vulpesvivus | ☮ 050; [voice/video] dated to saturday morning

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☮ 050; [voice/video] dated to saturday morning

[It had been a week since anyone heard this voice. Longer still since it was broadcast over the network.]

[For Hal Emmerich, it had been five years since he awoke from a dream calling itself Johto. Five long years of wandering as fugitives against the world, of unkind truths and harsh realities. Failed missions, broken hearts, and at last a hard-won victory at the end of it all. The Patriots' AIs were eliminated thanks in no small part to Naomi, and for the first time since 2005, Otacon felt that everything might just truly work out alright. But first there was Snake to worry about--he'd last been seen from the air, fighting Liquid Ocelot on top of Outer Haven.]

[And the very next second, Otacon was waking up in a room he only vaguely recognized. His voice was the only thing heard at first, sounding as if the Pokegear was a short distance away.]

Where--...? Oh, no. That's not good. I'm piloting a helicopter and I'm dreaming, that can't be a good thing. Wake up, I need to wake up or I'm going to crash right into Haven, it'd really be stupid to die now.

Phaaaa. [The concerned bleating of an Ampharos was much closer to the Gear than Otacon's voice--he was the one that had turned it on, most likely. The silence that followed was almost tangibly stunned.]

A...Asimov...? No way. This--that was just a dream. It still is, because this kind of thing doesn't just happen! Think of how many laws of physics a place like this would break, it's...it's not possible. I'm still in the Kasatka. I can't...

[Another pause. There was the shuffling sound of someone taking the Pokegear, and then a familiar yet somewhat older face in an unfamiliar turtleneck and trenchcoat appeared onscreen.]

...This really happened, didn't it? I thought--I thought it was just some dream I had. That I was going crazy or something. But it's too lucid to be anything like that, isn't it?

Is anyone else still here? How long has it been? And does anyone know if this place is even real?

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_{[She nods.]}

... We're almost to Ecruteak City.

_{[... The end of the journey that she'd started FIVE YEARS AGO, from Otacon's perspective...]}

When I get there, I'm coming straight to wherever you are and I'm giving you a huge hug, okay?

I think I could really use one.

...I know it hasn't been that long for you, but...if there's anything you want to know about what happened, just ask. I think you're probably the only person I can tell. Well, the only one I can tell that won't think I'm insane.

[Because he sure as hell couldn't explain to Liquid how he'd possessed Ocelot and almost ended the world.]

_{[It's late, so Heather's not walking, which makes this easier. There's a shifting of nylon as she snuggles a little deeper into her sleeping bag. She'll stay up as long as Otacon needs. She might not be his real little sister, but she's going to do her best.]}

I've got plenty of time.

Talk to me.

Honestly? I don't even know where to start. It's been that chaotic.

[He hesitated for a second, looking a little unsure of himself at his next words.]

I guess...I'd have to start with Liquid.

Liquid...?

_{[Ooh... oh yeah.]

[It was easy to forget, with the two being so close, that Liquid had apparently been an enemy in their homeworld.]

[But needless to say, the first feeling that Heather feels is a sense of dread.]}

...yeah.

[Remembering the kind of things he knew now, this had suddenly gotten a lot more complicated for Otacon as well.]

This...isn't really easy, at least not now. But I can at least tell you he's not--the way you know him is nothing like he is back home. Not anymore.

I'll try to give you the short version. The night I first met Snake, one of Liquid's subordinates--a soldier named Revolver Ocelot--lost part of his arm in what I guess you could call an accident. [When you weren't calling him Gray Fox.]

When we saw Ocelot again a few years later, he'd...taken Liquid's as a prosthetic. Hell if I know why. [The idea seemed to make him sick to think about, or at least it did now.] When he crossed paths with Snake, something went...really wrong. Ocelot started moving and acting like Liquid, even using his exact voice and speech patterns. We could only really conclude that Liquid was possessing him somehow.

Since then...it's pretty much gotten worse. 'Revolver Ocelot' doesn't even seem to exist anymore. He's Liquid Ocelot now--worse than that he's been causing a hell of a lot of trouble to say the very least.

