-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
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Plot Summary/Analysis
by ssk9716757 ([email protected])
Version 0.75

To find any section in this FAQ, copy the characters in brackets next to the
section you want in the contents and use CTRL+F to jump to that section. If you
have any corrections, suggestions, or comments e-mail them to me at
[email protected].


CONTENTS
I. Introduction/Disclaimer........................[01INTROD]
II. Plot Summary..................................[02PLOTSU]
  A. Act 1: Liquid Sun............................[02ACT1LS]
    1. Act 1 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT1BR]
    2. Infiltration...............................[02INFILT]
    3. Gekko......................................[02GEKKOS]
    4. Three Days Earlier.........................[023DAYSE]
    5. Metal Gear Mk. II..........................[02MGMKII]
    6. Drebin Number 893..........................[02DREBIN]
    7. Rat Patrol Team 01.........................[02RATPAT]
    8. The Beauty and the Beast...................[02BBEAST]
    9. Liquid's Camp..............................[02LIQUID]
  B. Act 2: Solid Sun.............................[02ACT2SS]
    1. Act 2 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT2BR]
    2. South America..............................[02SOUTHA]
    3. Drebin Explains............................[02DREBEX]
    4. Raiden.....................................[02RAIDEN]
    5. Naomi......................................[02NAOMIH]
    6. Laughing Octopus...........................[02LOCTOP]
    7. Rescuing Naomi.............................[02RESCUI]
  C. Act 3: Third Sun.............................[02ACT3TS]
    1. Act 3 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT3BR]
    2. Eastern Europe.............................[02EASTEU]
    3. Big Mama...................................[02BGMAMA]
    4. Raging Raven...............................[02RAGRAV]
    5. The Patriots Bested........................[02PATRIO]
  D. Act 4: Twin Suns.............................[02ACT4TW]
    1. Act 4 Mission Briefing.....................[02ACT4BR]
    2. Shadow Moses...............................[02SHADOW]
    3. Crying Wolf................................[02CRYING]
III. The Themes of Metal Gear Solid 4.............[03THEMES]
  A. Symbolism....................................[03SYMBOL]
    1. Sunny's Eggs...............................[03SUNNYE]
    2. The Beauty and the Beast Corps.............[03BBCORP]
    3. No Place for Hideo.........................[03NHIDEO]
    4. Snake's Age................................[03SNKAGE]
  B. Themes.......................................[03THEME2]
    1. "War Transforms Us"........................[03WARTRA]
    2. "Without Light, There Can Be No Shadow"....[03WLIGHT]
IV. Credits/Thanks................................[04CREDIT]


UPDATES
02.21.09 - Guide created. Started adding some plot stuff.
03.01.09 - Finished up to where you meet the Mk. II in Act 1.
03.02.09 - Added to the "Themes of MGS4" section.
           Worked on plot summary some more.
03.06.09 - Added more to Plot Summary and Themes sections.
           Also reformatted the guide to make it easier to read.
03.07.09 - Added to Themes section.

 ---CURRENT VERSION: 0.65

03.11.09 - Added more to plot summary.
03.15.09 - Continued working on plot summary. Finished up Act 3.

 ---CURRENT VERSION: 0.70

03.21.09 - Began Act 4 plot summary.
03.29.09 - Finished up Mission Briefing for Act 4.
04.06.09 - Finished up to Crying Wolf in Act 4 Plot Summary.

 ----CURRENT VERSION 0.75

===============================================================================
I. Introduction/Disclaimer                                           [01INTROD]
===============================================================================
The Metal Gear Solid series is known for having some of the most complex plots
in video game history. The way this information is relayed is mostly through
movie-quality cutscenes which can be engrossing, but also a bit tedious at
times. Often times a lot of information is thrown at you at once, and the
pacing of the game may not allow you too much time to sit there and try to sort
out everything that has just happened.

Well, here's where this handy guide comes in. In this I hope to not only relay
the plot via play-by-play action, but I also hope to analyze it and pull out
any hidden meanings or subtle scenes that can help explain the story a little
better.

I'm a huge MGS fan, and one of the things I love is that this game has such a
huge, detailed story that you can spend hours figuring out. I chose to write
this guide to help you figure out this story in it's entirety.

I'd also like to give a quick disclaimer while I'm at it. This guide can only
be hosted by www.gamefaqs.com. If you would like to use this guide on your site
you can e-mail me at [email protected] and ask my permission. I almost
always give permission, but only if you ask first.

Well, then, let's get started...


===============================================================================
II. Plot Summary                                                     [02PLOTSU]
===============================================================================
Please note that this guide contains massive spoilers. In fact, if I do this
right, every single thing about MGS4 and the Metal Gear series will be spoiled.
So make sure you don't go ahead unless you've played the previous games and
this game, or unless you just want to find out those spoilers.

