MGS1英文官方小说

fengmosn

勤奋好学的KD...
现在录入倒是快了 不过具体要研究什么内容偶的英语水平还是差了一大截
等偶全部录完了再慢慢翻看...

fengmosn

21

DR. NAOMI HUNTER gave up her attempt to take a nap and resumed her position at the computer terminal. Trying to forget the pain and guilt was a futile exercise. Her mind had raced over the events of the last several hours, and she couldn’t relax if her life depended on it.. She knew that things were going to come to a head sooner rather than later. The inevitable disaster was at hand.

　　She would have liked to have a strong drink, preferably a gin and tonic with a slice of lemon. The thought sounded so good that she salivated. Not only would the taste satisfy the craving, the alcohol would dull the senses. It wouldn’t be long before she was in a world of pain, and there was no way she could escape it.
Colonel Campbell entered the control room and stood behind her.
“Naomi.”

　　She didn’t swivel in her chair to face him, she focused on the computer monitor, tracking Snake’s position ad he moved from the cold storage warehouse to the underground maintenance base where the Metal Gear was stored.

　　“Yes, Colonel?”

　　“You’re wanted in the conference room.” His voice was stern and direct. This was an order.

　　“Sir?”

　　“Now, Naomi. There are…some men…who want to question you.”

　　Only then did she turn the chair. She hadn’t realized that an MP had followed Campbell into the room and was standing at attention behind him. “Why? Who are they?”

　　“They’re part of our security force here on the sub. They work for the Defense Department. You know that.”

　　“Why do they want to question me?”

　　“Now, Naomi.” The colonel nodded to the MP, who stepped forward. “This man will accompany you.”

　　So it had happened much sooner than she’d expected. Dr. Hunter looked into Campbell’s eyes and saw disappointment and anger. With resignation, she nodded, stood, and walked out of the room with the soldier.

　　SNAKE USED THE Level 7 PAN card to open the warehouse’s back door, which revealed yet another underground tunnel built on an incline heading deeper into the earth. The Shadow Moses facility had more secret passages than the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, and this convinced Snake more than ever that it hadn’t been constructed solely to store and dispose of nuclear throwaways. The mission had been straightforward enough, but Snake had discovered an unpleasant subtext to everything that didn’t feel right. As the clues added up, Snake was convinced that the operation was a smoke-and-mirrors job, a cover for something else entirely. Master Miller had given him a couple of hints, and the dying FOXHOUND renegades had intimated that all was not as it seemed.
Screw it, he thought. Just finish the goddamn job.

　　As he came to the end of the tunnel, he noticed a gun camera mounted above the door. It sensed him, too, for it suddenly jerked out of a dormant position and pointed in his direction. The lens and gun barrel scanned the tunnel for any sign of movement, but Snake had slipped into the shadows and pressed himself against the wall. He slowly reached into the pouch and removed a chaff grenade. It would circumvent the camera’s ability to sense him but wouldn’t disable the gun. But first things first. Snake pulled the pin, tossed it, and watched the grenade explode in front of the door. He then stepped out to the middle of the tunnel and noted that the gun camera didn’t track him. He drew the SOCOM, aimed, and blasted the gun off its mount.

　　The PAN card opened the door, and he stepped onto a long metal bridge that led into a room that took his breath away. It was the largest space he’d been in so far, and it looked as if it belonged in a Star Wars movie or a Japanese manga. It might have been a cathedral built in reverence to the gods of mechanization and high-tech wizardry. But the room was nothing compared to the monstrosity that stood before him on a large metal platform. The thing inspired the kind of awe that one experienced when gazing at Mount Rushmore, the Taj Mahal, or the Grand Canyon.

　　Metal Gear REX was a gigantic mech that resembled some kind of reptilian beast. Snake estimated in to be at least twelve meters tall and six meters wide. It was very broad-shouldered with massive strong “legs” that let it walk like a man. Its right arm was along cannon, and the left was a short barrel-shaped housing for various types of weapons. There was no head per se, but the top of the Metal Gear was flat, and the middle of the shoulders extended forward to a cockpit where its pilots could sit.

　　It was nearly impossible to determine exactly what kinds of armaments were built into the machine. Snake could see machine guns in the nose, probably 30-mm. guided antitroop TOW missile launchers also were built into the cockpit area. If the tank was anything like the other Metal Gears Snake had seen, somewhere on the behemoth was a laser powerful enough to slice and dice anything in REX’s path. He guessed that it might be an ArmsTech International V17 Vulcan Cannon Searing LaserStorm High-Energy Cutter, which was the equipped with an 18.5-m Rail Gun, a type known as a Widow-maker. And attached to it was a fully armed nuclear missile, ready to launch.

　　If that wasn’t intimidating enough, REX’s platform was surrounded by a moat containing what appeared to be murky, discolored sludge. The source of the liquid was a small waterwall flowing out of a machine on the left side of the room; the stuff was obviously waste material. The Codec had a Geiger counter feature. So Snake took the liberty of crossing the bridge and standing on the outer perimeter of the moat. There, he knelt at the edge and activated the Codec. The Geiger reading indicated that the water was contaminated with radioactivity. It was probably safe to be in the room, but taking a swim would not be wise. The sludge was like quicksand, a prescription for a distasteful death that could not be swift enough.

　　He stood and then realized how odd it was that the place was completely empty of genome soldiers. Snake was all alone with REX, and that didn’t make sense. Where was everybody? He looked up and saw a large observation window high on the back wall. The lights were on behind the window, and he thought he glimpsed a figure moving away from the glass, out of sight. Snake figured that was the control room, the brain center for the entire operation. If his instincts were correct, plenty of secrets were stored there. A catwalk alone the wall beneath the window, and there appeared to be an open door next to the window-the way in to the control room.
“Snake, it’s me,” the Codec chirped, revealing Otacon frequency.

　　“Did you find a good place to hide?” Snake asked.

　　“Yeah, thanks to the stealth gear. It looks like they’ve finished getting Metal Gear ready.”

　　“How do you know that?”

　　“I overheard them talking. Where are you now?”

　　“I’m standing right in front of it! But it’s strange.”

　　“What is?”

　　“There’s nobody here. No guards, nobody patrolling. It’s too quiet.”

　　“Maybe ’ cause they’re all ready. They said they even inputted the PAL codes.”

　　“What should I do?”

　　“All we can do is use the override system that President Baker told you about.”

　　Snake cursed silently. “But I’ve only got one of the three keys.
And besides that, like Ocelot said, there’s some trick in using them.”

　　“Okay, leave it to me.”

　　“You got some kind of plan?”

　　“Well, I’m in the main computer room right now. I’ll try to access Baker’s private files.”

　　“Baker’s files? Don’t you need a password?”

　　“Of course. But there are ways…”

　　The man’s list of abilities continued to surprise Snake. “Are you a hacker, too?”

　　“Sure am. That describes me pretty well.”

　　“Dose it look like you can do it?”

　　“I won’t know until I try!”

　　“Hop to it, then. I’m counting on you.”

　　Snake signed off and studied the room’s layout. Obviously, the best way to get up to the control room was by climbing Metal Gear. At the side of the base there was a movable stairway similar to what was used in small airports to receive passengers. He could wheel it next to REX’s right leg and climb, giving himself access to the mech’s knee. From there it would simply be a matter of making his way up the waist and torso, onto the cannon arm, and over the shoulder, finishing on the shoulder level, still alone and then darted to the rolling stairs. The unit moved easily, and he was thankful that the wheels didn’t squeak; the slightest noise echoed heavily in the church-like chamber. Once it was in place, Snake ascended the twenty steps, grasped the side of the mech’s leg, and hoisted himself onto the knee.

　　Although REX’s exterior obviously was made of a durable bulletproof steel, the texture was smooth to the touch. But it didn’t have a sleek finish like an automobile. Metal Gear’s design resembled the hardware appearance of Transformer toys or spaceships in post-Star Wars science fiction movies. This was a heavy walking tank that didn’t try to hide the fact that it was completely mechanized.

　　Snake spent the next few minutes navigating his way up onto the chest and then onto the long right arm, and then it was a trivial matter to climb onto the shoulder platform. As soon as he was in place, Otacon called back on the Codec.

　　“Snake, it’s me again.”

　　“How’s it going?”

　　“Not bad. I just got past Baker’s third security level. He was a pretty careful guy.”

　　“Do you think you can break in soon?”

　　“I never met a system I couldn’t bust into.”

　　“Okay, keep trying. I’m sitting on Metal Gear’s head.”
Otacon sighed. “I must admit I’m proud of it. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

　　“Yeah, except for the fact that it could wipe out a city with the touch of a button.”

　　“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess it can. It’s armed, isn’t it?”

　　“Look that way.”

　　“Then I’d better get to work. Give me a few more minutes.”
Snake eyed the catwalk that ran beneath the observation window and the open door. The lights were still on, and he definitely could see movement. There was no easy way to get from REX’s head to the catwalk other than by jumping. It was a good eight feet-a piece of cake in normal circumstances, but Snake didn’t take any chances. He moved to the far end of REX’s nose-the cockpit-and got a running start. He dashed across the platform and leaped as if he were performing an Olympic broad jump. His hands slapped the metal bottom of the catwalk, and he gripped it as tightly as possible. Snake hung there for a moment and didn’t dare look down, for the radioactive sludge was only a fifteen-meter drop. He breathed deeply and then flexed his arm muscles to pull himself up and over onto the catwalk. He’d made it.

