Chapter 21

"Goodbye Olga." Snake response fell upon deaf ears as he heard her signing off. Snake got up and threw the shaver away to the ground. He then placed Olga's sword and his own M4 inside Raiden's container and headed for the door at the end of the tunnel. As he reached the door, he heard whispers and murmurs on the other side.

"I was in love…or I thought I was…with someone who didn't exist. I was trying to be someone I wasn't by loving what wasn't real. I don't know who you really are. The person I knew isn't real; she's not the woman I'm talking to right now. In a sense, the deception was my own, not yours." The voice sounded familiar to Snake. Raiden… Snake carried on through the door and saw another big corridor. What he saw next made is eyes open wide, Raiden was getting quite close to the door on the other end of the tunnel, but he was completely naked.

"You expect me to believe that. It's okay." Raiden seemed to be having a conversation with someone over his CODEC. "You had your reasons, right? Hey, I understand. But I have nothing left to…What?"

Just like Olga said. From the conversation it was apparent to Snake that he had learned the truth that the woman she called a girlfriend was nothing but a spy for the Patriots.

Snake placed the container on the floor and leaned on the side wall of the tunnel, crossing his arms and waiting for Raiden's conversation to end, it wasn't something Snake wanted to interrupt. After he ended the conversation Raiden resumed his pace towards the door on the end of the tunnel.

"Amazing how you walk around like that." Snake said alerting Raiden to his presence.

Raiden stopped and promptly turned around. "Snake!"

"Been waiting long?" Snake replied uncrossing his arms and facing Raiden.

"Ah-choo!!" Raiden sneezed. "Where's my gear?" He asked.

Snake pointed to the floor behind him. "Right over there." He turned and opened the container promptly throwing Raiden his suit and holding Olga's sword in his hands. It only took a few second for Raiden to get inside his suit.

"That's more like it. Everything you had when you were captured is still there." Snake said watching Raiden in full combat gear. "Sorry about earlier, I had to use you as bait to gain access to Arsenal. It worked." Snake said.

"Why didn't you tell me about Olga?" Raiden asked.

"You never asked." Snake grinned slightly

"Uh!"

"Not happy about that? Get over it."

"...any effects of the virus yet?"

"Still waiting on that." He was still hoping to hear from Otacon.

"So it was rigged by the Patriots?"

"Looks like it. From what I can tell, Arsenal is headed for Manhattan. I don't know what Arsenal is planning, but we'll have to deal with it, one way or another. There's also a troop of production model RAYs ahead."

"How many units?"

"25, according to Olga."

" 25!?"

"Yeah, can't say that I've faced that many Metal Gears before, but I think we can deal." Snake realized this to be the point of no return.

"No way we can..."

"We can because we have no other choice." Snake said frankly.

"How?"

"We'll find a way…Oh yeah, Olga left this for you." Snake stretched out his hand and handed the sword to Raiden.

"Why?" Raiden asked as he drew out the blade.

"Olga asked me to give it to you. Besides, I'm not a big fan of blades." Snake had had enough trouble with the knife that Otacon gave to him.

Raiden swished and whirled with the sword, trying to get the feel and weight of the sword.

"Come on, time to go." Snake guessed that they were already late, according to Olga, Solidus and his men were just ahead. "Raiden, if you run out of ammo, you can have mine."

"You got enough?" Raiden asked.

"Absolutely" Snake headed towards the container to reach for his M4 and the extra ammo that Olga had given him.

"Wait up, Snake." Raiden interrupted him.

"What? "

"Snake, have you ever…enjoyed killing someone?" Raiden asked with sorrow in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between reality and a game..."

"Diminished sense of reality, huh? VR training will do that." Though Snake thought that wasn't the real reason.

"No, it was field-training, when I was a kid. I lied Snake. I have more field-experience than I can remember. It's not VR that's doing it to me."

"Raiden, we don't carry guns to take people down. We're not here to help some politician either."

"You can say that because you're a legend, a hero. I'm Jack the Ripper, a dirty reminder…of a terrible mistake."

"Legends don't mean a whole lot. I was just a name to exploit." Snake recalled the Tanker incident. "Just like you."

"People will remember only the good part, the right part of what you did."

"There's no right part in murder…not ever. And we're not in this to make a name for ourselves." Snake took out the M4 and held it close.

"Then what are you and Otacon fighting for?"

"A future." Snake headed for the door as Raiden followed behind with his SOCOM drawn out. "You can stop being part of a mistake, starting now." Snake knew everybody was entitled to a second chance.

"What am I…what am I supposed to do?"

Snake opened the door with the card key Olga had left him and with caution they entered what seemed to be a massive hangar.