Also, you should be at least somewhat familiar with the characters if they were
in previous games. New characters introduced in MGS4 will be given proper
background explanation as they appear, however.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Act 1: Liquid Sun                                                 [02ACT1LS]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1. Act 1 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT1BR]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scene opens to Sunny, Olga Gurlukovich's daughter, frying eggs. She hums a
song of numbers while she cracks two open into the pan, one of the egg yolks
staying intact while the other yolk busts open.

We now cut to the interior of the Nomad: a plane that serves as a makeshift
headquarters for Otacon and Solid Snake. Colonel Campbell explains the
situation to Snake. Apparently the Big Shell incident that took place five
years ago during MGS2 triggered a massive public backlash, and as a result the
U.S. government is more hesitant about intervening militarily in foreign
affairs.

Due to the public backlash, militaries are beginning to become privatized, with
PMCs, Private Military Companies, being the big dogs in the movement.
Basically, since the public is against military intervention, PMCs secretly
deploy armies around the world. This way, things get done and the public is
none the wiser.

PMCs don't concern themselves with nations, values, or ideologies. They fight
only if it rakes in a profit. They dispatch armies wherever the profit is, and
also train the soldiers of the region and supply weapons. Thus, wherever they
are, war is close behind.

And they don't discriminate in giving their help. They help everyone from
military giants like the United States to small rebel factions opposing their
governments to terrorist organizations, and the fire of war they're causing is
spreading around the globe.

At this point, Sunny brings up the eggs she cooked, which are badly burned, and
gives them to Otacon, who is working at a computer. He says he'll eat them
later, leaving Sunny looking a bit dejected.

Snake and Campbell continue talking, and Snake brings up the point that every
age has its mercenary and that the PMCs are nothing new, having been there
since the turn of the century. Campbell corrects Snake, saying they're nothing
like the mercenaries of the past.

Sunny continues to try to get Otacon to eat the eggs, but he's too absorbed in
his work to pay attention to her.

Campbell explains exactly why these PMCs are nothing like what they've seen:
the Pentagon's produced and implemented a new battlefield control system that
was developed by ArmsTech Security, known today as AT Corp. The company used to
develop weapons, but now focuses on security tools.

The system that they've implemented is a way to control the battlefield. It
works by giving information on every single soldier on the battlefield, and
also information on field conditions, meaning that they can analyze this
information and turn the tide of war in their favor.

Sunny storms up the stairs with her eggs and slams the plates down angrily on
the table. Her hand bumps an ashtray packed with cigarettes, one of which falls
off the table and hits the ground. She stomps on it angrily and runs to the top
of the stairs, yelling down at Snake and berating him for smoking.

Campbell says that the reason for the spread of PMCs is their reliability and
efficiency. Regular armies are a thing of the past now that the PMCs are almost
everywhere. America and other countries have been exporting military goods,
turning the world into a kind of "War Economy": an economy totally dependent on
the profit of war. This has also led to things like unmanned weapons and child
soldiers.

Campbell goes on to tell Snake that there are five major PMCs in the world
currently. Two in the U.S., and one each in the U.K., France, and Russia. And
these five PMCs are run by a dummy corporation that acts as a single mother
company. This mother company's name is Outer Heaven, named after Big Boss'
fantasy of a world for soldiers.

The mastermind behind Outer Heaven is none other than Liquid Ocelot, and he's
planning to use this massive army for his plan: to create a world where
soldiers always have a place.

Campbell gets down to the reason he contacted Snake: he wants Snake to find
Liquid and stop him before he can put his plan into action, even if it means
killing Liquid. It's nothing but a hired hit, a covert plan to take out Liquid
Ocelot. This isn't a government order like Snake's previous assignments, but
something has to be done about the situation, and the world's governments are
too afraid to do anything for fear that the War Economy will colllapse.

Snake is hesitant to take the mission, but Campbell persits, saying Snake is
the only one he can trust. Eventually, Snake agrees and asks for the
intelligence they have on Liquid. Apparently, he's been spotted in the Middle
East. There are ethnic minorities there who are part of a rebel group waging
civil war on the regime in power, and the soldiers in the regime are provided
by the Praying Mantis PMC, one of the five major PMCs under Liquid's control.

Campbell breaks down how Snake is going to infiltrate the battlefield. The
rebels have hired soldiers from a local PMC to help them in their effort. Snake
is going to disguise as one of the soldiers and get aboard a transport truck,
which should take him into the heat of the action. Once there, he is supposed
to make contact with a team of informants known as Rat Patrol Team 01, who are
involved with investigating PMCs.

As always, it's imperative that Snake be as covert as possible and leave zero
evidence of his presence. If any info leaked out, it could lead to a global
firestorm, in Campbell's words.

Snake agrees to take the mission, saying he's not like the PMCs. He's not doing
it for the money, but because he's the only one who can stop Liquid.


2. Infiltration                                                      [02INFILT]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the not too distant future. On a tired battlefield. War has become routine.