　　“Snake, I did it!”

　　Snake crawled to the edge of the catwalk closest to the wall just in case whoever was in the control room happened to look out. He punched the Codec receiver and whispered, “You got past security?”

　　“Bingo!”

　　“Great! So whaddaya got?

　　“I accessed the confidential Metal Gear file.”

　　“You see anything about the PAL override system that Baker talked about?”

　　“Haven’t found it yet.”

　　“That’s what I need to know!”

　　“But Snake, I found something else!”

　　“What?”

　　“The secret behind the nuclear weapon! It’s just as I thought. The nuclear warhead is designed to be fired from the Rail Gun like a projectile. It doesn’t use fuel, so it isn’t considered a missile. That way it can get around all sorts of international treaties.”

　　“Pretty sneaky.”

　　“But effective. And that’s not even the scariest thing about this weapon.”

　　“I can’t wait to hear this.”

　　Otacon whispered with urgency, “It’s a stealth weapon!”

　　“You mean it won’t show up on radar?”

　　“Yeah! The truth is, they’ve been working on a stealth missile since the later seventies. But they couldn’t ever develop one because of the missile’s rocket propulsion system. It would be picked up by enemy satellites. But unlike a missile, the Rail Gun doesn’t burn any propellant. It can’t be detected by any current ballistic missile detection systems.”

　　“So it’s an invisible nuclear warhead.”

　　“Yeah. Totally impossible to intercept. On top of that, it’s got a surface-piercing warhead designed to penetrate hardened underground bases. This thing could mean the end of the world!”
Snake rubbed his brow and looked down at the thing. “It’s the ultimate weapon. And from a political point of view, it avoids the problem of nuclear reduction and nuclear inspections. Colonel? Are you listening to this? Are you there?”

　　Campbell cut in. “I’m here. I heard it.”

fengmosn

　　“If word of this got out, it could delay the signing of the START-III treaty and cause a huge international incident.”

　　Otacon agreed, saying, “Yeah, it’d be nasty. The United States would be denounced by the UN. It could even bring down the president.”

　　“Did you know this, Colonel?”

　　Campbell hesitated before answering, “I’m sorry.”

　　Snake felt a sudden pain in his chest, as if he’d been stabbed. Sometimes the worst wounds were caused by the knowledge that a friend hadn’t been honest. “Colonel, you’ve changed,” was all Snake could say.

　　“I won’t make any excuses,” Campbell replied.

　　“Snake, listen to me,” Otacon interrupted. “This new nuclear weapon; it’s never actually been tested. Only simulated.”

　　“You mean they ran a computer model?”

　　“Yeah, that’s why they were conducting this exercise. They needed to get actual experimental data to back up the simulation.”
“What were the results of the exercise? Do you know?”

　　“It looks like it went better than they hoped for. But I can’t find the data anywhere on this network. You’d think data as important as that would be carefully recorded.”

　　Then Snake remembered. “It was. President Baker gave me an optical disk with all the test data.”

　　Campbell spoke up. “What? Do you still have it?”

　　“No. ocelot took it from me.”

　　“Damn!”

　　Otacon continued, “The terrorists replaced the dummy warhead with a real one. Once they input the detonation codes, they should be ready to launch.”

　　“You think they can do it?” Snake asked.

　　“Well, the dummy warhead was designed to be identical to the real thing, so I think so, yeah.”

　　“Did you find out how to override it yet?”

　　“Not yet. It must be in a separate file. Right now I’m looking through all of Baker’s personal files. Snake, I think I found Baker’s ulterior motive.”

　　“I’ll bet he was just looking to get rich.”

　　“Well. That’s part of it. ArmsTech is in much worse financial trouble than I thought. You know they lost their bid to make the next-generation fighter jet? That, plus the reduction in SDI spending… Anyway, it looks like there was some talk of a hostile takeover.”

　　“Then everything was riding on this project.”

　　“And it looks like we were paying a lot of bribe money to the DARPA chief.”

　　“Why am I not surprised?”

　　“Yeah, and Baker was a big proponent of the nuclear deterrent theory.”

　　“I see.” Snake shook his head. “Colonel? Tell me you didn’t know about any of this.”

　　“Not all of it, Snake. But yeah, I knew about the hostile takeover and Baker’s attempts to prevent it. I knew he and Anderson were in this thing together.”

　　“Okay. Otacon?”

　　“Yeah?”

　　“Find out about the override!”

　　“Yes, sir!”

　　Snake signed off. Right then he could have wrung Campbell’s neck. What else had the man kept from him? Had this entire mission been about saving ArmsTech’s face? It was degrading. If there hadn’t been a viable threat involving a possible nuclear weapon launch, Snake would have turned around and gone home then and there.

　　But that was unthinkable now. he had come too far to give up. He couldn’t give up. Even though his sympathy for the socalled human race was at all-time low, he wasn’t about to let the terrorists bring about doomsday.

　　Snake got to his feet and crept to the side of the observation window. The control room was full of computer banks and several workstations… and two immediately recognizable men-Liquid Snake and Revolver Ocelot. They stood over three separate laptop computers that sat on a single workstation in the middle of the room. Their voices were faint, so Snake risked moving next to the open door. From there, he could hear everything the terrorists said.
“-me know when you’re done,” Liquid was saying.

　　“Okay. I’ve entered the PAL codec and disengaged the safety device,” Ocelot replied as he punched one of the laptop keyboards with his only good hand. The right hand, now a prosthetic, hung at his side. “We can launch any time.”

　　Liquid paced away from the workstation. “There’s still no response from Washington. It looks like we’ll have to show them we mean business.”

　　“Should I set it for Chernoton, Russia?”

　　“No, there’s been a change. The new target is Lop Nur, China.”

　　“Why, Boss?”

　　“I’m sure neither you nor Mister Gurlukovich would really like to see a nuclear bomb dropped on your motherland, right?”
Ocelot shrugged. “Bit why? There’s nothing there.”
　　
　　“Wrong. It’s a nuclear test site. If we nuke a major population center, the game’s over. But a nuclear explosion at a test site can still be concealed from the public. Meanwhile, Washington will be worried about the retaliatory strike from China.”

　　Ocelot grinned. “That’ll probably mean top-secret talks between both countries’ leaders.”

　　“Of course. And in the process, the president will be forced to divulge the existence of a new and highly destabilizing nuclear weapon to the Chinese. What do you think that will do to the U.S.’s reputation? Or the president’s?”

　　“And with the CTBT, that means that China and India…I see!” Ocelot leaned back anaginst the desk and folded his arms in admiration of his boss.

　　“Yes. When the other countries hear about the new weapon, they’ll all want to contact us. Washington won’t be very happy when we start selling their own system to the highest bidders. The president will surely break. He’ll give in to our demands.”

　　“Big Boss DNA and one billion dollars…”

　　A billion dollars! Snake closed his eyes, unable to fathom what kinds of minds could dream up such a scheme.

　　“That money will be used to cure our genome soldiers as well,” Liquid continued. “I’m also including the FoxDie vaccine in our demands.”

　　Ocelot grumbled. “FoxDie. It killed Octopus and the ArmsTech president. So it’s true that it affects older people first. Mantis might not have been affected older people first. Mantis might not have been affected because he wore a mask.”

　　“Wolf wasn’t infected, either. Perhaps due to those tranquilizers she always took.”

　　“Or something to do with the adrenaline level in the blood? Or maybe it’s just because this FoxDie is still experimental and they haven’t worked out all the bugs yet.”

　　What the hell is FoxDie? Snake wondered.

　　Liquid made a gesture indicating that he wanted to change the subject. “In any case, have you heard from your friend at the Spetsnaz yet? What does Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich have to say?”
“He still has doubts about the ability of Metal Gear. He said we can talk after Metal Gear’s test launch is successful.”

　　“He’s such a prudent man,” Liquid said with sarcasm.

　　“There’s nothing to worry about. The colonel wants Metal Gear and the new nuclear weapon so bad, he can taste it. If Russia wants to regain its position ad a military superpower, they need to reinforce their nuclear arsenal. They need a nuclear weapon that can’t be intercepted. Metal Gear will allow then to gain first-strike capability over the rest of the world.”

　　“Their regular army is in shambles, and they think they can restore their country’s military power with nuclear weapons? That Gurlukovich-he’s no warrior, he’s a politician!”

　　“Maybe so, but he’s the one who gave us the Hind and most of our other heavy firepower.”

　　“He’s also got over a thousand soldiers under his command. If we joined forces, we could put up quite a resistance here. We could use the extra manpower-since Mantis died, the genome soldiers’ brainwashing has started to wear off. I’m worried about the men’s morale. An alliance with the Russians could serve us well.”
Ocelot frowned. “What are you saying?”

