Peter Stillman. "Oh, we're with another squad." He tried to change the conversation. "My name is Pliskin, Lieutenant Junior Grade. Honored to meet you, sir." Snake stretched out his hand.

However Peter didn't greet him. "Mr. Pliskin, do you have any experience with explosives disposal." Stillman enquired sincerely.

Snake took his hand back. "Don't worry about me." Snake jerked his head to Raiden. "And he looks young, but he can do it. But we need more manpower." Defusing C4's was not a one man's job.

"I'm ah –" Raiden spoke out reluctantly.

Peter turned his head and eyed the blonde man. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Raiden."

"That's an odd name." Peter looked away and started walking.

"Any other survivors?" Raiden asked.

Snake too was curious by Peter's answer.

"There was also an engineer with me."

"An engineer?" Raiden seemed puzzled.

"A skinny guy. He went in with us..." Peter talked as he walked around a kitchen table.

"Was he killed?" Raiden asked.

"I don't think so. I didn't find his body."

Snake was glad that Otacon's cover wasn't blown. "I see..." Snake blurted out.

"They told me he was the security systems architect for the Big Shell." Peter now was opposite Snake and Raiden. A kitchen table with a few shelves separated them.

"Why would they take a civilian along?" Raiden asked seemingly more interested in this engineer.

"Everything in this structure is computer controlled. He was supposed to get us past all the security measures." Peter continued.

"I never heard anything about that."

"He had official orders with him." Peter was starting to feel that this so called engineer was also suspicious.

"..." Raiden grunted.

Snake wanted desperately to change the subject. "We'll leave that for later. Right now, we need to figure out how to deal with all the bombs."

"But there's no one left from the SEAL's EOD squad..." Raiden sounded preoccupied.

"Yep. So we have to do it ourselves." Peter interjected.

"But I've never defused a bomb before..." Raiden seemed and sounded nervous.

"Hold on a sec." Raiden moved his hand towards his neck.

"Off to confer with the CO again?" Snake taunted him.

Raiden walked just a few feet away leaving Snake and Peter alone.

"Are these for bomb disposal?" Snake said when he looked at the table and saw several items.

"Yes. Here you have everything you need to dispose of the C4's that Fatman planted along the Big Shell" Peter eyed Raiden and Snake saw it.

"How about it, kid? Are the results in yet?" Snake spoke out to Raiden in the hope he would finish his conversation.

Raiden got by Snake's side and looked at Peter.

"There's no need to think about this so much." Peter started. "You won't actually be dismantling the bomb. That's not for amateurs. What we'll try here instead is a temporary freezing measure." Peter looked down and grabbed what looked like a C4 bomb. "Here, look at this –" He pushed the C4 bomb towards Raiden and the SEAL. "This is a C4 bomb..." Peter then flipped a small switch on some sort of electronic panel that was on the C4 bomb. "It's live. You can see it pulsing." A small green light flickered at regular intervals. Peter then grabbed what seemed to be some sort of spray can. "Now you spray this on the sucker and..." A cool jet came from the spray and reached the C4 bomb. Suddenly the green light started changing colors. First yellow then red and finally it wasn't blinking anymore. "...There we go. Simple, huh? The spray freezes the detonator instantly."

"How long does the effect last?" Raiden asked as Peter rested the Coolant Spray on kitchen table.

"There's no way the thing can detonate in this condition. Even if you leave it alone, it'll stay out of commission for at least 24 hours."

Snake thought that was enough time for him and Otacon to figure out everything that was happening here. "That's enough time."

"If we had the manpower, I'd recommend complete disposal. But this will have to do. The spray can be used from several yards away. Now check the floor, ceiling, walls, under a table - everywhere. Try to imagine the locations the bomber would choose."

"That won't be easy. We don't know a thing about Fatman." Snake had read about him, but several details were still lacking and perhaps Peter could shed some light on him.

"Is there anything that'll help us locate the bombs?" Raiden asked.

"Here, take this with you." Peter held up some sort of sensor and another rested on the table. "It's what they call an Ion Mobility Spectrometer. It can recognize ionized gas emitted by C4's."

"...the what?" Raiden sounded confused.

"In other words, that little gizmo sniffs out C4's scent." Snake clarified.

"That's right. I've established a link with your radar network, so any scent detected will be represented visually. Have the sensor activated and keep your eye on the radar." Peter continued.

"What if he's using some other, odorless substance?" Raiden asked apparently preoccupied.

"I know Fatman well. I know how into his own aesthetics he is."

"Signatures?" Snake asked.

"Yes. On every bomb he builds, he always leaves a trace of the cologne he uses. The sensor also picks up that particular scent spectrum."

"Is that something he learned for you?" Snake asked.

"No, it was his own quirk. He wouldn't work by any set of rules except his own, and he followed them like a religion. And common sense wasn't one of his strong points." Peter seemed a bit depressed. "I though I taught him everything I knew...I have no children of my own, and I thought I found a son in him. He had the right stuff, you know. Even at Indian Head, he got special treatment. I remember some people called him one of the 'fat cats'. Maybe that's what started all this. I didn't teach him the most important thing I had to tell him. There are some things you have to pass on."