A transport truck rolls through a dirty and war-ravaged desert town in the
Middle East. In the rear, rebel soldiers clothed in dirty garments can only sit
and wait until they reach the war zone where they fight. Among these soldiers,
one sticks out. He's wearing the same clothing as them but has his hood on,
which obscures part of his face. A cigarette dangles from his lip as he too
waits for the truck to stop, holding his gun.

The man is Snake. In voice-over, he talks about the condition that the
battlefield has sunk to. War isn't what it used to be. The age of war in the
world today is all about control, about micro-managing every soldier to do
whatever the commander wills. ID-tagged weapons and soldiers flood battlefields
with nanomachines in their bodies making sure they do only what they are
commanded to do.

War has become a well-oiled machine. War is no longer about fighting for
beliefs or values or ideologies. War has become the main source of profit for
the world and its War Economy. War is no longer out of place, it's no longer
unpredictable.

War has become routine.

The transport truck grinds to a stop in the middle of the city. The rebels rush
out, some getting picked off by gunfire. The surviving ones blow right past 
their injured or dead allies and begin to fight. At the rear, Snake slowly
climbs out, keeping out of the line of fire. This isn't his battle.

The gun he's carrying locks up on him. The ID tag on it doesn't give him
permission to use it. He throws it to the ground. Around him, soldiers fight
and kill each other. Making sure not to get caught, he moves on through the
fighting.


3. Gekko                                                             [02GEKKOS]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake hangs back as usual and arrives at a tense standoff between Liquid's PMC
soldiers and the rebels. As they fight, an animalistic cry is heard off in the
distance. The rebels look around for the source while the PMC soldiers turn
around and leave.

The cries continue, and the rebels continue to look around for the source.
Suddenly, giant mechanical robots with animal-like legs come down and crush the
rebels. These are called Gekko, and they are unmanned weaponry also under the
employment of Liquid's PMCs.

The rebels fire at the Gekko, but the bullets bounce uselessly of their armor
plating. Snake runs through the chaos, making it safely out of the scuffle.

He hangs back in a delapidated house and lights a cigarette. Everything seems
quiet until some blood drips onto Snake's shoulder. He looks up at the source:
a Gekko holding a dead soldier. Snake fires his gun at the Gekko, which loses
its footing and flips over onto the ground.

He runs into a room where he changes clips on the gun. A Gekko bursts through
the back wall and Snake rolls to the side to dodge it. His rebel disguise flies
off and we finally see Solid Snake in his sneaking suit, only this time around
his codename is Old Snake.

He tries to lose the Gekko by going upstairs. Once he gets up there, he
crouches down by some debris, and his suit begins to change color and texture
to match the debris, effectively camouflaging him. The Gekko comes up the
stairs and looks around, eventually spotting a cardboard box sitting in the
middle of the floor. Assuming Snake is inside, it crushes the box, which is
only filled with watermelons.

Unable to find Snake, the Gekko jump off across the rooftops.

Snake jumps down to ground level and finds a dead body with a rifle lying next
to it. He pops out his knife and checks to make sure the gun isn't booby-
trapped. Then he picks it up and points it at the body to make sure it's dead.
Satisfied, he turns around and heads off.


4. Three Days Earlier                                                [023DAYSE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A cemetery, three days before the beginning of the game. Snake, wearing a suit,
walks through the rows of tombstones, stopping at one and saluting it.

The silence is broken by the sound a helicopter arriving. It nears the cemetery
and sets down behind Snake. Otacon climbs out and walks over to Snake, telling
him that there's an old friend waiting for him. Snake stops Otacon to ask about
some test results. Otacon tells him that they reveal exactly what they thought:
Snake is aging rapidly, and has probably a year at best to live. Otacon makes
the suggestion to try another doctor, but Snake tells him that it won't make
any difference. He isn't an ordinary man to begin with.

Then there's also the matter of FOXDIE, which was injected into him during the
Shadow Moses incident in MGS1 and still remains within him today. It could end
up killing him at any second as well. Unfortunately, they don't know where
Naomi Hunter, the creator of the virus, is currently, so they can't do much
about it.

Snake heads over to the chopper and sees the old friend Otacon mentioned: Roy
Campbell, Snake's former commander. These days, Campbell is working for the
United Nations Security Council investigating PMC activity, a result of a 
resolution passed recently.

Campbell mentions that he came across some information in his work. He's found
Liquid in the Middle East.


5. Metal Gear Mk. II                                                 [02MGMKII]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in the present, Snake has just checked the gun for booby-traps and,
realizing that its clean, picked it up. He gets a Codec call from Otacon, who
asks him about the situation. The place is crawling with Gekko, codenamed
"Irving" by the U.S. military. The strange thing is that the amount of Gekko
present far exceed the amount the region can afford, which means that there's
someone else supplying the Gekko. In other words, Liquid could be close by.