　　“We’re not going anywhere. We’re going to dig in here. It’s going to be a long war.”

　　“We could still escape…”

　　Liquid shook his head. “We’ve got the most powerful weapon ever made, and we’re about to ally with Gurlukovich’s forces.”
“What, are you going to fight the whole world?”

　　“And what’s wrong with that? From here, we can launch a nuclear warhead at any target on the planet… a nuclear warhead invisible to radar and totally immune to interception! And on top of that, this base if full of spare nuclear warheads. Once we get the DNA and the money, the world will be ours!”

　　“But Boss, what about your promise to Colonel Gurlukovich?”
Liquid turned away from Ocelot and walked toward the observation window. Snake had to duck out of sight. “I have no interest in the revival of Mother Russia.”

　　“You’re not thinking of reviving Big Boss’s dream?”

　　“Ocelot, you read my mind. From today, you can start calling the place Outer Heaven.”

　　Snake winced. It sounded all too familiar. The ghosts of the past were rearing their ugly heads.

　　Outer Heaven…Big Boss’s dream…Oh, my God…!

　　“Boss,” Ocelot asked, “you’re not worried about the PAL being overridden? If the code is entered again, it’ll be deactivated.”

　　“No need to worry. The DARPA chief and the ArmsTech president are both dead.”

　　“Does Snake know how the override system works?”

　　“You interrogated him. Don’t you know?”

　　“He didn’t have any keys on him.”

　　“Good. Then no one can stop Metal Gear now.” Liquid went back to join Ocelot at the three laptop computers.

　　“By the way,” Ocelot said, “what should we do with the woman? Want me to kill her?”

　　“Let her live. She’s Campbell’s niece, and Snake cares for her. We’ll keep her as our ace in the hole.”

　　Meryl! She’s alive!

　　Snake suddenly was filled with an overwhelming desire to run into the room, confront the two FOXHOUND terrorists, and demand to know where they were holding Meryl. He wanted to strangle them both and throw their bodies into the radioactive sludge below the Metal Gear. But before he could do anything rash, the Codec beeped.

　　“Snake, I found it! Baker’s top-secret files!”

　　“Great job, Otacon!”

　　“Where are you?”

　　“I’m looking into the control room. They’ve finished inputting the PAL codec. So how do we deactivate them?”

　　“Okay. You see the override system that the president was talking about? It can also be used to input the detonation codes.”

　　“There are three laptop computers,” Snake said. “Is that the override system?”

　　“Yes! Now, if you insert the keys when the warhead is active, you deactivate it. And if you insert them when it’s inactive, it becomes activated. You’d better get started; we don’t have much time.”

　　“But it takes three keys, right? I’ve only got one of them!”

　　“Hold on a minute! You see, that’s the trick! You already have all three keys!”

　　Snake was losing patience quickly. “What the hell are you talking about?”

　　“The card key is made of a shape memory alloy. You know, it’s a material that changes shape at different temperatures. The key is made out of it!”

　　Snake took it out of his utility belt and examined it. The card didn’t appear to have any special properties. “This card key?”

　　“Yeah. It changes shape at different temperatures. It’s actually three keys in one!”

　　“Clever. So what do I need to do?”

　　“Can you see the input terminals in the center of the control room?”

　　“Yeah. I see them.”

　　“Those three laptop terminals are for the emergency input. There should be a symbol on each screen. Each symbol corresponds to a different key.”

　　Snake removed his binoculars from the pouch and carefully edged in front of the window. Ocelot and Liquid had their backs to him, so Snake was able to zoom in on the laptops.

　　“You input the keys in order from left to right,” Otacon continued. “The left one’s for the room temperature key. See the symbol?”

　　Snake focused on a key icon that was colored black and white.
“Yeah.”

　　“Next to that goes the low-temperature key. The one on the right is the high-temperature key.” Sure enough, the second terminal displayed a blue key icon and the third had a red one.
Snake put away the binoculars and said, “Okay, I got it. First I change the shape of the card and then I input them in order, right?”

　　“That’s right. All you do is insert the card keys. After you insert the key into the module, a hard disk reads the information contained on it. Once you’ve finished with all three terminals, the code input process is complete. But you can only use the key three times-once on each terminal.”

　　Campbell cut in, “The world is riding on that key, Snake!”

　　“Okay, I -”

　　But an alarm resounded throughout the maintenance base. A light beam shot down from the ceiling, quickly moved along the catwalk, and focused on Snake. Somehow he had been spotted by a hidden surveillance camera inside the control room!

　　Ocelot shouted, “Who’s that?” and instinctually drew his revolver with his left hand. He fired at Snake, whose shoulder could be seen through the open door. Reflexively, Snake jerked out of the way and attempted to draw the SOCOM at the same time, but in doing so, he dropped the key card! He watched with horror as the thing flitted down past Metal Gear and into the radioactive sludge.
“Damn! The key fell into the drainage ditch!”

　　Behind him, the door to the control room slid shut. Snake turned to see Liquid gloating on the other side of the glass. “Well, well, Snake!” Snake swung and pointed the SOCOM at his nemesis.
“This is bulletproof glass! There’s no way in! I’m going to enjoy watching you die!”

　　Campbell shouted over the Codec, “Snake, you’ve got to get that key!”

　　Snake continued to point the SOCOM at Liquid but knew it was hopeless. But he had to unleash his rage and frustration. He jerked the handgun to the ceiling, aimed at the spotlight, and pulled the trigger. He then ran to the end of the catwalk to look for a way down.

　　He would have to take a swim after all.

蝙蝠侠

[quote=fengmosn;507984]勤奋好学的KD...
现在录入倒是快了 不过具体要研究什么内容偶的英语水平还是差了一大截
等偶全部录完了再慢慢翻看...[/quote]
有僳你了，精神七支持和鼓僱一下！

fengmosn

22

THERE WAS NO way down from the end of the catwalk. The walkway was simply a balcony of sorts for anyone who wanted to step out of the observation/control room and watch the proceedings in the maintenance lab below. From there, Snake heard the running footballs of heavy boots behind a closed metal door. He grasped the SOCOM with both hands, knelt on the grid, and aimed. As the door slid open, he squeezed the trigger and spray-fired at the incoming guards. Three of them went down before someone had the sense to shut the door. Before reinforcements could arrive, Snake hurried back to the middle of the catwalk and leaped onto the top of Metal Gear. He scurried down the mech’s chest and then jumped from the knee to the platform. Dreading what he was about to do.
He pressed the Codec’s transmit button. “Nastasha? Are you there?”

　　“Yes, Snake.”

　　“What do you know about radioactive water? How dangerous is it? I would ask Doctor Hunter, but she’s, uhm, indisposed.”

　　“Well, Snake, it depends on how much radioactivity is in the water. You have a Geiger on your Codec, right?”

　　“Yeah. The reading is in the red zone.”

　　“Then it is very dangerous.”

　　Damn. “How long can I stay in the water without doing permanent damage?”

　　“Difficult to say. Is it absolutely necessary?”

　　“Yes!”

　　“Then don’t stay more than ten seconds. Fifteen or twenty at the most. Beyond that and you could be in serious trouble.”

　　“That’s all I need to know. Thanks.”

　　Snake set the Codec’s timer at twenty seconds, put on the night vision goggles, snapped on the SOCOM’s holster cover, and then, without a second thought, took a deep breath, held it, and dived into the sludge at approximately the same spot where the key card had fallen in. at first his vision was poor because of the murkiness, so he flipped on the penlight. This, combined with the goggles’ infrared capability, allowed him to see a decent six feet ahead of him. The sludge was full of indescribable crud that appeared to be pieces of scrap metal, other garbage, and slime. Snake imagined that it couldn’t have been grosser if he had been swimming in a sewer.

　　He hoped that the viscosity of the moat would be to his advantage. There was no current, so the key card would not have been carried to another part of the bottom. That was where Snake concentrated his search. It took him four full seconds to reach the dregs-filled floor, for it was a struggle to swim in the stuff, although Snake wouldn’t exactly call it swimming.

　　Where is it? Come on, find it!

　　It was like trying to find the correct item in a-what-doesn’t belong picture puzzle. Scattered among large discarded objects were dozens of pieces of metal that looked like key cards. Only after picking up a couple of them did Snake discover that they weren’t the exact shape.

　　He glanced at the timer. Nine seconds had elapsed.
Snake didn’t know if the radioactivity was affecting him. He didn’t feel any different-not yet, anyway.

　　Hurry! Focus!

　　He rummaged through the junk as he crawled over it, now desperate to finish the awful task and get out of there. At one point his heart leaped with joy when he found what appeared to be the key card, but it was only a useless Level 3 PAN security card.
Only seven seconds left. It was now or never.

　　He felt like an ocean-floor bottom-feeder as he crept along the grimy debris, picking up pieces and discarding them when he saw that they weren’t what he wanted. Then-at three seconds remaining-he saw it. Snake grasped the key card, examined it to make sure it was the right one, and then worked as hard as he could to ascend to the surface.

