Chapter 23
"Ocelot why did you bring it here!!" Solidus spoke out getting everyone's full attention.
Ocelot was to the right of the Marine's Metal Gear Ray looking at Solidus, with Raiden dangling on the side of his massive tentacle, Snake and Fortune went up the ramp to the upper deck. Once there the massive opening from where they had come began to close, leaving the five people alone in the night.
"I thought it could be of some use since the others are…" Ocelot began explaining himself when he caught sight of Snake. "…I was right, he was here."
"…" Solidus turned around and saw Fortune pointing her gun to Snake. "Lower your weapon Fortune, we're in the middle of the ocean, he won't get away…"
Fortune lowered her gun while Solidus made its way to Snake who was still eyeing Ocelot.
"So brother couldn't stay away from your family could you?" Solidus jested. "As you're undoubtedly aware our plan has hit a few snags…but I'm not worried."
"You're not my brother." Snake replied back.
"Always the rebel one…" Solidus replied as he swirled his free tentacle and bashed it against Snake's shoulder.
"Arghh!!" Snake shouted and fell on one of his knees because of the sheer strength of the bionic tentacle.
"You won't be like that for long…for you see, despite all of my problems I'll accomplish father's dream…" Solidus replied.
"What dream!? Big Boss was insane…" Snake talked back.
"You're wrong." Solidus replied calmly. "Outer Heaven will be quite real. This country will be free…"
"Who appointed you the savior of this country!?" Snake asked interrupting.
"You did…you and everyone who sits idly watching them taking our country apart. Going to war for every other reason except honor and liberty…"
"You really sound like him…" Snake said.
"Thank you, well that's enough conversation…" Solidus replied and turned away. "Let's get this show on the road shall we? Fortune hand me your handcuffs?"
Fortune reached for her back and took out another set of handcuffs.
"Good." Solidus replied and while hanging Raiden from his tentacle he placed the handcuffs and then threw him to the floor just in front of the Ray. He then turned. "Are you awake yet, Jack?" Solidus said while gazing into the distance of the Atlantic Ocean.
"U-uh..." Raiden mumbled.
"GW, the Arsenal AI, is corrupted beyond repair. I admit I underestimated you..."
How could I forget…the virus worked!! Snake thought to himself as he looked at both Solidus and Raiden.
"U-uhn..." Raiden was getting on his knees when all of a sudden Solidus turned and used one his tentacles to hold Raiden from his neck.
"I'll squeeze the answers out of you instead, my son..."
"Huh…" Snake grunted as he heard the word 'son'.
"U-uh...uhn..." Raiden twisted and turned as it seemed that the tentacle was preventing air from reaching his lungs.
"What do you hope to hear? You know he doesn't know anything." Fortune intervened. Unlike Snake she thought Raiden was not to blame for anything.
"It's not him I want the answers from." Solidus replied releasing Raiden to the floor.
"What do you mean?" Fortune asked.
"That's not your business." Solidus replied.
"Oh really?" She answered back while Raiden got to his knees. "It so happens I have some business of my own to attend to." Fortune turned and began to walk away.
"Planning to hijack Arsenal?" Solidus asked making Fortune stop dead in her tracks. "You were going to screw me over, weren't you?" He asked.
"Who talked? Ocelot?" She took a guess for it was Ocelot who talked to her about using Arsenal against the Patriots.
"Not exactly. I was the one who used Ocelot to suggest the idea to you in the first place." Solidus answered.
Fortune turned and asked. "What?"
"I was planning to give you Arsenal to begin with." Solidus waved his arm in a gesture of giving.
"…Why the uncharacteristic generosity?"
"Hm. I'm no philanthropist. Arsenal is far from impregnable. It needs other Metal Gears as guards, a huge payload of warheads, and full air, sea, and land support to function efficiently. Against a large attack force without support, Arsenal is nothing more than a gigantic coffin. Seizing Arsenal Gear was never the real objective!"
It all made sense to what Olga had told Snake, Solidus was not here because of Arsenal.