"Find something to believe in. And find it for yourself. And when you do, pass it on to the future."

"Believe in what?" Raiden replied.

Snake looked back at Raiden. "That's your problem. Come on!"

Otacon was flying just over the place where he and Snake had left the car at daybreak. He set the chopper down right next to it and got out. At this early hour of the day it was very unlikely to encounter any policemen or any form of authority. He got out of the helicopter with the container where Emma's bird rested and ran over to a black army jeep that stood by the Manhattan shore and got into the backseat. A few blankets that he promptly removed covered a computer. Otacon placed the container to his side and turned the computer on and waited until he got a signal from one of his devices. Good it's online…I should call them. He then reached for his CODEC. "Snake, Raiden!"

"Otacon! Are you all right?" Snake responded.

"Yeah. So are the hostages." Otacon replied.

"That's good news." Raiden said.

"How's everything on your end? "

"All right for now. But there is something…" Raiden said.

Snake looked over at him wondering what it was.

"What?"

"The Colonel's last transmission was strange."

"Strange? How?" Otacon asked.

"Just…strange. No idea…"

"Interference?"

"I don't know."

"Where is this Colonel?" Otacon asked as he started to push keys on his keyboard.

"I don't know. I've never met the man, actually..."

Suddenly Otacon caught something on the computer, something weird. "...I'll dig around." He replied slightly disturbed as he caught a signal coming from GW's computer towards a receiver inside Arsenal.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"If there's anything else, call me on the Codec, I might be able to help. The frequency is 141.12." Otacon signed off and wondered. What are you? He was about to start searching more about the signal when Emma's bird chirped through the container. "Hal!!"

"Emma…I'm gonna need your help on this…"

"What about GW?" Solidus voice echoed across Arsenal's control room as he asked the man beside him.

"They are searching for it now. Hopefully we'll have it soon…" Ocelot replied.

"Good. After this we'll be able to turn America into what I had always dreamed of, a country of liberty…"

"Big Boss would be proud…King." Ocelot replied as Olga stepped inside the room.

Suddenly an alarm sounded bringing lights in the room to a vivid red.

"What's going on? Ocelot!?" Solidus turned to him and asked raising his voice.

Ocelot got near a computer. "I don't know."

"Sir it seems that the camera on the 'Interrogation Room' isn't working. I thought it was interference but it's been like that for a couple of minutes." A man sitting by a computer got up and said out loud getting Solidus attention.

"Sir we've deployed cyphers along the hangars and…" Another man rose from its seat and faced Solidus. "…we got them."

"Send in Tengus to intercept them." Solidus commanded and then faced Ocelot. "Stay here and keep a watchful eye. I'll be with Fortune. She may have to do something, before she can have this…monster." Solidus turned around and left the room.

Ocelot got close to Olga and whispered. "It's the beginning of the end, daughter of Sergei…" He breathed heavily towards her.

"What do you have me do next?" Olga asked getting a few inches from Ocelot and crossing her arms.

"Do what you must!!" Ocelot grinned. "I'll be in GW's computer mainframe. So long…" Ocelot walked away and left the room.

Olga began to breathe faster and heavily. Dammit… In a gesture of fury she slammed her fist on a nearby desk.

As soon as Otacon's CODEC call ended both Snake and Raiden resumed the task at hand, they continued onwards across the hangar.

It wasn't long until Snake heard a faint noise, a noise much like a small engine. Oh crap! Snake quickly looked up and saw a cypher flying overhead. "We're spotted!!" He shouted as he and Raiden heard a stream of footsteps right in front of them. "Tengus!!"

In the distance several Arsenal Tengus were ready to face them. With swords and P90's ready to slash and fire.

"Follow me…" Snake shouted as he took the safety from the M4 and looked for cover in one of the big containers that were spread out the hangar. Raiden did the same thing.

The rage of gunfire started. The P90's were hitting the containers that both were using as cover.

Snake was keeping alert waiting for the right time. As soon as he heard the first P90 reloading he shouted. "Now! Go!" Snake jumped out from behind the container and got his first targets. Two Tengus were up on a ledge right in front of him. Raiden aimed carefully to the ones that were by the ground area.

Snake ran forwards as the bodies of the Tengus fell from the ledge into the ground. "You wanna be left behind!" Snake said as he passed over Raiden and a jet of cold breath shot from his mouth. "Get in there!" Snake took aim. The Tengus kept coming but Snake and Raiden kept firing and hiding behind containers. The enemy was on the offensive, but their numbers were falling fast. Suddenly as Snake was reloading his M4 behind a bullet-hole filled container a Tengu appeared behind wielding a massive sword. Raiden reacted to him by taking Olga's high frequency blade and making a cut across the Tengu soldier body, blood spewed out into the floor where so many dead soldiers already lay.