　　He broke out and gasped for air at exactly negative one second. He scrambled out of the moat, lay on the platform, and took stock of his body. He didn’t feel any different. He figured there was no way to be sure if the radiation had hurt him until he was examined by a medical team. He hoped that Nastasha Romanenko’s time limit estimate was off by at least five seconds.

　　The guard reinforcements hadn’t shown up. The lab was still empty, and REX stood silent and still above him. Snake removed the goggles, stuck the key in his belt, and proceeded to scale the mech again to get to the observation/control room. The climb was much easier and quicker now that he had done it once before, even though he had just exerted himself in the muck. As soon as he reached the catwalk, Snake peered through the observation widow and saw that Liquid and Ocelot had left. He opened his pouch, removed a frag grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it as the sealed door. He then dashed out of harm’s way to the end of the catwalk. The blast did the trick by knocking the door out of the frame, although a portion of the catwalk was blown away as well. Snake carefully approached the entrance, straddled the hole in the walkway, pulled the door out, and let it fall to the platform below.
The control room was quiet and cool. Snake approached the three laptops on the workstation, removed the key card from his belt, and inserted it into the computer on the left. An automated female voice announced through the laptop’s speaker. “PAL code number one confirmed. Awaiting PAL code number two.”

　　Okay, that takes care of the first part.

　　Now he had to freeze the key. Snake looked around the room to see if there might be something he could use, but the place didn’t even have an employee refrigerator. He punched Otacon’s frequency on the Codec.

　　“Snake?”

　　“How the hell do I freeze this key card?” he asked.

　　“You got it? Great!”

　　“I’ve already put it in thee first laptop. Now I gotta freeze it. How do I do that?”

　　“Gee, I guess you need to find someplace cold to put it for a few minutes. Is there something close by that’s cold? Can you take it outside in the snow?”

　　Snake rubbed his chin. It wouldn’t be long before the place was crawling with more guards or maybe even Liquid and Ocelot. “I don’t know. But the warehouse I was in earlier-it was freezing in there. It’s not too far, I guess.” Then he remembered what the third phase of the deactivation process entailed. “So I have to heat the key on the third go-round?”

　　“That’s right.”

　　Snake winced. “How hot do I have to get the key to make it change shape?”

　　“Pretty darned hot. Not hot enough to melt it, but pretty close!”

　　Snake cursed when he realized he would have to make a trip back to the blast furnace room as well.

　　“Snake, if the warehouse is the only place you can think of, then you’d better get going! Hurry!”

　　He was afraid Otacon would say that. “Right. I’m on my way,” he grumbled.


　　SNAKE HUGGED THE underground tunnel wall and carefully approached the back door of the warehouse. It was wide open, and he heard voices inside the cold storage room. Using extreme caution, he peered around the edge of the doorway and saw three guards dressed in snow uniforms with black insignia that identified them as Space Seals. Two of the men carried a large rectangular box, and the other one had his hands full with a bulky square container. Fortuitously, they were close enough for Snake to hear their conversation.

　　“Where do you want this?”

　　“Set it down over there. The Boss says he’s coming to get it in a few minutes.”

　　“What happened to the other one?”

　　“The intruder stole it. We don’t know what he did with it.”

　　“Seems like all we do is move stuff around. I’m getting tired of it.”

　　“Me, too.”

　　“I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel as enthusiastic about our new bosses as I did two days ago.”

　　“Me, neither.”

　　“I heard some of the guys left.”

　　“In this weather? How?”

　　“They took some of the snowmobiles.”

　　“Come on, let’s get back. Boss says the intruder is where he wants the guy. The fireworks are gonna begin soon.”

　　“Too bad the hostages won’t see it.”

　　Hostages? Snake’s ears pricked up.

　　One man laughed. “We could always give ‘em a closed-circuit TV. Let’em watch like it was on CNN or something.”

　　“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is on CNN!”
“They wouldn’t have very good reception in that underground bunker.”

　　“I was kidding, numbnuts. We’re not gonna let the hostages have televisions, for Christ’s sake. What’s next? Gourmet meals?”

　　The other two laughed, and they walked away, out of earshot. Snake waited a few moments longer to ensure that they were really gone and then slipped inside the freezing warehouse.
Underground bunker. Wonder where it is…
Snake punched the Codec. “Otacon?”

　　“Yeah?”

　　“Where are you?”

　　“I’m still in the computer room in case you need more help.”

　　“Good thinking. Hey, do you know anything about an underground bunker where they’re keeping the rest of the hostages?”

　　“Is that where they are? I was wondering about them.”

　　“Do you know where it is?”

　　“I think so. If it’s what I think it is, the entrance to the underground bunker is outside, near the entrance to the tunnel road that leads to the parking garage. But that’s always sealed tight. There’s another entrance underground, but I’m not sure where it is.”

　　“Find it, will you? I suppose it wouldn’t be a bad idea to free those people after I stop World War III.”
Otacon laughed. “That’s mighty thoughtful of you, Snake. Where are you now?”

　　“I’m in the warehouse. I’m cooling off the key card as we speak.”

　　Snake pulled the card out of his belt and placed it on top of a container. He was amazed to watch the thing slowly change shape before his eyes. “How long does this take to change, Otacon?”
“Shouldn’t be more than a minute or two in that kind of temperature.”

　　“Right. I’ll let you know when I get back to the observation room.”

　　“Okay.”

　　Snake signed off and then lit a cigarette. Why not enjoy the short break while he had one?

　　As he inhaled the ungodly tobacco-and again repeated the mantra that beggars can’t be choosers-he eyed the two boxes the guards had brought in. they were sealed tightly, but the Fairbairn-Sykes knife came in handy for prying off the lids. The square container held a supply of explosives: C4, Claymores, frag grenades, and flash-bangs. Snake figured this was as good a time as any to replenish his stock. He filled the supply pouch with as many devices as would fit and then turned his attention to the rectangular box.

　　Lo and behold, it contained another ArmsTech portable Stinger launching system with three missiles. Snake grinned, stubbed out the cigarette, and closed the box. Somehow he knew that the weapon would come in handy, but he had to hide it so that Liquid wouldn’t get his hands on it. The case was heavy, but Snake reckoned he could carry it as far as the maintenance lab.
The key card had finished morphing into a slightly different shape and now glowed with a cool blue tint. Snake stuck it back in his belt and then heaved the Stinger case onto his back.


　　UPON ENTERING THE maintenance lab, Snake surveyed the room for a suitable place to stash the case. He decided to store it next to a grouping of machine parts containers stacked against the lab’s western wall. At first glance, the Stinger case appeared to be just another box among several. Unless some one was looking for it actively, he doubted anyone would notice the weapon.

　　The lab was still devoid of guards. From the gist of the conversation he’d heard in the warehouse, it seemed that Liquid had been correct: Psycho Mantis’s brainwashing hold over the genome soldiers was wearing off. Some of them were deserting. With any luck, more would come to their senses and maybe even rebel against the renegade FOXHOUND operatives. But Snake couldn’t count on it any more than he could expect Liquid and Ocelot to surrender. No, he had to see the mission through to the end alone.

　　After the climb up the Metal Gear, Snake found himself in the observation/control room once again. The key card was still cold, and it slipped right into the second laptop’s slot.
The automated female voice intoned, “PAL, code number two confirmed. Awaiting PAL code number three.”

　　Snake punched the Codec and dialed Otacon’s frequency.

　　“How’s it going, Snake?”

　　“Okay. The second PAL code’s been inserted. I’m on my way back to the blast furnace to heat this baby up. It’s a little farther, so it’s gonna take longer. Have you found the entrance to the underground bunker yet?”

　　“Not yet. I’m searching through tons of computer files that show diagrams of the facility’s layout. Don’t worry. I’ll find it.”
Snake signed off and headed out the door. He was all the way down Metal Gear and into the tunnel when the Codec beeped again. The frequency indicator registered as Master Miller’s.

　　“Master? What’s up?” Snake asked.

　　“Snake, it’s about Naomi Hunter.”

　　“Then you should just talk to the colonel. He’s looking into it.”

　　“Turn your monitor off, Snake.”

　　He did so. “Okay. No one else can hear us. Go ahead.”

　　“Sorry, but I didn’t want Campbell to hear.”

　　“Okay. What’s up?”

　　“I’ve got a good friend in the Pentagon. He’s the one who told me about it. It looks like the DIA recently developed a new type of assassination weapon.”

　　“An assassination weapon? What do you mean?”

　　“Snake, have you ever heard of something called FoxDie?”

　　“Just a little while ago. I heard Liquid and Ocelot talking about it.”

　　“Well, it’s some kind of virus that targets specific people. I don’t know all the details, but-”

　　“Look, Master, I don’t have time for beating around the bush. What are you trying to say?”

　　“It’s too similar.”

　　“What is?”

　　“The cause of death. Didn’t the ArmsTech president and the DARPA chief, er, I mean Decoy Octopus-didn’t they die of something that looked like a heart attack?”

　　“Yeah?”

　　“Well, apparently FoxDie kills its victims by simulating a heart attack.”

　　Snake stopped moving and leaned against the tunnel wall just before reentering warehouse. “Are you telling me that Naomi is behind it?”