" ...What was your objective, then?" Fortune asked.
"A list of names…" Solidus raised his arm "…of the Patriots!" He grinned. "They were planning to extend their control to digital information flow with GW and Arsenal. That means the information they want to filter out is contained in GW. Including that list of the highest twelve members of the Patriots' Wisemen's Committee."
"And once you knew who they were, you would cross out their name one by one... while we, with our useless Arsenal, drew their fire." Fortune completed Solidus reasoning.
"Very good." He replied.
"You were using us all along."
"Were you any different?"
"But your plan's hit a snag with GW destroyed, hasn't it?" She smiled.
"No…there is another way." Solidus turned his head slightly towards Raiden.
"Really? But we have our own plans to carry out. We'll take the Arsenal since you don't care for it anyway. The purified hydrogen bomb is ready to go." She said.
"A nuclear strike won't stop them." Solidus replied coolly.
"It will damage their power source…the mindless masses that they control. First things first." She said with a decisiveness in her eyes.
"Of course…that was what you wanted. I won't stop you. Good luck." Solidus waved her goodbye.
"Thanks, but I have quite enough of that." Fortune started again to walk away leaving everyone behind.
This is it…it has taken enough time already…Suddenly Ocelot broke off in laughter and took a few steps forward.
"What exactly do you find so funny?" Fortune stopped again and asked.
Ocelot opened up his arms. "Charades usually are humorous. I wouldn't have minded watching some more of it but we're running a little short on time..."
"What are you talking about?" Solidus asked with a suspicious look.
Ocelot faced Solidus. "Everything you've done here has been scripted…a little exercise set up by us."
"Exercise!?" Solidus replied sensing something was off.
"The S3 Plan was conceived as a means to produce soldiers on par with Solid Snake. That's what I told you."
Snake raised his head and looked at Ocelot. Bastard… It was coming apparent to Snake that Ocelot was in fact working with the Patriots like he and Otacon suspected.
"But the VR Training the boy was put through is not the meat of the project." Ocelot continued. Pointing towards Raiden. "You think this terrorist incident is your own doing, Solidus?" He raised his left arm and pointed to him. "THIS is the S3 training kernel…an orchestrated recreation of Shadow Moses."
Solidus eye opened wide and incredulity came over him "What!?"
"Ames and the President's deaths…the computer virus that mimics FOXDIE. Did you really think they were all a coincidence? Ames' own nanomachines were used to shut down his pacemaker. I arranged for the appearance of the Ninja as well." Ocelot spoke making Snake realize that his suspicions about everything were right, this was just like what Olga said, a show. "As for the President…although Johnson realized what was going on, he played out his allotted part. As for the computer virus, it's a digital counterpart of FOXDIE. It was also designed to eliminate every scrap of information regarding the Patriots from GW."
Snake grinned slightly for once it seemed he had been smarter than Ocelot.
"Your plan was invalidated even before execution, Solidus."
Solidus was staring at Ocelot with an homicidal look.
"Fatman was a different story." Ocelot began again. "He's one of our own people, a sort of examiner we hired to test the boy's progress before letting him tackle the exercise proper. We had to arrange for Stillman's presence to coax the maniac into agreeing. If the boy had allowed the Big Shell to be destroyed, this exercise would have ended there. The project has no room for failures." Ocelot sounded proud as he spoke.
"What do you mean!?" Solidus asked upset beyond reasoning.
"Given the right situation, the right story, anyone can be shaped into Snake." Ocelot said 'Snake' with a despicable tone. "Even rookies can fight like men of experience. An instant creation of genius…and this training kernel will provide more than enough data to formulate such a program. You, Dead Cell, Olga…you're all nothing but pawns placed to create the perfect simulation." Ocelot seemed happy to be talking this much. "Solidus, you and the boy were selected because your relationship resembles the one between Snake and Big Boss. "Fortune…" Ocelot turned to her. "…you and the rest of Dead Cell stand in for the FOXHOUND squad that Snake took on in Shadow Moses. You're the most impressive collection of freaks outside of FOXHOUND. We've gone to a lot of trouble to set you up against the boy. That story about purified hydrogen bombs is just the tip of the iceberg. The project was already underway when I sunk that tanker along with your old man two years ago."
