Metal Gear Solid: Page 12

Was the last update a big enough mindfuck? I know it was extremely scary, what with the whole “Stealth Nuclear Weapon” thing that Otacon presented. I did a runthrough for a friend of mine a couple months ago, and we had a discussion of “What if that was real?” or “What if this was happening?”. This update contains something like that, too. Perhaps you’re getting what I’m hinting at?


Alright, the card’s in one of two places. Either it was in the drainage water, or a mouse ate it. If the mouse ate it, you’re supposed to SNIPE the fucking thing. I didn’t even look for the mouse, and next thing I knew it dropped the PAL key. So, I guess you can scare the little guy, too.


Computer : PAL code number one confirmed. Awaiting PAL code number two…

Okay, that takes care of PAL code number one… Now PAL number two… freeze the key.
Do you remember where it was cold?


That’s right. Where we fought Raven. I’m glad the Emulator has a fast forward feature.


This symbol means the key’s frozen. Let’s go input it.


Computer : PAL code number two conirmed. Awaiting PAL code number three.

Okay, there goes PAL code number two. Next comes PAL number three… warm the key.
Warm it. Hm. Now where was it hot again?


Master : Snake. It’s about Naomi Hunter…

Then you should talk to the Colonel. He’s looking into it.

Master : Turn your monitor off.

Okay it’s off. No one else can hear us. Go ahead.

Master : Sorry, but I didn’t want the Colonel to hear.

Okay, so what’s up?

Master : I’ve got a good friend in the Pentagon…

Yeah…

Master : 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 could it be, and why are you telling me about it?


Master : Snake, have you ever heard of something called “Fox Die”?

No…

Master : Fox Die?

…Liquid and others were talking about it…

Master : Yeah. It’s some kind of virus that targets specific people. I don’t know all the details, but…

What are you trying to say?

Master : It’s too similar.

What is!?
What’s going on?


Master : The cause of death. Didn’t the ArmsTech president and the DARPA Chief, I mean Decoy Octopus,… die of something that looked like a heart attack?

Yeah…?

Master : Well, apparently Fox Die kills its victims by simulating a heart attack.

No… You’re telling me that Naomi was behind it?

Master : Snake, try to remember. Did Naomi give you some kind of injection?

…The nanomachines.
Huh.


Master : She was in the best position to have done it, but I don’t know what her motive was.

…Does the Colonel know?

Master : I’m not sure. But he still hasn’t questioned her.

Okay. I’ll ask him myself. Colonel, what’s new with the Naomi situation?
You know, if you think about it, it just came out of nowhere.


Campbell : I just placed Naomi under arrest.

Arrest?

Campbell : She was sending coded messages towards the Alaskan base. I didn’t want to believe it, but she must be working with the terrorists.

Are you sure?

Campbell : I’m afraid so. She’s being interrogated now.

What kind of interrogation?

Campbell : Well…I’d like to avoid the rough stuff, but we don’t even have any sodium pentathol here.

Call me if you find out anything.
She was sending coded messages? To who?


Master : So it’s true, isn’t it?

Naomi…I can’t believe it.

Master : That means the Fox Die vaccine must be around somewhere.

Listen. I’ve got bigger things to worry about.

Master : But Snake…you might be infected too, you know.

All I can do is leave it up to the Colonel.
Why is he interested in the vaccine?


This was the correct answer to the hot place question. The card’s symbol means we can go input it.


Naomi : Snake, can you hear me? It’s Naomi…

Naomi!? …what the hell!?

Naomi : Campbell and the others are busy right now…I’m on a different Codec.

Naomi, is what the Colonel says true?

Naomi : …Yes. But not everything I said was a lie. I don’t know myself. 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.

Cause you want to know yourself, right?

Naomi : That’s right. I want to know where I came from…m…my age, my race… anything.

Naomi…

Naomi : I was found in Rhodesia sometime in the 80’s… a dirty little orphan…

Rhodesia? What’s now known as Zimbabwe?

Naomi : 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…

Naomi, you’re too worried about the past. Isn’t it enough to understand who you are now?

Naomi : Understand who I am now!? Why should I? No one else tries to understand me. I was alone for so long… until I met my big brother and him.

Your big brother?
Odd time for Naomi to call, and confirm everything that Master’s been saying. Also, what does her past have anything to do with us right now?

Wait for it.

Wait just a little bit more.

Try to figure it out.

Do you think you know who it is?

Last chance to figure it out on your own.


Naomi : Yes…. Frank Jaeger.

What!?

Naomi : He was a young soldier, when he picked me up near the Zambezi River. I was half-dead from starvation and he shared his rations with me.

Naomi : Yes. Frank Jaeger, the man who you destroyed, was my brother and my only family.