　　“Snake, try to remember. Did Naomi give you some kind of injection?”

　　Shit. The nanomachines.

　　“She was in the best position to have done it, but I don’t know what her motive was,” Miller said.

　　“Does the colonel know?”

　　“I’m not sure.”

　　“Okay. I’ll ask him myself.” Snake switched the frequency.

　　“Colonel?”

　　“Yes, Snake?” Campbell’s voice sounded tired and tense.

　　“What’s new with the Naomi situation?”

　　“She’s in deep trouble. She was sending coded messages toward the Alaskan base. I didn’t want to believe it, but she must be working with the terrorists.”

　　“Are you sure?”

　　“I’m afraid so. She’s being interrogated now.”

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　　“What kind of interrogation?”

　　“Well…” Campbell sighed. “I’d like to avoid the rough stuff, but we don’t even have any sodium pentothal here on the sub.”

　　“Call me if you find out any anything.” Snake switched the frequency back to Master Miller. “Master, it’s not good.”

　　“So it’s true, isn’t it?” the old trainer asked.

　　“Naomi… I can’t believe it. You think she’s the one that made this virus?”

　　“Who else? It’s supposed to attack people on a genetic level. For example, anyone possessing, say, FOXHOUND genomes in their blood could be a target.”

　　“My God…”

　　“But doesn’t that mean there would be a vaccine?”

　　“You’d think so.”

　　“So, I bet she has a FoxDie vaccine around somewhere. We have to find it.”

　　“Listen. I’ve got bigger things to worry about right now. why do you care so much?”

　　“Snake, you might be infected, too!”

　　I can’t do anything about it, can I? Snake stopped himself from shouting it. “Sorry. Look, all I can do is let the colonel handle it. I gotta go.”

　　He clicked off and entered the warehouse.


NAOMI HUNTER SPLASHED warm water on her face and looked in the bathroom mirror. They had put her through the wringer, but the ordeal hadn’t been as bad as she’d feared. The interrogators hadn’t been easy on her, but then again, she hadn’t been tortured or anything. After all, she was aboard a military submarine in the Bering Sea. There wasn’t a lot they could do at this point. She had managed to stall them for a little while.

　　The doctor dried her face, straightened her business suit, and walked out of the washroom. She went down the hall to the control room and peeked inside. Colonel Campbell was busy with some of the technicians and probably wasn’t aware that the interrogation was finished.

　　This was her chance.

　　Dr. Hunter went straight to her quarters, where she kept a spare Codec.

SNAKE STEPPED OUT of the blast furnace room’s cargo elevator and immediately broke into a sweat. The rise in temperature was a shock after the cold warehouse. The corpses of the guards he and dispatched earlier no longer were lying beside the smelting pit, so Snake exercised extreme caution before moving into the area. As he stood out of sight within the elevator alcove, he scanned the upper catwalks and staircases for any sign of movement and notice that the surveillance cameras seemed to be functioning again. He drew the SOCOM, aimed at the closest camera, and fired, blasting the device into a hundred pieces. Two higher-mounted cameras were difficult shots, so he swung the sniper rifle off his shoulder and drew a bead on one. He knocked the camera off its mount and then quickly repeated the action on the third.

　　The sound of running footfalls approached the elevator. A lone guard must have been alerted by the shots, for Snake heard the man speaking into a transmitter and calling for backup. Snake waited in the alcove for the trooper, but the man slowed his gait and advanced with vigilance.

　　“Who’s there?” the soldier demanded. “Show yourself! Throw down your weapon!”

　　Snake kept perfectly still. So far the man hadn’t seen him. But with a few steps more…

　　At precisely the right moment, Snake stepped into view, kicked the assault rifle out of the guard’s hand, spun around, and delivered a second kick to the trooper’s abdomen. Without pausing, he clobbered the soldier in the face with powerful one-two punches. The man went down like a slab of beef.

　　Snake gave the place a cursory look to make sure he was alone and then removed the PAN card from his belt. He set it on the lip of the smelting pit and waited as the thing changed its shape much more quickly than had happened in the cold warehouse. In a minute it was complete, glowing with a red tint.

　　He quickly took the “new” key card and dashed to the cargo elevator.


SNAKE WAS SPRINTING through the warehouse when the Codec beeped. The LED indicated an incoming call from an unknown frequency.

　　“Snake? Can you hear me? It’s Naomi.”

　　He stopped in his tracks and punched the button to transmit.

　　“Naomi! What the hell?”

　　She spoke softly and urgently. “Colonel Campbell and the others are busy right now. I’m not on a different Codec.”

　　“Naomi, is what the colonel says true?”

　　The doctor hesitated before answering. “Yes…but not everything I said was a lie.”

　　Snake’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you?”

　　“I don’t know.”

　　“Come on.”

　　“No, really, I don’t know. I don’t know my real name or even what my parents looked like. I bought all my identification. But my reason for getting into genetics was true.”

　　“Oh, I see. Because you want to know yourself, right?”
She ignored the sarcasm. “That’s right. I want to know where I came from. My age, my race…anything.”

　　“Naomi…”

　　“I was found in Rhodesia sometime in the eighties…I was a dirty little orphan.”

　　“Rhodesia? You mean Zimbabwe?”

　　“Yes. Rhodesia was owned by England until 1965, and there were lots of Indian laborers around. That’s probably where I got my skin color from, but I’m not even sure about that.”

　　Snake decided to continue the journey back to the maintenance lab as he talked. He moved quickly but kept the Codec transmitter on. “Naomi, you’re too worried about the past. Isn’t it enough to understand who you are now?”

　　“Understand who I am now? why should I? No one else tries to understand me!” she took a breath to control the outburst and then spoke evenly again. “I was alone for so long…until I met my big brother…and him.”

　　“Your big brother?”

　　“Yes. Frank Jaegar.”

　　“What?”

　　“He was a young soldier…He picked me up near the Zambezi River. I was half-dead from starvation, and he shared his rations with me. Yes, Frank Jaegar, the man you destroyed. He was my brother and my only family.”

　　“Gray Fox?” The revelation created a nauseating sensation in Snake’s stomach.

　　“We survived that hell together, Frank and I. he protected me. He’s my one connection…the only connection that I have to my past.”

　　“And he brought you back to America?”

　　“No. I was in Mozambique when he came.”

　　“Who is he? You mean Big Boss?”

　　“Yes. He brought us to this ‘land of freedom’- to America.”

　　Snake made it through the warehouse and entered the underground tunnel as she continued the story.

　　“But then he and my brother went back to Africa to continue the war. And that’s when it happened. You killed my benefactor and sent my brother home a cripple. I vowed revenge and joined FOXHOUND. I knew it was my best chance to meet you, and I prayed for the day that I would. I waited two long years.”

　　“To kill me? Is that all you cared about?”

　　“Yes. That’s right. Two years. You were all I thought about for two long years. Like some kind of twisted obsession.”

　　For some strange reason, the words hurt Snake deeply. He had felt some kind of connection to the doctor, and now everything had changed. “Do you still hate me?”

　　“Not exactly. I was…I was partly wrong about you.”

　　“What about Liquid and the others?”

　　“I’ll have my revenge on them, too!”

　　A thought struck Snake. “Naomi…you didn’t kill that doctor, too, did you? The one who used Gray Fox for his genome experiments?”

　　“Doctor Clark? No, that was Frank. Afterward I covered it up and helped him hide from the authorities.”

　　After a pause, Snake asked, “So that ninja-I mean Gray Fox- he’s come here to kill me?”

　　“I don’t think so. I think he just came here to fight you. I wasn’t sure before, but now I think I understand. A final battle with you…that’s all he lives for. I’m sure of it.”

　　Snake stopped moving and leaned against the tunnel wall. “Fox…no…” Memories of his old friend flashed through his mind, but they were overtaken quickly by images of the man in the strange exoskeleton-the cyborg ninja. “Naomi, tell me something.”
“You want to know about FoxDie?”

　　“Yeah.”

　　“FoxDie is a type of retrovirus that targets and kills only specific people. First, it infects the macrophages in the victim’s body. FoxDie contains ‘smart’ enzymes, created through protein engineering. They’re programmed to respond to specific genetic patterns in the cells.”

　　“Those enzymes recognize the target’s DNA?”

　　“Right. They begin creating TNF-epsilon.”

　　“Huh?”

　　“It stands for tumor necrosis factor, a type of cytokine, a peptide that causes cells to die. The TNF-epsilon is carried along the bloodstream to the heart, where it attaches to the TNF receptors in the heart cells.”

　　“And then…it causes a heart attack?”

　　“The heart cells suffer a shock and undergo extreme apoptosis. Then the victim dies.”

　　“Apoptosis. You mean the heart cells commit suicide. Naomi, you programmed that thing to kill me, too, right?”

　　She didn’t answer. Snake thought he heard a sniffle.

　　“How long do I have?” he asked. When she didn’t respond, he said, “Naomi, I don’t blame you for wanting me dead. But I can’t go yet. I still have a job to do.”

　　“Listen, Snake…I’m not the one who made the decision to use Fox Die.”

　　“You weren’t?”