Snake nodded at Raiden and peeked to see how many were still left. Apparently about five stood still guarding the door. "There's a door at the north end of this corridor. The enemy's on the other side. We'll rush it!"Snake said taking a deep breath and turning to Raiden. "Don't fall behind." Snake threw himself from the protection of the container out into the open and saw the Tengus while bullets passed by him left and right. He pulled the M4 closer to his shoulder to aim down the sight. Three of them had P90's and those were the ones Snake targeted first. One after the other they began to fall, their armor was thick enough to hold two or three bullets before collapsing. Another Tengu swirling a sword around jumped right in front of Snake and to Snake's amazement deflected four or five bullets of his M4. However Raiden who was behind Snake cartwheel himself and struck a finishing blow to the Tengu, leaving Snake free to pick off the remaining few. The fight ended as the sword of a Tengu fell to the floor and the metallic sound resounded throughout the entire hangar.

The door to the circular room opened up, but a CODEC call prevented both from going inside just yet.

"Raiden? About this Colonel of yours, I found out where he is." It was Otacon's clear voice. He was connected with both Snake and Raiden.

"Where?" Raiden asked.

"Inside Arsenal." Otacon replied sensing the response would trigger even more questions.

"What!?"

"I've checked out all the possibilities, but I keep coming back to Arsenal. It isn't a relay point, it's the origin of the signal."

" ..."

Snake saw as Raiden spoke no words. He had an expression of wonderment and disbelief at the same time.

"And, the encryption protocol it uses is exactly the same as that of Arsenal's AI - the so-called GW." Otacon resumed.

" ...What does this mean?" Raiden asked.

"I think it means you've been talking to an AI" Otacon replied sure of himself.

"That's impossible!"

"The Colonel probably isn't GW per se. GW was most likely stimulating cortical activity in the dormant part of your brain through signal manipulation of your own nanomachines. The Colonel is in part your own creation, cobbled together from expectation and experience..." Otacon continued before being interrupted by Raiden.

"That's crazy..."

"But it's probably the truth. The virus may be starting to affect GW, which would explain the Colonel's behavior."

"It was all... an illusion? Everything I've done so far...?" Raiden lowered down his sword and his SOCOM.

"Raiden!" Snake got close to him trying to get his attention.

"Snake - what's happening around here?" Raiden sounded and seemed confused.

"I don't know. What I do know is that you're standing right here in front of me. Not an illusion…flesh and blood." Snake was seeing Raiden from an all new perspective. He had been a young soldier from what he said, always being controlled by grown ups and here he was apparently being controlled again.

" ..." Raiden kept silent, but with a strange look in his eyes.

For Snake it was obvious that he couldn't just order someone in his condition to tag along with him. "It's your call. You can drop this if you want." He said.

"No, I can't do that. Let's go..." Raiden replied and went over to the circular room.

Snake followed behind with a keen look on Raiden.

"I should go, be careful you two!!" Otacon signed off the CODEC leaving the line open between Snake and Raiden.

Raiden placed Olga's sword on his back and proceeded inside.

What did they do to you? Snake thought to himself as he felt the situation was getting out of his grasp.

"Raiden! They've got Rose!" A sudden voice came on Snake's and obviously Raiden's CODEC. Since Otacon had left the line open Snake could hear Raiden's CODEC:

"What!" Raiden replied instinctively.

"Rose is being held in the holds!"

The voice from the CODEC seemed familiar, but a slight distortion told Snake that it had to be the AI Otacon had talked about.

"It's a trap!" Snake came on Raiden's CODEC and got by his side.

"Help!" A female, but even more distorted voice came on.

"Rose!"

"Raiden, get a grip!" Snake shouted as he grabbed Raiden's shoulder.

"But Snake!"

"It's a trap. Since the Colonel doesn't exist, there's no way he can take Rose hostage.

"Yeah…you're right..."

"I am right."

"...OK..." Raiden replied with and even wilder and stranger look in his eyes.

"Does Rose...exist?"

Snake tried to reply. "Don't be weird. She's your…"

"What if I've never really met her..."

"What?"

"If the Colonel is something that I partly dreamt up, then...everything I remember about her could be...

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Snake said now almost doubting himself and what he had done.

"You and Otacon are the ones that say the Colonel never existed."

"Raiden!" Snake tried to get Raiden focused on reality.

"Is this what Olga was talking about?" Raiden walked out into the circular room forgetting Snake's hand on his shoulder.

"Damn!!" Snake cursed and followed him.

