FOR THE MOMENT, they seemed safe.
Snake and EVA walked through the aqueduct toward the river. She was moving slowly, and Snake matched her speed. Snake, of course, remained on alert for any sign of danger, but I thought it the best chance we might have to talk.
Over the codec, I said to him, “Snake, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Naomi—she’s gone. She’s not in Nomad anymore.”
Snake didn’t say anything. I took the moment of silence to scold myself for my lapse in caution. I gritted my teeth.
Then he asked, “When did you notice?”
“Right after she and Sunny got back from Dr. Madnar’s place.”
“Why weren’t you watching her?”
“I wasn’t wearing my …”
The words caught in my throat. Naomi said I looked handsome without my glasses. She’d manipulated me. She used my feelings to trick me. I felt the anguish of it in every cell of my body.
“… my glasses.”
“Naomi said it herself—the experiment can’t succeed without her.”
As soon as I saw she’d left, I had the same thought. As I felt the sting of her betrayal, my mind went straight to the absolute worst scenario. If I assumed she was that evil, then maybe my shame could be lessened if only by a little bit.
Even though I’d already mostly convinced myself that was the case, I asked, “You think she went back to Liquid?”
Snake didn’t answer. He must have known I believed it myself. I felt awkward. After working together for a decade, we pretty much knew all there was to know about each other.
He changed the subject. “What about Raiden?”
“Good news on that front. We managed to get our hands on a dialysis machine and set up an ICU on Nomad. Sunny’s keeping a constant watch on him and is handling the dialysis and the treatment of his wounds. But the dialysis is probably going to take forty-eight hours. Until then, Raiden can’t move.”
“Wait, Otacon.”
Snake tensed. I switched over to the Solid Eye’s live feed and saw light up ahead.
Snake readied his M4 and moved ahead of EVA and toward the exit. Outside, a boat was silhouetted by a flickering light in the distance. Was it the cruiser with Big Boss’s ark?
Snake advanced.
A lone figure emerged from the ship, stepped down onto the walkway, and took something from his pocket. Snake watched down the sights of his M4. The figure flicked open a lighter, lit the object in his hand, and put it to his mouth.
A cigar.
“Liquid!” Snake said.
The man himself—Liquid Ocelot.
Snake moved out into the open where he could clearly see the boat. Not the cruiser Big Mama had mentioned, but rather a military patrol boat. On its deck the main cast had assembled—Liquid’s armed private guard, along with Vamp and Naomi.
Just as we’d thought. My predicted worst possible scenario had been dead on, but I was wrong about one thing: my shame and guilt weren’t lightened in the slightest.
Liquid triumphantly exhaled a mouthful of smoke and said, “Not bad.”
With unsteady steps, EVA moved forward and grabbed Snake’s shoulder. She knew Ocelot’s face well. He was her comrade once. Together, they freed Big Boss from the Patriots and left Zero truly alone.
But his behavior, his mannerisms—those didn’t belong to the man she once knew.
“Where’s the pyx?” she asked.
Liquid replied without bothering to look at her. “That no longer matters.”
With the last tattered bits of her strength, EVA yelled, “Where is it?”
On the ship’s deck, Vamp had turned to face the flickering light across the water. That was when we realized what it was. Fire.
“EVA,” Snake asked, “is that your boat?”
She removed her hand from his shoulder. Her legs lost the strength to carry her, and she slumped to the concrete. Keeping his M4 aimed at Liquid, Snake glanced down at EVA, now on her knees within a slowly spreading pool of blood, her face lit by the flickering light of the sinking cruiser’s blaze.
Snake gritted his teeth. “Naomi …”
“She told me everything,” Liquid said, his voice calm and composed, with no trace of the triumphant boasting he had displayed in the Middle East. “And now, thanks to her, I finally have him. The one I’ve sought for so long—Big Boss.”
Snake moved his eyes to Naomi. She turned away out of guilt—whether actual or feigned, I couldn’t tell.
“Put down the gun,” Liquid said. “It’s already too late. You almost did it.”
Half a dozen of Liquid’s elite guards in power-assist armor similar to Snake’s sneaking suit appeared from below deck. Snake lowered his weapon.
Exuberance edged into Liquid’s voice. “Looks like I win after all, brother.” He let out a puff of smoke. “This brand was Father’s favorite. What do you say? Care for one last smoke?”
“You think you’re Big Boss now?”
Liquid blew smoke into Snake’s face. Now he was just being childish. Snake coughed.
“Guilty as charged.” He tossed the cigar to the ground. “But all that ends today.”
As Liquid put out the cigar with his boot, Snake raised the M4 and aimed at him. But before he could squeeze the trigger, Liquid had stepped to the side. In one swift movement, he lunged forward and stole the gun out of Snake’s hands.
He pulled out the M4’s magazine and ejected the chambered shell. At the same time, Snake drew his Operator, but Liquid just snatched it away. In a flurry of elbows and knees, Snake was sent to the ground.
“Nice try, brother, but when it comes to CQC, I’ve got the upper hand.”