Snake looked at Ocelot and remembered the entire affair.
"Throwing your husband in the brig was a part of it too. You were told that the eradication of Dead Cell six months ago was an act of the Patriots. We provoked and encouraged your hatred…"
Fortune clamped her fist tight.
"…and you opted for vengeance, just as we planned." Ocelot said taunting her.
"All orchestrated...?" Fortune replied remembering her husband and her father.
"Except for the appearance of the real Solid Snake. I wonder now, who sent for you...?"
Snake heard and got ready to get up when suddenly beside her Fortune got her gun ready to fire. "All our misfortune was…just a part of their project!" She was about to fire when Ocelot hastily drew one of his Colts and shot.
Everyone stared at Fortune as it seemed that the bullet hadn't missed.
The smoke faded away from the colt barrel as Fortune began to feel a bullet inside her. "H-how could…!"
Ocelot began again. "You're no Lady Luck. You have nothing we didn't give you."
"What?" Fortune fell to her knees.
"Do you know why no bullet could hit you? It wasn't magic or some New Age mumbo-jumbo. Certainly wasn't your psychic talents. It was all staged by the Patriots."
"Staged?" Fortune's hands fell to the ground.
"You were being shielded by the electromagnetic weapons technology that the Patriots developed. Your Dead Cell comrades loved your father and husband…we needed a pathetic wretch like you to keep them focused. You've been our puppet all along…just like Olga." Ocelot holstered his colt. "You were hamming it up as the tragic heroine thanks to the script that the Patriots wrote for you. Pure self-indulgence…you couldn't get enough of the drama."
"...I could have died whenever I wanted to..." Fortune said as fury came over her. She gathered her strengths, held her gun and got ready to stand up.
"Hm? Thought I got her in the heart?"
Fortune got her gun ready and fired. However the shot missed Ocelot, by inches.
"It missed!" Raiden pointed out.
Ocelot scowled at her. "Now I remember. Your heart's on the right."
Fortune clenched her teeth and fired, but missed again.
Ocelot threw his arms to the air. "Waste of metal, my dear. Your luck's run out." Ocelot used his left arm and touched a little device that stood just beneath his belt. "This is the little gizmo. There is no such thing as miracles or the super-natural only cutting-edge technology."
Solidus who had kept silent, whipped out his P90 and began firing at Ocelot. "HRR!!" However every shot went astray
"You bastard!" Fortune said coughing up blood and falling to the ground.
Ocelot quickly jumped towards the Ray's cockpit.
Solidus threw is P90 away as he saw it and held his tentacles with his arms. Several small missiles were launched from the tips directed at Ocelot, but every one of them failed to hit anything.
Ocelot waved his hand and jumped inside the Ray. Everyone stood quiet as Ray's eyes lit up and all hope faded away for Snake and Raiden, who got to his feet at the incredible sight.
"Now that I have enough data, all I have to do is retrieve Arsenal...and clean up the refuse from the exercise." Ocelot spoke from inside the cockpit, but his voice was heard outside.
"Just try!" Solidus said taking both his swords and waving them in front of Ray's arm which held a powerful gun. The swords shone blue as the night sky.
Ocelot began firing, but with incredible agility Solidus began fending off and deflecting the bullets with the swords. One of the bullet's ricochet and hit Snake's handcuffs.
"!?" Maybe now he could break them.
Ocelot stopped firing as he witnessed Solidus wouldn't die with that. "How's this then!?"
"Damn!" Snake got to his feet turning and twisting, trying to get the handcuffs off. If Ray released any missiles everybody on top of Arsenal would die.
Suddenly a figure fumbled towards the Ray, Fortune had gotten up and placed herself in front of the Metal Gear Ray, she stretched out her arms and her palms.