Otacon tells Snake to get to a rendezvous point where he's got the Mk. II
waiting. The Mk. II is a small robot which can provide Snake with info, maps,
and even ammo and items. It's also a way for Otacon to help Snake on the
battlefield without actually being there. Snake heads off to the rendezvous
point to get the Mk. II.

Snake reaches the point, and the Mk. II rolls out of the shadows. It's a type
of miniature Metal Gear, like Metal Gear REX and Metal Gear RAY. Only this one
isn't a weapon, but rather a remote mobile terminal designed for operational
support.

Otacon uses the Mk. II to hand Snake the Solid Eye System: a gadget resembling
an eye patch which Snake can wear over his left eye. The Solid Eye can be used
for normal vision, night vision, or as binoculars in order to help with the
mission.

Snake notices that the rebels are outside launching an attack on the government
PMC soldiers. Otacon gives Snake an Operator: a handgun which predates the
implementation of the ID tag system, so Snake can use it just fine. He also
gives Snake a tranquilizer gun for non-lethal force.

The informants who saw Liquid here are up ahead, waiting at a rendezvous point.
Otacon switches on the stealth camo to hide the Mk. II and follows as Snake
heads out to the meeting point.


6. Drebin Number 893                                                 [02DREBIN]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake makes his way through the war zone, eventually coming up some stairs to a
room where a giant military vehicle is parked. On the side, the words "EYE HAVE
YOU" are written. There's also a rifle lying on the floor.

Snake approaches the rifle, but as he enters the room he sees a monkey sitting
next to a bucket filled with ice and soda cans. He's about to pick up the gun
when a voice interrupts him, and a man walks out carrying a white handkerchief
as a makeshift white flag.

The man is Drebin, and he's a gun launderer. The ID-tag system that's in place
means that a soldier can only use a gun if his ID-tag matches the tag on the
gun, meaning that if Snake finds any weapons on the battlefield, he can't use
them because the ID-tags don't match up.

That's where Drebin comes in. He's a gun launderer, meaning he gets weapons
that either have no ID-tags or he takes your weapons and removes the ID-tag and
replaces it with a counterfeit one, making them perfectly usable. He gives
Snake the rifle on the ground, an M4, as a welcoming gift.

Snake checks out the gun and finds that it's actually a very high-quality
firearm. Drebin tells Snake to go ahead and fire it, but for some reason Snake
can't pull the trigger. Apparently it's because Snake has an older generation
of nanomachines that don't work well with the new system.

Snake becomes suspicious and asks Drebin who he is. Drebin says he works for
AT Security, and he's in charge of production control. That means he gets all
the ID chips before they're registered. Drebin offers to help Snake, who is
still skeptical.

Otacon calls up Snake and tells him that while he doesn't like Drebin, they'll
have to trust him. Sunny searched him up and found that he actually gets around
quite a bit, having offered his service to various armies all around the world.
Drebin works by replacing the ID-tag on the gun with unregistered tags, but
Otacon notes that even though he replaces the chip, it still goes on record as
having been replaced. This means that Drebin must have somebody erasing records
for him.

Snake wonders if the Patriots could be behind it, but Otacon notes that if they
were, a guy like Drebin would be a nuisance for them.

Otacon suggests keeping Drebin at arm's length and using him for strictly
business purposes. Snake agrees to this and follows Drebin into his truck,
where he has to inject Snake with the new generation of nanomachines so that
Snake can use ID-tagged weapons. Snake is hesitant, but eventually allows
Drebin to inject him.

Snake goes out and tries to fire the M4 again, which works perfectly thanks to
the new nanomachines. Drebin tells Snake that he'll be willing to make any gun
Snake finds on the battlefield usable in the future. He also talks about the
PMCs. The bigger they get, the thinner the line between soldier and civilian
gets. Sooner or later the whole human race will be fighting.

Drebin says his final farewell to Snake and heads off in his truck.

Outside, Otacon contacts Snake and tells him that Drebin has a point. The world
is dependent on war for its economy, so if war just disappeared the world would
collapse. He also talks about the war price: a price for weapons and soldiers
that fluctuates depending on how much battle is going on in a region. So the
quieter things are, the better the bargain.

Snake heads off to the rendezvous point to meet up with Rat Patrol Team 01.


7. Rat Patrol Team 01                                                [02RATPAT]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Snake exits the room where he met Drebin, he comes across a rebel soldier
going towards an oil drum with noises coming from it. The rebel removes the oil
drum to reveal a soldier underneath it with his pants haflway down, who
apparently has a bad case of gas. The soldier runs off passsing gas while the
rebel chases after him.

Snake looks to his right and notices a damaged cardboard box. It'd be useless
for sneaking. But the oil drum, however...

Snake proceeds through the battlefield and arrives at the rendezvous point. He
goes through a door only to be held up from behind by the soldier who had the
bad case of gas. Snake puts his gun on the ground and holds up his hands,
acting surprisingly casual for a guy being held up.