Snake intervened. "The trick is to know which ones."

"Right... All I taught him were skills. And now I have to stop him from using it to destroy us all." Somehow Peter sensed that the SEAL was trustworthy.

"Let's see how well that sensor works." Snake had to hurry for this conversation had taken too long and he still hadn't heard from Otacon.

"All right...Fatman would have allotted some C4's here in the Strut C as well."

"Here?" Raiden sounded more worried.

Peter placed both sensors near Snake and Raiden. "I'm activating them. Watch." Peter flipped a switch and in Snake's soliton radar a yellow like mist area lit up. "You see the yellow stuff on the radar? That's a visual representation of the C4 scent detected by the sensor." The yellow was fading as the scent died from the C4 bomb that had been frozen a few minutes ago.

"It's a pretty big area, isn't it?" Raiden asked.

Snake had had quite enough of Raiden's whining. "Don't complain. It's better than nothing. "

"Just activate the sensors and search the area, okay?" Peter replied.

"All right."

"Don't forget that you need the radar to use this system. Log into the node at every strut and turn the radar on."

"We have to keep out of the enemy's sight too." Snake warned.

"Because the radar gets knocked offline when we're spotted?" Raiden asked.

"Exactly." Peter responded. "I know the structure of this facility." Peter now changed the subject. "And, if he wants to take out the plant, where he would target..."

"You know this for sure?" Snake asked.

"Of course. I taught him the techniques he uses. His ideas are based on my theories. Demolition is a kind of ideology; it makes no exceptions for time or place." It seemed apparent for Snake that Peter Stillman and Fatman were a different kind of bomb experts.

"Big Shell consists of two hexagons joined end-on-end, north to south." Peter started again. "There should be packets of C4s on each of the vertices, or the struts in this case. You need at least that to take a building of this integrity out."

"Six on Shell 1, another six on Shell 2 - a total of 12 bombs, at least?" Snake asked to clear up the explanation.

"Considering the Shell's architecture and composition from an engineering standpoint…that's my conclusion. And it's exactly what he would have decided as well."

Snake grabbed the coolant spray and placed it on his equipment. I hope Otacon is in Shell 2… "Kid, this place is all yours. I'll take care of Shell 2." He turned to Raiden as he spoke and as he grabbed the sensor and placed it also on his equipment.

"Take this." Peter went his left pocket and took out what seemed like cards. He slid one over to Snake and the other to Raiden.

Snake immediately recognized the cards. Otacon.

"What's this?" Raiden asked.

"Security card issued to Shell personnel."

"The Big Shell's security layout includes varying levels of clearance. The clearance level is identified by the number printed on these doors." Peter began another explanation. "Raiden, your card can open doors with security clearance level 1. Pliskin, your card can get you into level 3 areas. You'll need it to get next door to Shell 2."

"How did you get this?" Raiden seemed curious.

"That engineer I told you about gave it to me. He was supposed to program a set of all access cards once we were on-site. Unfortunately, this card won't get you into every area of this structure."

Snake knew that Otacon had another card with him. "We'll have to deal with the remaining security lockouts as they come up." Snake quickly packed the card. "Let's get going."

Snake made his way to the door and saw Peter moving with them.

"You stay here." Snake said bluntly.

"No, I'm going."

"The two of us can handle it, don't worry."

"But –"It seemed that Peter had a desire to help.

"You'll just slow us down with that leg of yours." Snake said cruelly to protect Peter, for it was obvious he wouldn't last a second against the guards that roamed the Big Shell. "There's a war going on here. I don't have time to baby-sit anymore."

Peter stared at the floor as Snake stood there watching him. Peter then walks up to a bench that stood by a kitchen workbench.

"Why don't you let us handle the grunt work? You can tell us what to do over the radio, like in the original mission plan."

Snake was almost sure that would be Raiden's reaction. Cynical kid.

"All right." Peter sits down in the bench. "I'll give you instructions from here. I may also need to prepare a backup plan just in case..." Peter was hiding something.

"In case of what?" Raiden picked up on it.

"Good luck to both of you. This is a dangerous one." Peter ignored Raiden's commentary.

"Who Dares, Wins." Snake guessed that the motto for the British Special Air Service was appropriate for this situation.

"If anything comes up, let me know. My frequency is 140.25." Stillman said.

Snake turned to Raiden. "Good luck, kid. I'll see you later." He patted him on the back and head out the door. "Semper fi." Snake said as he left.

Snake exited through the second door and headed for the first for he had left the M4 there. He quickly grabbed it and head for the exit, but he overheard Peter talking.

"That's man's no SEAL. I don't even think he's a Navy man."

"What?" Raiden's voice was also audible.

"Semper fi...Marine Corps talk."

Snake grinned and headed out the door towards the CD connecting bridge.