"Fortune!" Raiden shouted.
"You idiot! Get the hell away from there!" Solidus said.
Ocelot could see Fortune through Ray's visor. "I told you…your luck's run out. Take your reward, it's all the payload RAY has. Die!!" Cluster bombs flew, from Ray's missile chambers, into the air. After a few seconds the explosives were coming down right on top of everyone.
"Everybody down!" Snake shouted as he bowed his head.
However there was no need to duck and cover. Every bit of explosive wheezed by Fortune and the others, hitting nothing but Arsenal Gear's protective armor.
"What the…! Impossible!" Ocelot pushed the missile button.
Several missiles directed themselves towards Fortune but they too missed and veered away.
There was no denying it. "She is Lady Luck." Snake said.
"My name is Helena Dolph Jackson. The daughter of a proud, noble soldier..." The wind blew her beautiful blonde hair to the side." She began to fumble backwards. "I can... see my family... again..." She fell to the ground at last her luck had finally come.
"Damn!"
Snake, Raiden and Solidus were all looking at the Ray, waiting for the next thing to happen.
"…Try this instead!" Ocelot shouted as he pushed a few buttons and opened the Ray's mouth.
He was about to use the high pressured hydro-jet of water when Snake shouted." No!"
Suddenly Ocelot felt a tingling in his arm. "Hm?" His right hand began to twitch and jerk. "No! No, not now!!" Ocelot felt like his hand was about to burst when everything changed. A grin appeared on his face and he pushed a few buttons that sent Ray into an upright position. Ocelot ripped his right arm sleeve, took out his glove and the string that tied his ponytail. He then proceeded to open the cockpit. "Brothers!!" He shouted with a completely different voice.
"Liquid!" Snake said.
"I've been waiting for this." Liquid replied.
"It can't be…?" Solidus sounded amazed.
"I've been inside this arm all along, waiting for the right time to awaken." Liquid's voice had remained unchanged since Shadow Moses.
"You were inside Ocelot?" Snake asked.
"Yes…a sleeper in the arm of a Patriots' spy." He replied.
"It was you two years ago!?" Snake recollected the encounter he had had.
"Exactly. I was controlling him." Liquid smiled. "Snake, it was I that leaked information about Arsenal to your partner and got you out here."
Damn!!! Snake thought to himself. I fell for it again. It hadn't been the first time Liquid had had the upper hand.
Liquid continued. "You're the only one that can free me, after all..."
It became apparent to Snake that Liquid only surfaced because Snake was near.
"I'm off to bury the Patriots for good." Liquid waved his hand and clenched his fist.
"You know where they are? How?" Solidus asked sounding anxious.
"Why do you think I choose Ocelot as my host? But before I go, I have a family matter to settle with both of you. There's room for only one Snake, and one Big Boss!"
Solidus was face to face with his shortcomings. His dead brother had been more successful than him. Solidus grabbed his left tentacle and fired at Liquid. "Grraah!" But the missiles hit nothing.
Liquid jumped inside of the cockpit again and smiling pushed the button to close the cockpit. "Time to say goodbye."
The Ray began to move to the edge of Arsenal's bulk.
"Damn!" Snake said frustrated with his handcuffs. I can't let him go…not now!!
Every step that Ray took Arsenal would shake furiously.
"Like surfing? It's a good way to go." Liquid shouted as he got ready to launch himself to sea.
This can't be happening…I have to get him…Otacon's device…I have to break free. With a final feat of strength Snake was able to free himself. The handcuff broke in the chain and hastily Snake began running. "Liquid! Stop this thing!"
Liquid saw it and became overjoyed. "Hey, Snake! You coming?" The Ray opened its arms and leaped into the vast deepness of the ocean.
"Hrrr-eya!!! Snake didn't stop. Without fear he threw himself to the water just behind the Ray.