The soldier seems jittery and nervous. Snake tells him that he hasn't taken the
safety off his gun, but the soldier responds that he's a ten-year vet. Still,
the soldier checks the safety, and Snake uses this opportunity to disarm the
soldier and take his gun, asking him how he survived ten years.

A female soldier wearing a balaclava shows up and points her gun at Snake. He
notices the logo on her vest: FOXHOUND. The female soldier apparently
recognizes Snake, because she removes her balaclava to reveal that she is
actually Meryl Silverburgh, Snake's old lover.

The first thing she asks him is what happened to his face, and he tells her
it's accelerated aging, though he doesn't know the cause. Snake realizes that
Meryl is the informant who saw Liquid. The rest of her team shows up: Rat
Patrol Team 01.

Later, Snake is sitting at a table with Meryl looking at some photos. It's been
four days since Liquid arrived in the area, and since then a woman's been with
him. She doesn't seem like a combatant, but she could be a scientist.

Apparently, Meryl is the commander of the Rat Patrol unit. The other three
members are Ed, Jonathan, and Akiba, the soldier with bad gas. Meryl and Snake
share some history together. Snake quit FOXHOUND after Shadow Moses, but Meryl
kept on trying to fulfill her dream and join. Meryl just wanted Snake to accept
her for who she really was, but that was all in the past. Now she's all about
business.

Snake claims to be in the Middle East for threat assessment of the PMCs. Meryl,
however, has heard otherwise. She's heard there's an assassin targeting Liquid.
Snake still sticks to his story. Meryl says she knows about his insurrection,
but as long as AT Security's system stays in place Liquid can't succeed. Snake
is skeptical, but Meryl says the system monitors every single soldier and makes
sure nobody disobeys.

Every soldier is injected with nanomachines which keep track of their personal
data 24 hours a day. They monitor everything from their position to their sugar
levels and every single response within their body. The data is relayed to the
command center for quicker and more efficient decision making. It also makes
sure each individual soldier is kept alert and ready. Meryl mentions that even
Rat Patrol has the nanomachines, and it helps them work better as a unit. It's
also a security guarantee against PMC soldiers. Since the PMCs don't care about
values, only money, they could easily disobey their leader for a profit. But
the nanomachines make sure the PMCs don't do this. If they tried to revolt,
their weapons would automatically be shut down and they couldn't do anything.

Snake knows the Patriots are behind this system, but Meryl seems unaware of who
the Patriots are. The system is completely foolproof, known as S.O.P: the Sons
of the Patriots System. The AI that controls the system is a tightly guarded
secret kept by AT Security and the Pentagon, so there's no way a third party
could hijack it.

Snake brings up the fact that Drebin can launder guns, so the system isn't
completely foolproof. Meryl says that there can't be more than a few hundred
gun launderers, so it's not really a threat to the System.

Meryl goes on to say that Liquid had to register his PMCs to have an army of
the size that he does, meaning that they're monitored by the system. So if
Liquid tries to do anything, he can be anticipated and shut down by the U.S.

Meryl's team was sent in to investigate the PMCs. Even with SOP, there are
still things like disorderly conduct and contract violations to deal with. Rat
Patrol acts as backup to the System by monitoring soldiers. There were five
other patrols before them sent who were all killed, but this Rat Patrol is
smarter than that. They searched battlefield after battlefield and finally
found Liquid.

When they reported that they found Liquid, Rat Patrol's superiors ordered them
to provide the U.N. investigators, meaning Snake, with intel. Meryl says she
had no idea Snake would be the investigator. Snake asks if Campbell told her he
was coming, but she seems to not have known that Campbell was the one who put
Snake up to the mission. She loses her temper and it comes out that she's
bitter over the fact that Campbell is her father, having slept with his
brother's wife. Campbell apparently remarried, and his new wife is around
Meryl's age. She also has a kid.

The scene is interrupted by Ed having noticed that there are 20 units on their
way to where Rat Patrol is, and they're not from the Praying Mantis PMC either.
The units on their way are called Haven Troopers, nicknamed "Frogs". They're
Liquid's private troops, more skilled and more dangerous than the PMC soldiers.

Akiba gets a bit nervous, because he knows that it was most likely his fault
that the Frogs are on their way. Snake says he wasn't followed, but Akiba
mentions that they might've seen the reflection off the lens of his binoculars.

They have no choice but to move out before the Frogs arrive. They get out their
weapons and head out just as the Frogs arrive. They have no choice but to take
out the Frogs, and they go out and do so.

They battle through wave after wave of Haven Troopers, eventually making it out
in one piece. They get to a garage where they think they're in the clear until
more Frogs jump out at them. Rat Patrol, thanks to the nanomachines that help
them work as a single unit, take out the Frogs with no problem. Meryl explains
that the nanomachine network in each member's body lets them share each others'
senses, helping them function as one unit instead of multiple units. The System
also helps reduce pain.