　　“No. you were injected with FoxDie as part of this operation. I just wanted to let you know that. No, that’s not the whole truth…the real thing I wanted to tell you was-”

　　But she was interrupted by a man’s voice. “Hey! What are you doing?”

　　Naomi shrieked, and then Snake heard the sound of a scuffle. Her Codec fell to the floor, and the tiny screen on Snake’s Codec filled with snow and static.

　　“Naomi? What’s happening? Naomi!”

　　And then Colonel Campbell came on the line. The transmission was crystal-clear once again. “Snake, I can’t allow Naomi to make any more unauthorized transmissions.”

　　“What’s going on, Colonel?”

　　“Naomi’s been removed from this operation.”

　　“What happened to her?” Snake shouted. “What did she mean when she said that FoxDie was part of this operation? Colonel, let me talk to her!”

　　“I won’t.. She’s under arrest.”

　　“Snake, there’s no time to explain! It’s not what you think. Right now your job is to stop Metal Gear! Do you hear me?”

　　“Yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Colonel. I’m gonna do that right now!”

　　Snake shut off the transmission just as he entered the maintenance lab. Without bothering to check for the presence of guards, he scrambled up the mech, jumped to the catwalk, and went back inside the observation room.

　　The three laptops still sat on the workstation, awaiting the third and final code entry. Snake took the heated PAL key card from his belt and inserted it into the machine on the right.

　　“PAL code number three confirmed,” the voice announced. “PAL code entry complete. Detonation code activated. Ready to launch.”

　　“What?” Snake shouted. “No! Why? I deactivated it!” He took the laptop with both hands and shook it. “What did you say?”

　　A security door slid closed, replacing the blown-off one, and the sound of the slam reverberated loudly in the room. And then the lights snapped on inside the maintenance lab.
Metal Gear was awakening.

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23

THE CODEC BEEPED. Master Miller was on the line. “Thank you, Snake! Now the detonation code is completed. Nothing can stop Metal Gear now.”

　　Snake wasn’t sure he had heard his former trainer correctly.

　　“Master, what’s going on?”

　　“You found the key and even activated the warhead for us, too. I really must express my gratitude. Sorry to have involved you in that silly shape memory alloy business.”

　　“What are you talking about?”

　　“We weren’t able to learn the DARPA chief’s code. Even with Mantis’s psychic powers, he couldn’t read the chief’s mind. Then Ocelot accidentally killed him during the interrogation. In other words, we weren’t able to launch the nuclear device, and we were all getting a little worried. Without the threat of a nuclear strike, our demands would never be met.”

　　Snake shook his head. Was he dreaming? Was he in a nightmare? This was Master Miller talking!

　　“What do you mean?” Snake shouted at the Codec.

　　“Without the detonation codes, we had to find some other way. That’s when I realized you might prove useful.”

　　“What?”

　　“First I thought that you already had the information and that we might get it from you, Snake, so I had Decoy Octopus disguise himself as the DARPA chief. Unfortunately, Octopus didn’t survive the encounter…thanks to Fox Die.”

　　Snake was livid. “You mean you had this planned from the beginning? Just to get me to input the detonation code?”

　　“You didn’t think you made it this far by yourself, did you> I admit Vulcan raven and Sniper Wolf tried to kill you-they had initiative I couldn’t control.”

　　Snake gritted his teeth. This guy wasn’t Master Miller. “Who the hell are you?”

　　“In any case, the launch preparations are complete. Once the world glimpses the power of this weapon, the White House will have no choice but to surrender the FoxDie vaccine to me. Their ace in the hole is useless now.”

　　“Ace in the hole?”

　　“The Pentagon’s plan to use you was already successful…in the torture room.” Miller laughed. “Snake, you’re the only one who doesn’t know. Poor fool.”

　　“Who are you, anyway?”

　　“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. If you come to where I am, that is.”

　　“Where are you?”

　　“Very close by.”

　　Colonel Campbell cut into the conversation. “Snake, that’s not Master Miller!”

　　The man on the line replied, “You’re too late, Campbell!”
The colonel continued. “Snake, Master Miller’s body was just discovered at his home, he’s been dead since last night. I didn’t know because my Codec link with Master Miller was cut off. We’d been trying to locate him, and I couldn’t figure out how he was contacting you. Then Mei Ling said his transmission signal was coming from inside the base!”

　　“So who is it?” Snake asked.

　　“Snake, you’ve been talking to-”

　　“Me, dear brother,” Liquid Snake announced, dropping the electronic enhancer that had disguised his voice.

　　“Liquid! How the-”

　　“You’ve served your purpose. You may die now!”

　　Snake looked through the observation window and saw that Liquid was inside Metal Gear’s cockpit. The man waved and beckoned Snake to come down.

　　Anger and frustration took over. Snake drew the SOCOM and fired at the glass, but the bullets bounced off.

　　“Snake!” It was Otacon on the Codec. “That’s bulletproof glass. You can’t break it with an ordinary weapon!”

　　Snake ran to the door and punched every button he could find. Liquid had sealed off the room earlier. “Can’t you open the security lock here?”

　　“I’ll try. Just hold on a second.”

　　Snake looked out the window again. The mech was plodding along the platform as Liquid attempted to get used to the controls. The man was an expert pilot, so it wouldn’t be long before he mastered the beast.

　　“Hurry up, Otacon! I’m running out of time!”

　　“Just a little longer…!”

　　Damn!

　　Snake slammed his fist against the metal wall. It didn’t hurt a bit.

　　“I’m hacking into security…!”

　　Liquid’s bone-chilling laugh was transmitted through REX’s audio system and echoed through the maintenance lab.
“Come on, Otacon!” Snake shouted.

　　“Almost there…almost…there!”

　　The door slid open. Snake rushed out onto the demolished catwalk, sidestepped the hole, and looked down at Liquid and his dangerous new toy.

　　“Solid Snake, come on down!” the FOXHOUND operative called in a mocking game-show-host voice.

　　Snake wondered how he was going to get down since the top of Metal Gear was no longer within jumping distance. Then, to answer his unasked question, a section of the platform began to rise. Liquid was able to control it from inside the cockpit. Snake had been unaware that such a hydraulic lift existed, but it made sense.
When the dais was high enough, Snake stepped onto it. Liquid then reversed the hydraulics to bring the lift down. As it moved slowly, Liquid held up a pair of sunglasses, the ones he had used to disguise himself as Master Miller on the Codec’s monitor.

　　“How did you like them, Snake? Worked pretty well, I must say.” Snake drew the SOCOM. “Oh, you’d point a weapon at your own brother?”

　　“You had Master Miller killed!” Snake spat.

　　“So I could manipulate you more easily. You performed quite well.” The lift completed the trip to the floor. Snake stepped off as Liquid added, “Although the boys at the Pentagon are probably saying the same thing.”

　　Snake was steaming. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Liquid shook his head and said, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Following orders blindly with no questions asked. You’ve lost your warrior’s pride and become nothing more than a pawn, Snake.”

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　　“What?”

　　“Stopping the nuclear launch, rescuing the hostages…it was all just a diversion!”

　　“A diversion?” Snake stood thirty feet away from REX. The hulking mech stopped moving and faced him.

　　“The Pentagon only needed for you to come into contact with us. That’s wahat killed the ArmsTech president and Decoy Octopus.”

　　“You don’t mean-”

　　“That’s right! You were sent here to kill us so they could retrieve Metal Gear undamaged along with bodies of the genome soldiers. From the beginning, the Pentagon was just using you as a vector to spread FoxDie!”

　　“That can’t be true!” Snake shouted. “Are you telling me Naomi was working with the Pentagon?”

　　“They thought she was. But it seems that Doctor Naomi Hunter couldn’t be controlled so easily.”

　　“Explain!”

　　“We’ve got a spy working in the Pentagon. He reported that Doctor Hunter altered FoxDie’s program just before the operation. But I must admit, no one knows how or why.”

　　Snake wondered if that was why she was arrested. Perhaps Campbell was trying to find out the answer to that question.

　　“I had no idea she was motivated by such petty revenge,” Liquid said. “We still don’t know what changes she made to FoxDie. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve already added the vaccine to my list of White House demands.”

　　Snake lowered his gun a bit. “There’s a vaccine?”

　　“Surely there is. There has to be! But that woman is the only one who really knows. At any rate, it might prove to be unnecessary.”

　　“Why is that?”

　　“You were successful in coming into contact with all of us, so we must have all been exposed to the virus. It’s true that the ArmsTech president and Decoy Octopus were killed by FoxDie, but Ocelot, myself, and you, the carrier, were apparently unaffected.”
Could it be a bug in the virus’s programming?

　　“In any case, if it doesn’t kill you, then I’m not worried, either. After all, our genetic code is identical.”

　　“So it’s true? You and I …ar…?”

　　“Yes, Big Boss was my father, too. We’re twins. But not ordinary twins. We’re twins linked by cursed genes. Les Enfants Terribles. You are fine. You got all the old man’s dominant genes. I got all the flawed, recessive genes. Everything was done so that you would be the greatest of his children. The only reason I exist is so they could create you.”