As soon as they reached the room Snake noticed that it was a big circular platform with protective rails located somewhere upon a long shaft with several ledges and doors. Several streaks of light circled around giving the impression that they were inside a big cylinder. A door stood right in front of them and a ladder beside them. We're almost there. However luck wouldn't have it. From the ledges up above Tengus appeared and jumped down. We are not out of the woods yet!! Snake checked his ammo and got ready. A Tengu with a sword was right in front of him. As he made a horizontal slash Snake ducked and as soon as he got up he punched and kicked the Tengu sending him over the rails of the circular platform. He quickly turned and shot another that was getting dangerously close to him, he then glanced over at Raiden and saw him fighting of two Tengus with his sword, however the look in his eyes seemed vacant. The fight went on for a few seconds before the Tengus were disposed of. Snake was almost out of ammo and Raiden seemed a bit out of breath. They surveyed the ledges and all across the circular platform to check for reinforcements, but there were none. However the breathing of both Snake and Raiden were not the only sounds in the place. Heavy footsteps behind both signaled that someone was in the room. Snake and Raiden turned and with their guns drawn out they saw 'lady luck' herself.

"So he's really here!" Said an amazingly beautiful black woman with blonde hair wearing nothing but a dark marine swimsuit and brown boots and gloves, her gun was a state of the art rail-gun that was more or less the length of her body.

Solidus replied. "Would I lie to you?" Walking along beside her through an immense ghostly blue corridor where yellow and green lines of lights circled around. Solidus was now equipped with two swords and a P90. "Apparently the Tengus were not strong enough to capture them." A door at the end of the corridor opened and the hangar came into focus. "As you can probably tell" Solidus and Fortune were above the dead corpses of the Tengus. "They're there…" Solidus pointed to another door at the end of the hangar. Fortune looked and listened to sounds of gunfire.

"What do you want me to do?" Fortune asked glancing over to Solidus looking him straight in his good eye.

"Try to capture Snake, but make sure the other man takes the ladder up." Solidus answered with a minor grin in his face. "I want him to know the truth before he dies…"

Fortune replied "Very well. At last I'll stop the man who started all my pain." Fortune pressed on towards the door just at the end of the hangar while Solidus stood still. She walked for a few feet before getting to some steps and getting to the ground floor, just beyond the door stood her most important battle. My family…your suffering will end now…

She got passed the door and saw both Snake and the other man pointing their guns on the lookout for enemies. They had their backs to her, but as soon as Fortune stepped inside the room Snake and the other man turned around and faced her.

"Fortune..." Raiden replied.

"It's been a long wait, Solid Snake…the root of all my sorrows." Fortune lifted her left arm and pointed directly at Snake.

"What?" Snake replied holding his gun tight.

"Two years ago, you killed my father. That was the beginning of hell for us. Everyone I love has been taken from me, one by one..." Fortune took her hand to her heart. "…and no matter how hard I try, I can't follow them. An endless nightmare... the only thing we live for is to see it end." Raiden and Snake stood still pointing their guns at her. "Our wait is almost over."

"You can't be serious about firing the nuke!" Raiden interrupted.

Fortune had a strange look in her eyes. "Since no one can kill me, I may as well kill everyone I can." She lifted her rail gun and sparks flew from it. "Starting with you, Solid Snake!"

"Damn!" Raiden replied.

Snake took a step towards Fortune. "Looks like I'm today's pick. You go on ahead." He jerked his head to the ladder that stood beside Raiden.

Raiden took a few seconds to comply, but he began retreating to the ladder. He holstered his SOCOM and got hold of a rung.

Snake looked straight into Fortune's eyes. He had read about her, but he hadn't seen her in combat before. However he knew the stories couldn't all be real. "You want eternal rest? I've got it right here!" Snake said with his rough voice challenging her.

Fortune scowled at him.

Raiden was about to start his climb when he stopped. "What're you going to do? Bullets can't get near her." He turned his head to Snake and asked..

Snake heard it and had no trouble replying. "I'll think of something. There's no such thing as a witch."

"You think you can kill me?" Fortune replied at once.

"I don't know what your group's been through, but let's get one thing clear" Snake wasn't about to go with battle for the wrong reasons, he hadn't killed Fortune's father that had been the work of Ocelot two years ago. "I didn't kill your father."

Fortune took a step forward and placed her eye in the rail gun visor. "Do you think anyone believes your lies?"

"Raiden, get out of here!" Snake shouted as he felt the adrenaline rising. He pressed the trigger on his M4 and shouted at the same time. "UNHh…!!" But the bullets veered away from Fortune, it was something unlike Snake had ever seen before. Fortune remained targeting Snake through her scope. So, you can't kill me either… Fortune pressed her trigger and fired the rail gun.