Rat Patrol and Snake split up. Otacon contacts Snake and they talk about how
much more self-assured Meryl has become. Snake wonders how much of it is
beause of SOP, and expresses his distaste at the fact that the senses you
used to train to achieve are now gotten with the System, zero work involved. It
seems like you don't even need experience under the System. Otacon explains
that the need for PMCs required a more cost-effective supply of soldiers, hence
the System. The use of child soldiers has also increased.

Snake asks if the System can control Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, since 
Akiba seemed to really be losing it. Otacon explains that the nanomachines
should provide psychological stability, and it also explains why Ed and
Jonathan barely felt any pain: the nanomachines were supressing it, but that
doesn't explain why Akiba was panicking so badly.

Snake says a soldier's got to have more than what the System provides. Times
have changed, however. Just like Meryl.

Snake heads off towards Liquid's camp.


8. The Beauty and the Beast                                          [02BBEAST]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake continues forward until he arrives at a group of rebel soldiers. One of
them is dirving a bulldozer and breaking through barbed wire barriers set up in
the road. As he breaks down each barrier, the rebel soldiers move through the
newly opened paths.

Suddenly, the bulldozer grinds to a stop, as if it's hit something. But the
road was perfectly clear a second ago. The driver tries to move the bullfozer
but it just won't move. Then we see what's blocking it:

A giant, mechanical wolf.

It lifts the bulldozer up off its treads, the driver jumping out and running
off in fear. The rebels fire at it, but the bullets just bounce off its armor.

In the sky, a mechanical raven screeches and soars. The rebels panic, unable
to do anything. One rebel backs up against a wall, out of which a mechanical
octopus seems to melt out of. It wraps its tentacles around the rebel and
squeezes it to death.

One rebel tries to run and stops, seemingly stuck on marionette strings. There
is the sound of the strings being cut, and then the rebel dies.

The four mechanical beasts continue to destroy the rebel forces, unmatched in
their power, speed, and ruthlessness.

In the sky, a multi-armed mechanical mantis holds marionette dolls.

Soon, the four beasts finish off the last of the rebels and exit, leaving
nothing but destruction in their wake.

The four beasts, Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming
Mantis, make up the Beauty and the Beast Corps.


9. Liquid's Camp                                                     [02LIQUID]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake sneaks past the PMC soldiers and arrives at Liquid's camp. Snake quietly
sneaks through the camp, looking for Liquid. He spots him standing on a second
floor balcony overlooking the camp.

Liquid Ocelot turns around and looks across over the camp. Snake sneaks up
behind a crate, aiming his gun at Liquid.

He gets a Codec call from Meryl, who is nearby with Rat Patrol. She now
realizes that Snake isn't here for threat assessment, but to kill Liquid. She
says her mission is to inspect the PMCs, so she can't stop him or help him. If
he's going to do it, he's on his own.

Snake points his gun at Liquid Ocelot, who continues to look out over the camp.
Rat Patrol sneaks through the camp on their own. Liquid pulls out a radio and
speaks the words "Activate it".

There is a noise that seems to increase in intensity. The PMC soldiers look
around cluelessly, unaware of the source. Suddenly, they drop their weapons and
begin to keel over in pain, screaming and crying hysterically. Among those
affected are Meryl and Rat Patrol, save for Akiba, who seems unaffected and
tries to help out his comrades.

Liquid looks around at the chaos with satisfaction, saying he never knew it'd
be so easy. He looks at a woman standing next to him, who is wearing a cloak.
She scoffs in disgust and walks away.

Snake, while affected, pushes through the chaos towards Liquid. He struggles,
pointing his gun, trying to fire through the confusion. Liquid sees him and
tells him that he and Snake are not copies of their father after all, and that
they're free of the shackles of fate.

Snake begins to keel over, struggling to stay conscious. Liquid tells Snake to
watch as he surpasses his own origin. Then he turns and leaves.

Before he passes out, Snake sees the woman who was with Liquid walk up to him
and remove her hood. It's Naomi Hunter, and she injects herself with a syringe,
dropping it near Snake. She tells him that if he won't be a prisoner to fate,
then he should go and fulfill his destiny.

Liquid gets to the roof, where a helicopter comes and picks up him and Naomi
and departs. As it leaves, the Gekko jump along, following it.

Akiba runs up just as Snake loses consciousness and helps carry him off the
battlefield.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Act 2: Solid Sun                                                  [02ACT2SS]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Act 2 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT2BR]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scene opens once again to Sunny frying eggs. This time, she cracks the eggs
open into the pan and both yolks bust open.

Sunny takes the eggs down to Otacon, who thanks her and takes them. Snake, who
was unconscious on a bed, finally wakes up. Seeing the eggs and their busted
yolks, he makes a joke about the sun being flat, which upsets Sunny quite a
bit.