Gray Fox?

Naomi : 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?

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

Who is “he” ? …You mean Big Boss?

Naomi : He brought us to this land of freedom , this America. 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 FOX-HOUND. I knew it was my best chance to meet you and I prayed for the day that I could…

So were your prayers answered?
Holy. Shit.


Naomi : Yes. I waited two long years…

To kill me? Is that all you cared about?

Naomi : Yes. That’s right. Two years. You were all I thought about for two long years…like some kind of twisted obsession…

Do you still hate me?

Naomi : …Not exactly. I was partly wrong about you…

What about Liquid and the others?

Naomi : No. I’ll have my revenge on them too.

Naomi…you didn’t kill that doctor too, did you? The one that used Gray Fox for his genome experiments…

Naomi : …No…that was my brother. Afterwards I covered it up and helped him hide out…

So that Ninja…I mean Gray Fox… he’s come here to kill me?

Naomi : …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…

…Fox…no… Naomi, tell me something…
Damn. She’s hell-bent on revenge, isn’t she.


Naomi : …about FoxDie? 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?

Naomi : Right. They respond by becoming active, and using the macrophages, they begin creating TNF epsilon. It’s a type of cytokine, a peptide which causes cells to die. The TNF epsilon is carried along the bloodstream to the heart, where they attach to the TNF receptors in the heart cells.

And then…they cause a heart attack?

Naomi : The heart cells suffer a shock and undergo an extreme apoptosis. Then… the victim dies.

Apoptosis…you mean the heart cells commit suicide… Naomi…

Naomi : …What?

…You must have programmed that thing to kill me too, right? Do I still have time? Naomi, I don’t blame you for wanting me dead. But I can’t go yet. I still have a job to do.
Holy. Shit. THAT is goddamned scary. A virus designed to attack only specific people. That’s another “What if..?” moment, big time. It’s almost as bad as the stealth nuclear missile.


Naomi : Listen, Snake. I’m not the one who made the decision to use FoxDie.

You weren’t?

Naomi : You were injected with FoxDie as a part of this operation. I just wanted to let you know that… No, that’s not the whole truth… the real thing that I wanted to tell you was… Snake, I… I…
Then who’s decision was it? This is just getting weirder and weirder.


Voice : Hey! What are you doing!?

Naomi : Eeeek!! Ooooh…. Snake…..
RIGHT when she was going to tell me, too.


Campbell : …Snake, I can’t allow Naomi to make any more unauthorized transmissions. Naomi’s been removed from this operation.

What happened to Naomi!? What did she mean when she said that FoxDie was a part of this operation!? Colonel, let me talk to her!

Campbell : I won’t. She’s under arrest.

…you double crossed me!

Campbell : Snake, there’s no time for that!

Campbell : Right now your job is to stop Metal Gear! …Okay, Snake!?
DAMNIT.







FUCKING HELL! (Honestly, though, who didn’t see that coming?)


Master : Thank you Snake. Now the detonation code is completed. Nothing can stop Metal Gear now.

Master, what’s going on?

Master : 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. We weren’t able to learn the DARPA Chief’s code. Even with Mantis’ psychic powers, he couldn’t read his 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.

What do you mean?

Master : Without the detonation codes, we had to find some other way. That’s when we decided…you might prove useful, Snake. First I thought we might get the information from you, Snake. So I had Decoy Octopus disguise himself as the DARPA Chief. Unfortunately Octopus didn’t survive the encounter. …thanks to FoxDie.

You mean you had this planned from the beginning? Just to get me to input the detonation code!?

What in the hell’s going on here? Isn’t Master a good guy?


Master : Huh? You didn’t think you made it this far by yourself, did you?

Who the hell are you!?

Master : 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?

Master : The Pentagon’s plan to use you was already successful… in the torture room.

Master : Snake, you’re the only one who doesn’t know. Poor fool.

Who are you anyway!?

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

Where are you?

Master : Very close by.
Any guesses yet?




Campbell : Snake, that’s not Master Miller!

Master : Campbell, you’re too late.

Campbell : Master Miller’s body was just discovered at his home. He’s been dead for at least three days. I didn’t know because my Codec link with Master was cut off. But Mei Ling said his transmission signal was coming from inside the base!

So who is it?

Campbell : Snake, you’ve been talking to..
Start guessing.

Wait for it.

Keep guessing.

Oh god, the suspense.

Last chance to guess.





Liquid : …Me… dear brother.

Liquid!? How the…!?

Liquid : You’ve served your purpose. You may die now!



Oh crap. I know. Let’s call the hacker!




Hurry up, nerd.



About time.

This is as good of a point to stop as any. Since we still have Metal Gear to blow up, and the ending.

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