The impact sent Snake's body into instant shock, the cold water was enough to make any man stop, but Snake had to do this. He opened his eyes and saw, across the deep blue sea, the shadow of something big. He began swimming towards it without knowing for sure which part of the Ray it was.
Inside the cockpit Liquid noticed the proximity alarm. "Snake!!!" He shouted.
In the water Snake noticed the distorted sound and he knew he was close. Suddenly he saw something dead ahead. The tail… Snake used all of him strengths to swim down, he stretched out his arm and got a hold of it.
Suddenly a warning sign appeared on Liquid's visor, something foreign was attached to the Ray. "So you want to play, eh brother…"
With his free hand Snake reached inside his equipment and grabbed the last of Otacon's small devices. I only hope this works underwater. Snake took it out as bubbles came from his mouth announcing that his air was almost gone. He was about to place the device when something passed over his head, distorting the water. What the hell…Then another and another. He's firing under water. The Ray's right arm was stretched out and firing at Snake. One of the bullets passed by dangerously near the tail making Snake release it. No!! Snake hadn't much oxygen left. I can't…not this time…Snake swam with all his might further and further down. As he saw the tail again he threw his arm and made contact with it. The device attached safely and Snake stopped. Without much effort, for he had no more strength left, he let himself go to the surface. He was closing and opening his eyes while the surface became visible. Almost…Snake reached the surface and took a big gulp of air in. As soon as he finished catching up his breath he reached for the CODEC.
Since the last CODEC transmission Otacon kept trying to get more information about the disc Snake had given him and about Raiden's colonel, but it was no easy task. The disc contained a special kind of virus that targeted specific content in GW. Otacon's job was to figure out what that content was, by analyzing both GW and the virus.
Suddenly Otacon's CODEC beeped frantically. "Yes!!"
"Otacon, I need your help!!"
"Snake, where are you!!?" Otacon asked frantically as Snake sounded a bit out of breath.
"You still have the chopper right…trace me using my CODEC…hurry up…" Snake signed off without any further explanations.
"What the…" Otacon got out of the black jeep and headed for the helicopter, but not before hearing a roaring thunder behind him. As he turned, his eyes and mouth opened wide. A gigantic machine was making its way to Battery Park, it was going incredibly fast. "Oh my…" Otacon got a hold of himself and headed for the Kasatka. Snake…where are you… He turned on his small device and located Snake through the CODEC. He's a few miles from shore…He started up the Kasatka and made its way to Snake while Arsenal Gear was headed straight into Manhattan. It took him about five minutes to get to Snake who seemed to be struggling to keep on the surface. Otacon lowered the Kasatka enough and threw a small ladder for Snake to catch. Otacon only flew away as Snake reached the cargo door and heaved himself inside.
"Where have you been!? Arsenal has crashed into New York!!" Otacon spoke out loud to a dripping wet Snake.
"Damn!! Otacon, I placed one of your devices on Ocelot's Metal Gear Ray...besides hacking into computers it can still locate them right?" Snake asked as he shook his head to dry his hair.
"Sure…" Otacon replied. "Oh no…" The view from the cockpit was earth shattering.
"Damn him…" Snake saw it too. The massive Arsenal had crashed. Around it buildings had collapsed and roads were now impossible to cross.
"Federal Hall…" Snake pointed out the place where Arsenal had apparently stopped.
"Snake!!" Otacon said getting his attention. "Today is April 30th, the day George Washington came to Federal Hall to be inaugurated as the first President." Otacon replied.
"So that's why…Sons of Liberty…no, you failed Solidus…this is no freedom, this is the other side…the destruction of liberty." Snake spoke to himself.
"Snake where's Raiden?" Otacon question raised Snake's awareness.
"Right…we need to find him, the last time I saw him he was near the bow of Arsenal."
"Well we won't find him on this…we don't have much fuel…we need to take the jeep…" Otacon turned to left heading to where the black jeep was.
"How much time?" Snake asked.
"Just a few minutes…" Otacon replied.
When they both got the black jeep Snake jumped off the Kasatka and ran to the driver's seat, while Otacon ran to the back seat.