So...Snake's been pretty much enlisted to kill him.

[And that was the short version. At least, as far as Liquid went.]

...

... So Liquid's arm is possessing somebody and they're running around blowing shit up or something?

More like 'running around in an aquatic fortress' at the moment, but yeah. Pretty much.

[WELCOME TO METAL GEAR.]

... Well.

Uh.

That's... hm.

_[yeah.]

...honestly, after you see things like this for yourself, you just kind of stop asking 'how' and start asking 'how do we deal with it?'.

That's... wow.

Just.

... At least it's just his arm?

Yeah. It's weird, but it's hardly the weirdest thing I've seen lately.

... Dare I ask what IS the weirdest thing?

Recently or out of everything?

Let's stick to 'Recently', for the sake of simplicity.

[Flatly:] The ghost of a psychokinetic soldier in a gas mask taking over an empty cybernetic combat suit with six arms.

That's about as recent as it gets--that was a few hours ago at best.

... Wellp. You win.

Everybody can go home.

I don't really think about how strange this all seems until after the fact, to tell you the truth.

[He laughed at that--no matter how long it had been, talking to Heather now he felt like it really had only been a week at best.]

_{[That's how you know you've got a lasting friendship.]

[... Of course, for Heather, it HAS only been a week. She's relieved to hear him laugh, though. In her philosophy, if a person can laugh, they'll be all right.]}

Well, you don't have TIME to muse on that stuff much when you're in the thick of things... but anyway.

_{[Sobering up a little, she adds-]}

... So... what about Liquid? ... Here, I mean?

I don't really know. There's no way I can tell him even half of what's happened, but I can't lie to him either.

And it's not like I don't still...I mean, even if it's been this long, all of that still happened last time I was here, and...

[Otacon sighed, trying to put a whole mess of thoughts into a proper sentence.]

...A lot's happened, and I'd be lying if I said nothing's changed. But I can't just...leave. I don't think I ever could.

_{[Heather pauses for a moment, measuring her words.]

[Now she KNOWS what it's like to have an enemy from home show up here... to have to deal with all that baggage. ... But...]}

... He didn't do any of that stuff yet here.

He's ... He's had US.

He's different from the one where you come from now. Just 'cause he's had a family and people who love him. Even if it's just been a year, that changes things. Right?

I know that. I know that better than anyone, and...I remember telling Snake almost that same exact thing here ages ago. The Liquid Snake we know hasn't even been to Shadow Moses yet. He hasn't been through anything involving Metal Gear or FOXHOUND. I've done everything I can to stop Liquid back home, but...I trust him here. You know I do.

Really, it's...not entirely that I'm worried about, exactly.

[Naomi. No matter what her intentions had truly been or whose side she had been on--neither of which Otacon ever expected to know or sure--he had still loved her. It had only been for a little while, but there was no other word for it. If Liquid found out here...what would he even think? Would he be jealous, think Otacon was an idiot for missing what must have been obvious ulterior motives...or just leave him altogether?]

[Never mind that Otacon was certain now more than ever that he was cursed. Maybe it would have been better if Liquid decided to leave. For his own sake, at least.]

_{[8I; Wellp. It's not Otacon's fault for getting involved with somebody after FIVE YEARS of not having any reason to believe that his relationship had been more than a cracky dream.]

[... Even if he totally should've seen Naomi for the lyin' bitch she was.]}

... Well... no matter what happens...

You've got us again now, okay?

... I wasn't lying about wanting to see you the moment I step into town. Seriously. The moment. Bam.

We can go out for sushi or something.

Edited 2011-09-03 17:14 (UTC)

I'd love that, Heather. We can do that and I can tell you all about the other crazy things that've been going on.

I'll look forward to it.

_{[She's just... relieved that he's in one piece, honestly. An older Otacon is still an Otacon and that's good enough for her.]}

Besides... I haven't even seen you guys in months.

I gotta beat Liquid up for old time's sake!

_{[... Heather, you know full well that's just going to end with you either held at arm's length or tossed over Liquid's shoulder caveman-style.]}

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