It seems Snake was out all day. Akiba saved Snake's life by carrying him out of
there. Snake is angry that Liquid got away, and talks about how his body seized
up all of a sudden, just like the PMCs, when Liquid activated his device. Naomi
was there, on Liquid's side. Otacon found traces of her DNA in the syringe she
dropped near Snake, so it was actually her.

Sunny comes down with some eggs for Snake, who makes an excuse about having to
watch his caloric intake and picks up a cigarette. She mentions that he isn't
watching his nicotine intake, and goes back upstairs, dejected. Otacon tells
Snake that he hurt her feelings, and he quips that he should teach how to make
eggs properly then.

Otacon tells Snake that he got some video mail from Naomi just a little while
ago. In the message, Naomi says that she is being held captive in South America
and forced to do research. Liquid is trying to seize control of SOP, and to
do that he needs to analyze the nanomachine structure and find out how they
communicated with each other, which is what Naomi's being forced to research.
The nanomachines being used by the military are third generation, but their
basic design is the same as the first generation, which was created by Naomi.

FOXDIE was a part of that first generation, which she injected into Snake. The
technology used by FOXDIE was used to make SOP, which is why Liquid's using
Naomi specifically to help him hijack SOP, because she knows the framework.

Naomi says that Snake has to rescue her. Liquid's found a loophole to get into
the system, and the preparations for his insurrection are almost complete.
Snake has to hurry.

Naomi sent her location data in a separate file, excrypting it as Soliton Radar
data, the kind Snake used in Shadow Moses. She did it so they would truly know
the message was from her. Sunny was able to convert the data in video data.

Otacon and Snake get a call from Campbell. He tells Snake about Naomi's
detainment nine years ago after the Shadow Moses incident. However, someone
arranged for her escape, and Snake was accused of it. Campbell suspects it was
Liquid, who kidnapped her to force her to do research. The location she gave is
most likely the location of Liquid's base.

There's currently a struggle between the regime put into power by PMCs and a
rebel army formed by remnants of the old one. The rebels have hired a small
local PMC to help them. The new regime is still in shambles, so the regime is
still run by Pieuvre Armement, a PMC under Outer Heaven's control. With a nasty
political climate like that, it's the perfect place for Liquid to make his
haven.

Snake brings up the fact that it could be a trap. However, Otacon says they
were able to trace the origin of Naomi's message to a server in South America,
so it could be credible.

Snake inquires about the whereabouts of Meryl, and Campbell tells her she left
the Middle East chasing Liquid. Naomi is their only lead.

Campbell's secured landing clearance for the Nomad in South America. Snake is
to land and then take a 4x4 to get as close as possible to the PMC security
perimeter around Naomi's lab. From there he'll have to sneak through alone.

On the video screen, the new wife Meryl mentioned brings Campbell his meal. He
thanks her and she leaves.

Campbell goes on to say that the rebels are in battle with the PMC soldiers,
and the commotion should make good cover for Snake to slip in.

They land in 20 hours. Snake has a smoke while he still can.


2. South America                                                     [02SOUTHA]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the middle of a jungle in South America, Snake lies in wait. In voice-over,
Snake asks Campbell how deeply the Patriots are involved in everything. He
mentions that the data from Arsenal Gear, the fact that the 12 founders of the
Patriots had been dead for 100 years, was a load of crap. If the purpose of the
battlefield control is to control IDs then the Patriots plan works perfectly.

For the Patriots, the ultimate prize is to gain control of the battlefield and
then use it to gain control of the economy and information flow. Everything
that Solidus tried to fight against five years ago in MGS2 has happened.

The media and global opinion are under complete control of the Patriots, and
even the U.N. can't stand up to them. Liquid's insurrection is against the
Patriots, and he plans to create the world Big Boss envisioned. The PMCs and
their war business is the first step toward that world.

Right now, Liquid is under control of the Patriots and forced to fight their
proxy wars. As Campbell puts it, a new Cold War is brewing between Liquid and
the Patriots. No matter who wins, the world will be enslaved. Until Liquid is
stopped and the System is torn down, people will be enslaved.

However, what the world knows as peace is just an equilibrium kept in check by
the war economy. Destroying the System would cause the world to collapse. In
the end they may have no choice but to keep the System going for the good of
the world.

Snake crawls forward out of the grass. Once he gets to the perimeter, Otacon
contacts him. Rebel guerilla units are advancing on a PMC base, which is also
Liquid's safe house. Naomi is being held prisoner inside that compound. Snake
has to get in and rescue her.

Snake watches the PMCs lead captured rebels. Suddenly, a PMC gets knocked back
by some invisible force, which turns out to be Laughing Octopus. She emerges
from the shadows, as does Vamp, who has survived since MGS2.

Laughing Octopus comments that Snake isn't there. She turns away for a second,
and when she turns back around, the camo on her face has changed to mimic
Snake's face exactly. She proceeds to kill several soldiers brutally. She is
about to kill the last one, but Vamp stops her, telling her to leave one.