　　That revelation almost made Snake laugh. “I was the favorite, huh?”

　　“That’s right! I’m just the leftovers of what they used to make you. Can you understand what it’s like to know you’re garbage since the day you were born?”

　　Snake had no answer to that. He simply stared at the man in the cockpit, trying to digest everything he’d just heard.

　　“But,” Liquid said, raising his index finger. “I’m the one Father chose.”

　　“So that’s why you’re so obsessed with Big Boss. Some warped kind of love?”

　　“Love? It’s hate! He always told me I was inferior, and now I’ll have my revenge! You should understand me, brother. You killed our father with your own hands! You stole my chance for revenge! Now I’ll finish the work that Father began. I will surpass him. I’ll destroy him!”

　　Snake snarled. “You’re just like Naomi.”

　　“Well, I’m not like you,” Liquid said. “Unlike you, I’m proud of the destiny that is encoded into my genes.”

　　“Encode this, you bastard!”

　　Snake raised the SOCOM and spray-fired, but the cockpit lid fell into place with the speed of a blink and the bullets ricocheted off the bulletproof glass. Again, Liquid’s laugh resounded throughout the lab.

　　“That was your last chance, Snake! Your blood will be the first to be spilled by this glorious new weapon! Consider it an honor…a gift from your brother! Behold, Snake…the power of the weapon that will lead us into the future!”

　　With that, Metal Gear emitted an earsplitting roar as if it were a dinosaur from a long-lost world!

　　My God! Snake thought. They even gave the thing sound effects!

　　And then the 12.7-mm machine guns let loose with a hail of bullets in Snake’s direction. Luckily for him, Snake had been anticipating the attack. Every nemesis he had ever encountered trigger. The only question was when the talking would end and the fighting begin. Snake’s training incorporated reading the telltale signs in an opponent’s eyes and voice inflection. The talkers were almost always the easiest foes to stay a step ahead of, but that applied only the enemies who weren’t sitting in the most highly advanced war weapon ever devised.

　　Nevertheless, Snake somehow knew when Liquid would cease sermonizing and start brawling. Just as Liquid’s fingers gripped the triggers, he was performing a cartwheel out of harm’s way. At the edge of the platform, he jumped, did a somersault in the air, and landed on the other side of the sludge moat.

　　As Snake ran along the lab perimeter, Metal Gear turned, bellowed again, and took three steps forward. The high-intensity laser shot forth from the mech’s underbelly and blasted a pile of crates to bits. Snake stopped running just in time, doubled back, and leaped back over the moat to the platform. By that time he’d been able to slip his hand into the pouch an remove a frag grenade. He pulled the pin and threw it at the cockpit, but the detonation failed to crack the glass cover. Snake then dug out two chaff grenades, pulled the pins, and threw them at the machine. At the very least, they would do some damage to the beast’s targeting sensors and radar.

　　Liquid response was to fire a Phalanga-F antitroop missile at Snake. Snake leaped forward to escape the worst effects of the blast, but its force propelled him directly between the walking behemoth’s legs. Momentarily stunned, Snake realized he was lying on the floor, looking up at REX. From that perspective, the Metal Gear was awesome; it was either a magnificent, terrifying creation of which mankind could be proud-or it was the demon that would damn them forever,

　　How the hell am I going to stop this thing?

　　Snake shook away the cobwebs clouding his mind just as Metal Gear’s enormous foot rose and prepared to stomp down and crush the operative to a pulp. Snake rolled out of the way as the heavy elephantlike appendage slammed onto the platform. The room trembled as if a minor earthquake had struck.

　　The Stinger! It’s the only way!

　　He managed to get to his feet and move around the mech. The stinger case was on the other side of the lab, across the platform. Snake knew he’d be wide open and susceptible to attack, but the only thing he could do was make a dash for it. Without a second thought, he started running as if he were competing for Olympic gold. The machine guns shot at him, but Liquid intentionally missed. Instead, the bullets prevented Snake from running in a straight line. And as soon as Snake changed directions in an attempt to zigzag across the platform, Liquid fired the guns and tore up the floor just inches away from his prey. When Snake was nearly halfway to his goal, a barrage of bullets halted his momentum. He was forced to leap to the floor and roll, and that felt him dangerously vulnerable.

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　　Liquid laughed, directed Metal Gear to look up at the ceiling, and launched another Phalanga missile. The rocket exploded on the metal roof, causing large pieces of heavy debris to fall onto the platform. Snake had to roll toward the sludge moat to avoid being crushed by the wreckage. Of course, the ceiling rubble was like confetti to the Metal Gear.

　　He looked at the moat and realized that he had to do it again. It was the only way to get to the Stinger.

　　Snake held his breath, closed his eyes-no time to fish out his goggles-and slipped into the sludge like a salamander. He struggled as hard as possible to swim through the muck quickly, turn a corner, and emerge on the side of the room where he had stored the weapon. Snake gasped for breath and crawled out just as Metal Gear’s laser cut through the air above his head and obliterated the wall in front of him. He jerked his head down to evade the chunks of metal and brick that bombarded him but still felt as if he were being beaten by a hundred fists. As Liquid’s laugh and REX’s dreadful roar filled the room, Snake crawled to the pile of cartons and crates and placed his hands on the Stinger case. He opened it quickly, picked up the launcher, set it on the floor, and carefully loaded one of three rockets into it. He then stood and faced the Metal Gear, which was standing amid the rubble on the platform.

　　Where to strike? The radome was the dish on top of the mech that controlled many of the radar sensors, the targeting, and the movement. That was the thing’s Achilles’ heel.

　　Make Master Miller proud, Snake told himself. This one’s for you, my friend.

　　Snake squeezed the trigger, and the Stinger shot out of the launcher. The violent recoil against his shoulder was gratifying, for the missile struck its target dead-on. The explosion was immense, and for a moment the mech staggered. But the radome remained intact and functional. It was definitely damaged, but not nearly enough.

　　He had two more missiles and was going to need both of them to do the job. But before he could move back to the case to retrieve a second Stinger, Metal Gear fired a racket at the grouping of crates. Snake leaped aside and rolled into the tunnel connecting the lab with the warehouse, which provided him with sufficient cover to protect him from the blast. The entire building rocked with the explosion.

　　“Come out of there, Snake!” Liquid shouted. “You’re not a mouse! Come out of your hole!”

　　What was he going to do? If he went back inside to grab the Stinger case, REX would blow him to bits. There had to be some way to distract Liquid and get him to-

　　“Get away.”

　　The voice came from behind him. Snake whirled around to behold the cyborg ninja standing a few feet away. The samurai sword was safely in its sheath, but the man formerly known as Fank Jaegar held a portable Vulcan cannon in his right hand.

　　“Gray Fox!”

　　The red light on the ninja’s face covering covering glowed brightly for a second. “A name…from long ago. It sounds better than…Deepthroat.”

　　Snake blinked. “You’re Deepthroat?”

　　“You look terrible, Snake. You haven’t aged well,” the ninja walked forward, but Snake felt that he was no longer a threat.

　　“Fox, why? What do you want from me?”

　　“I’m a prisoner of death. Only you can free me.”

　　The Metal Gear roared loudly outside the tunnel.

　　“Fox, stay our of this,” Snake said. “What about Naomi? She’s hell-bent on taking revenge for you.”

　　The name evoked a reaction. The ninja paused and lightly touched his face. “Naomi…”

　　“You’re the only one who can stop her.”

　　“No…I can’t.”

　　“Why?”

　　“Because I’m the one who killed her parents.”
Snake had no response to that revelation. He waited for the ninja to continue.

　　“I was young then and couldn’t bring myself to kill her, too. I felt so bad that I decided to take her with me. I raised her like she was my own blood to soothe my guilty conscience. Even now she thinks of me as her brother.”

　　Snake reached out to his old friend and said. “Fox…” but the ninja moved so that he couldn’t be touched.

　　“From the outside, we might have seemed like a happy brother and sister. But every time I looked at her, I saw her parents’ eyes staring back at me.” Gray Fox stepped closer and touched Snake on the shoulder. “You must tell her for me. Tell her I was the one who did it.”

　　“Fox…”

　　“We’re just about out of time. Here’s a final present from Deepthroat.”

　　Before Snake could stop him, the ninja rushed out of the tunnel and into the arena to face the beast.

　　“Well, look here!” Liquid taunted. “In the Middle East, we don’t hunt foxes. We hunt jackals. Instead of foxhounds, we use royal harriers! How strong is that exoskeleton of yours? Snake, are you just going to sit by and watch him die?”

　　Gray Fox shouted to the cockpit, “A cornered fox is more dangerous than a jackal!” And then the ninja lifted the Vulcan cannon and fired a succession of shouts at the cockpit, producing considerably more damage than Snake’s ineffective grenades had. Metal Gear returned fire with the machine guns, striking the ninja with dozens of rounds, but the exoskeleton succeeded in deflecting them. Gray Fox leaped sideways and darted to another part of the lab with lightning speed.

　　“Hold still, you bastard!” Liquid demanded.