"What about the police and the Navy?" Otacon asked as Snake fired up the jeep.
"My worries are on Raiden, by the way try to get him on the CODEC!!" Snake said he turned on the ignition and accelerated.
"I've got him…" Otacon shouted from the backseat while Snake turned and headed for Federal Hall. "…He's fighting Solidus…"
"Tell him to be careful…and to make use of Solidus left side…he just needs to stay alive." He wasn't about to get Raiden killed by own of his so called brothers.
"It's done." Otacon replied when violently being shaken up. "What's with your driving!!?"
Snake had been pushing the accelerator to the max. He was turning and driving through the dawned empty streets. Some of which were impossible to get through because of Arsenal's destruction.
"Snake I'm collecting something on my computer about Arsenal…its receiving information right now…" Otacon said while staring the computer screen.
"What does it say?" Snake asked driving along an empty street, by its side stood Arsenal Gear and Federal hall.
"It says 'S3 plan successful, send in authorities and cleaners, release of personnel granted'." Photos of several men and women appeared on the screen. "What does it mean Snake?"
"Humm." Snake mumbled as he reached an alleyway and stopped the jeep. "Federal Hall is just right there." Snake got out of the car, Otacon was about to do the same when Snake stopped him.
"You don't need to come, if that's right…" Snake pointed at the computer screen. "Then Raiden did it…" Solidus… "Listen can you hand me the disc I gave you. It's for Raiden to see, I'm not leaving him in the dark anymore."
"Sure, I've copied everything I need…" Otacon took out the optical disc from the computer and handed it to Snake.
Snake then glanced over to the computer and saw pictures of several people, probably working for the Patriots, but one in particular caught his attention. A picture of a beautiful dark haired woman, a name appeared underneath it 'Rosemary' in her occupation it was written 'Subject's girlfriend. That's her…Information was appearing beneath her photo. '…released thirty minutes ago on Manhattan. Purpose – join subject…' It seemed that maybe she, like Snake, was heading to meet Raiden.
"Stay here and find everything you can before Arsenal's computer is seized or shutdown." Snake said turning his eyes from the computer and looking to the alley beside him.
"But…" Otacon started only to be interrupted by Snake.
"I'll keep my CODEC on so you can hear everything…I'll be fine." Snake began to walk away.
Otacon nodded and got in the backseat.
A crowd of people appeared around Federal Hall, New York city police officers, men and women that worked there. Everyone was in an uproar. A dead body leaned against the statue of George Washington on top of the stairs of Federal Hall. Solidus seemed like he was pleading for freedom, but not the one he got.
Snake could only see a glimmer of hope in all this destruction. He was walking towards it when it spoke. "Who am I really...?" Raiden asked himself.
"No one quite knows who or what they are." Snake was quick to place his hand on Raiden's shoulder making him turn rapidly. "The memories you have and the role you were assigned are burdens you had to carry. It doesn't matter if they were real or not. That's never the point." Snake grinned very slightly. "There's no such thing in the world as absolute reality. Most of what they call real is actually fiction. What you think you see is only as real as your brain tells you it is."
"Then what am I supposed to believe in? What am I going to leave behind when I'm through?" Raiden asked.
"We can tell other people about…having faith. What we had faith in. What we found important enough to fight for. It's not whether you were right or wrong, but how much faith you were willing to have, that decides the future." Snake's faith in his beliefs were what made him go on surviving. "The Patriots are a kind of ongoing fiction too, come to think of it..." Fighting them was becoming exceedingly harder.
"..." Raiden kept his head bowed as if trying to understand.
"Listen, don't obsess over words so much. Find the meaning behind the words, then decide. You can find your own name. And your own future..."
"Decide for myself...?" Raiden interjected.
"And whatever you choose will be you." Snake replied while taking his hand from Raiden's shoulder.
"I don't know if I can..."
"I know you didn't have much in terms of choices this time. But everything you felt, thought about during the mission is yours. And what you decided to do with them is your choice..."