　　Snake eyed the stinger case that lay just a few yards away. This was his chance, for Fox had diverted Liquid’s attention. The operative dashed to the case, removed the second missile, and loaded it on the launcher. He then performed a broad jump over the moat and walked to the center of the platform. Metal Gear’s back was to him, but the radome was in plain sight. Snake shouldered the weapon, targeted the dish, and pressed the trigger.

　　This time, the explosion nearly knocked the radome off Metal Gear’s body. The mech reacted as if it actually felt pain by bellowing with the volume of a thousand elephants. Metal Gear wobbled on its feet, almost as if Snake had blinded the thing. The rail arm groped about as Liquid struggled to regain control of REX’s appendages.

　　Snake took the third and final missile out of the case and loaded it as Gray Fox crouched in front of the walking weapon. The ninja fired the cannon again, this time concentrating on the radome area. But the heavy rail arm swung, knocked the cyborg down, and held him prone. Gray Fox struggled to pull himself out from under the machinery, but it was no use. And then Snake watched in horror as Metal Gear’s right foot lifted and poised over the ninja’s helpless body.

　　It happened simultaneously. Liquid lifted the rail arm out of the way so that he could stomp on Gray Fox with the foot. But that action gave the cyborg the opening he needed to fire one last volley from the Vulcan. Metal Gear’s foot fell just as the ordnance struck the radome at its epicenter. Flames erupted from the top of the mech as the gigantic dish crumpled and slipped to the floor. But the ninja’s exoskeleton radiated a powerful electrical charge as Frank Jaegar was crushed by the tonnage.

　　“Impressive!” Liquid announced, “He was indeed worth of the code name Fox. But now he’s finished!”

　　But the destruction caused by the Stinger and the cannon fire had taken a far more serious toll on the mech than Liquid had expected. The entire top of Metal Gear burst into a blazing concoction of fire and electricity as several pieces of the structure broke away. Even the cockpit’s cover separated from the nose and crashed to the ground, exposing Liquid. For the first time since the battle had begun, the FOXHOUND terrorist appeared concerned. Metal Gear was stumbling around the platform, out of control and crying like a wounded animal. A foot splashed into the moat and nearly tripped the mech, but Metal Gear merely lifted the foot out of the sludge, bringing a section of the platform with it.

　　Snake rushed over to where Gray Fox’s broken body lay and knelt beside his friend. The red light was weak, and there were sounds of measured, and the ninja obviously had suffered severe trauma. Snake examined the helmet and found the latches that held on the face mask. He quickly loosened them and removed the plate, revealing the scarred, beaten face of Frank Jagar.

　　The man whispered, “Now…in front of you…I can finally die.”

　　“No, Fox. I’ll get you out of here! I’ll get you help!”

　　Gray Fox ignored his friend. He knew it was too late. “After Zanzibarland, I was taken from the battle. Neither truly alive nor truly dead…an undying shadow in a world of light. But soon…soon it will finally end…Snake, we’re not tools of the government or anyone else! Fighting…was the only thing…the only thing I was good at, but…at least I always fought for what I believed in. farewell…Snake.”

　　“Fox! No!”

　　But his friend expired with a final exhalation of breath.
“He prayed for death, and it found him!” Liquid gloated through Metal Gear’s speakers. He had managed to gain control of REX’s steering mechanism, but the behemoth still wobbled unsteadily on its feet.

　　Snake remained kneeling by his friend but slowly grasped the grip on the Stinger launcher.

　　“You see? You can’t protect anyone! Not even yourself! Now…die!”

　　With split-second timing, Snake twisted his body, placed the launcher on his shoulder, aimed at the open cockpit, and fired. There was a tremendous explosion caused not only by the Stinger but also by the destruction of Metal Gear’s central computers and power source, which was located behind the nose. Liquid screamed as flames engulfed REX’s entire shoulder area. Snake covered his head but watched violently and went down on its knees. Then, with the weight and force of a falling building, the world’s most dangerous weapon toppled over and crashed onto the floor.
The room jolted violently, knocking Snake over and into a blanket of darkness.

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24

THE HAZE SLOWLY dissipated. Snake opened his eyes to see a dark room highlighted by bit of flame and smoldering brick and steel. He was lying on something hard that was somehow familiar.

　　His sneaking suit had been removed. He was bare-chested. Wearing only his skintight pants.

　　“Sleeping late as usual, Snake?”

　　Snake’s eyes rolled toward the voice. Liquid stood twenty feet away. He, too, was dressed only in tight pants.

　　“Liquid,” Snake groaned. “You’re still alive?”

　　“I won’t die…as long as you live,” his nemesis announced.
Snake rose and supported himself on an elbow. There seemed to be no serious damage to his scarred and bruised body, but he felt as if a gigantic sledgehammer had just pummeled him for a couple of days.

　　“Too bad,” he said, “It looks like your revolution was a
failure.”

　　“Just because you’ve destroyed Metal Gear doesn’t mean I’m done fighting.”

　　Snake sat up. “Fighting? What are you really after?”

　　“A world where warriors like us are honored as we once were. As we should be.”

　　“That was Big Boss’s fantasy.”

　　“It was his dying wish! When he was young, during the Cold war, the world needed men like us. We were valued then. We were desired. But things are different now. with all the liars and hypocrites running the world, war isn’t what it used to be. We’re losing our place in a world that no longer needs us, a world that now spurns our very existence. You should know that as well as I.”
It was then that Snake realized where he was. Both he and Liquid were on top of the collapsed body of Metal Gear. Liquid must have dragged him unconscious to what was now the highest point in the maintenance lab.

　　Liquid indicated the fallen REX. “After I get our billon dollars, we’ll be able to bring chaos and honor back to this world gone soft. Conflict will breed conflict; new hatreds will arise. Then we’ll steadily expand our sphere of influence.”

　　Snake sighed at the man’s deranged viewpoint. “But as long as there are people, there will always be war.”

　　“But the problem is balance. Father knew what type of balance was best.”

　　“Is that the only reason?”

　　“Isn’t it reason enough? For warriors such as us?”

　　Snake got to his feet. He had expected to be unsteady, but he seemed to be in full control of his faculties. He had a feeling he was going to need to be. “I don’t want that kind of world!” he spat.
“Ha! You lie! So why are you here, then? Why do you continue to follow your orders while your superiors betray you? Why did you come here? I’ll tell you! You enjoy the killing, that’s why!”

　　“What?”

　　“Are you denying it? Haven’t you already killed most of my comrades?”

　　“That was self-”

　　“I watched your face when you did it!” Liquid laughed. “It was filled with the joy of battle.”

　　Snake shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

　　“There’s a killer inside you. You don’t have to deny it! We were created to be that way.”

　　“Created?”

　　“Les Enfants Terribles! The terrible children! That’s what the project was called. It started in the early seventies. Their plan was to artificially create the most powerful soldier possible. The person they chose as the model was the man known then as the greatest living soldier in the world!”

　　“Big Boss…”

　　Liquid was enjoying this. He took a step closer, illustrating his story with hand gestures. “But…Father was wounded in combat and already in a coma when they brought him in. so they created us from his cells, with a combination of twentieth=century analog cloning and the Super Baby Method.”

　　What was this guy talking about?

　　“Super Baby Method?”

　　“They fertilized an egg with one of Father’s cells and then let it divide into eight clone babies. Then they transferred the clones to someone’s uterus and later intentionally aborted six of the fetuses to encourage strong fetal growth. You and I were originally octuplets!”

　　As Liquid spoke, Snake felt his rage returning. As much as he wanted to believe that the man was lying, he knew that Liquid spoke the truth.

　　“The other six of our brothers were sacrificed to make us, we were accomplices in murder before the day we were born!” Liquid smiled. “So it was you and I. two fertilized eggs with exactly the same DNA. But… they weren’t finished yet.” Liquid’s smile vanished and was replaced by a snarl. “They used me as a guinea pig! To create a phenotype in which all the dominant genes were expressed…to create you. I got all the recessive genes! You took everything from me before I was even born!”

　　Snake didn’t know what to say. He clenched his fists and waited for Liquid to continue.

　　“But…you and I aren’t his only children?”

　　“What?”

　　“The genome soldiers. They, too, are his progeny, carrying on his genetic legacy. But they’re different. They’re different. They’re digital. With the completion of the Human Genome Project, the mysteries of humanity were laid bare. Thanks to Father’s DNA, they were able to identify more than sixty soldier genes responsible for everything from strategic thinking to the proverbial killer instinct. Those soldier genes were transplanted, using gene therapy, into the members of the genome soldiers. That’s right, Snake! The troopers you’ve been killing right and left are our brothers, with the same genes as ours! They are our brothers, created artificially through the alignment of nucleotides to mimic our father’s genes. They, too, are the product of numerous sacrifices.”

　　“Sacrifices?”

　　“Human experiments. It was 1991…the Gulf War. The military secretly injected soldiers with the soldier genes. The Gulf War syndrome that hundred of thousands of returning soldiers complained about was a side effect of it.”

　　Snake interrupted. “No. everyone knows that Gulf War syndrome was caused by exposure to depleted uranium used in antitank rounds.”