Otacon listened to everything up to that point. At that moment he picked up the container with Emma's parrot and got out of the car. Emma, I'll always miss you…Otacon opened the container and held the parrot with both his hands. Tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.
"By the way, what is that?" Snake noticed something dangling on Raiden's neck.
"Dog tags." Raiden removed them from his neck.
Snake smiled and as Raiden looked at him he shook his head. "Anyone you know?"
Raiden closed his hand. "No, never heard the name before. I'll pick my own name…and my own life. I'll find something worth passing on." He then threw the dog tags away into the crowd.
Snake grinned and nodded, Raiden nodded back still stricken by the whole situation. "They taught me some good things too." Both Snake and Raiden stared at Solidus body that was being surrounded by policemen.
"I know. We've inherited freedom from all those who've fought for it. We all have the freedom to spread the word. Even me." Snake knew he had to go. The fight was far from over.
"Snake, what about Olga's child?" Raiden turned to him and asked.
"Don't worry. I'll find it. Count on it. As long as you keep yourself alive, the child's safe."
"Do you know where Liquid went?"
"I put a transmitter on his RAY."
"Did he head for the Patriots?"
"Probably. But I have a feeling they gave Ocelot a bogus location to begin with."
"…" Raiden bowed his head.
"Cheer up. We have a better lead. This contains the list of all the Patriots." Snake took out the optical disc and showed it to Raiden.
"But Ocelot took it!" Raiden said and stretched his hand to reach the disc. Snake however pulled his hand back jesting.
"The one we gave you wasn't the real thing."
"What?" Raiden replied sounding resentful.
"The virus is coded to destroy only a specific part of GW namely the information about the Patriots' identities. Which means that there's a parameter coded in here that defines what that information is.
"I get it…analyze the code and you can probably find out where they operate. Count me in…" Raiden replied while Snake began to walk away.
"No, you have things to do first…And people you need to talk to..." Snake said remembering what he had seen on Otacon's computer screen.
Otacon who had been weeping slightly looked at the parrot and decided it was time to let go. I…I'll see you Emma…Otacon opened his handsletting the parrot fly away. Goodbye. Otacon got inside the car and cleaned his eyes. He would wait there for Snake.
The walk back along the alley seemed to going on forever. Everything that happened this day had caused Snake to realize how lucky he was to be free and to fight for something that was worth passing on. Life isn't just about passing on your genes. We can leave behind much more than just DNA. Through speech, music, literature and movies...what we've seen, heard, felt ...anger, joy and sorrow... these are the things I will pass on. That's what I live for. We need to pass the torch, and let our children read our messy and sad history by its light. We have all the magic of the digital age to do that with. The human race will probably come to an end some time, and new species may rule over this planet. Earth may not be forever, but we still have the responsibility to leave what traces of life we can. Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing.Snake stopped and looked at the sky up above hoping for a bright future ahead. A brand new day had just started and with it a new chance to fight for truth and freedom.
END
As Otacon waited in car for Snake a flashing message appeared on the computer screen. It's done…Otacon opened up the file that had just been created by using the disc Snake had given to him before. What is this…!!? Otacon's expression was incredulous.
He reached for his CODEC.
"Snake, you there? It's me. I've finished going over that disc."
Snake was still a few feet away from the black jeep, but he knew the information would be too good to wait any other second. "Did you find the Patriots' list?"
"Of course. It contains the personal data of twelve people. There was a name on it… Snake, it was one of our biggest contributors."
"What's going on around here?" Snake asked resuming his march towards the jeep.
"I don't know..."
"Anyway, where are they?" He asked.
"Well, we were right about them being on Manhattan, but..." Otacon halted for a second.
"But what?" Snake pressed on.
"They're already dead. All twelve of them."
"When did it happen?" Snake asked now seeing the jeep.
Otacon turned and looked at him through the window. "Well, ah...about a hundred years ago."
Snake stopped dead on its tracks. "What the hell?"
THE END