She makes sure that the remaining soldier sees Snake's face, telling him to
remember it, because it's the face of the one who killed his comrades.

Vamp says more guerilla units should be coming to ambush the safe house, and
Snake will be among them. He tells them to keep up their guard and jumps on a
truck. Laughing Ocotpus climbs onto the back of the truck, which pulls off.

Otacon contacts Snake once again, and they talk about Vamp's alliances with
Liquid. Vamp was commanding PMC soldiers, so he could be on Liquid's side.
Otacon is apalled that Vamp is still alive, despite them having seen him die in
Manhattan. He asks if Vamp could be immortal, but Snake says there's no chance.

The facility where Naomi is being held is further up the path. Otacon says he
got the data from Mei Ling, who is the captain of the Missouri, a World War II
battleship. After Shadow Moses, she was promoted by Campbell to the position of
captain, an impressive position for someone of her age.

Otacon reminds Snake once again that the conflict between the rebels and the
PMCS is not his business, but creating some impact on the battlefield could
make sneaking easier.

Snake brings up Laughing Octopus and the OctoCamo she was using, asking if its
the same one Snake is using. Otacon replies that it is, and that it's not
actually his own design, but rather based on some designs Otacon snagged from
DARPA. The PMCs know Snake is coming, so he has to be careful.

Snake sneaks past the enemy ranks and is eventually contacted by Campbell, who
introduces him to a psychological counselor. She's there to help deal with the
stress of battle. The counselor is Rose, who used to work as a data analyst for
the Pentagon and helped Raiden during the Big Shell incident. Afterward, she
switched over to psychological counseling. Her job is to assist Snake and help
calm his stress levels.

Snake notices that Rose contacted him from Campbell's house, and makes a
connection. The woman Meryl was talking about, the one Campbell married who was
her age, was Rose. She was engaged to Raiden, but he seemed to have disappeared
without a trace shortly after rescuing Sunny from the Patriots. Campbell
consoled her over her loss and one thing led to another. Snake and Campbell
bicker over this for a while, and it comes out that Campbell used his
connections in the Army to get Meryl the job as the commander of Rat Patrol. It
was the least he could do for his daughter.

Snake continues to move ahead when he gets another transmission, this time from
Raiden, who warns him that there is an ambush up ahead, and then abruptly cuts
transmission.


3. Drebin Explains                                                   [02DREBEX]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake eventually makes it to a clearing where he sees an old truck parked. He
leans against the truck and lights a cigarette. Suddenly, it's snatched away by
a monkey, who smokes the cigarette and throws Snake an apple.

The camo on the truck changes and we see that it's Drebin's truck. Drebin steps
out and invites Snake inside. Drebin's been following Snake around since Snake
has piqued his interest, being a legend. And the nanomachines that Drebin
injected Snake with in the Middle East let him track Snake's location.

The Beauty and the Beast Corps rush by and Drebin explains to Snake about the
B&B Corps. They're a squad of enhanced female soldiers that belong to the PMCs.
They come into clean up any messes that need cleaning.

Since Snake showed up in the Middle East, the B&B Corps have been given orders
to kill Snake. Each of the B&B members were traumatized by war, suffering
shellshock on the battlefield. The only way they could deal with it was to
become war machines themselves. The outside, the suits they wear, are their
beast forms. Inside, they're actually beautiful women. They've been convinced
that by killing Snake they'll be free from all the pain they've felt.

Since Drebin is able to trick the "foolproof" system, Snake asks him if he's
with the Patriots. Drebin denies this. Snake asks who the Patriots are, and
Drebin says they're the law of the world, keeping the world together.

The Patriots are the embodiment of the war economy. Somebody started the
Patriots in the beginning, but the law took on a life of its own. The country
and the System is all run by an information processing system. An AI.

There are three peripheral AI's and one main AI that make up the Patriots.
The AI's run everything. If someone could hack the System, they'd find a
Haven: a place where conventional rules don't apply. Drebin's gun laundering
follows the Haven concept. There's supposedly no way to break into the AI's.
Still, Liquid has something in mind.

Drebin says his farewell to Snake and drives off. Snake continues on his
mission.


4. Raiden                                                            [02RAIDEN]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake is contacted by Raiden, who claims to be close by. Snake asks him where
he's been all this time. Raiden was on a mission to find the corpse of Big Boss
in exchange for Sunny's location by a woman called Big Mama, the leader of a
small resistance group.

The transmission is interrupted by the sound of a war. Raiden tells Snake that
Big Boss' body is with Big Mama now. Raiden cuts transmission.

Rose contacts Snake, and he tells her that Raiden contacted her and seems okay.
Rose seems relieved and tells Snake to not tell Raiden that she's involved in
the operation. This leads Snake to ask exactly what happened between her and
Raiden.

After the Big Shell Incident, Raiden started being haunted by memories of his
childhood. He used to be a child soldier under the command of Solidus during
the Liberian Civil War. Rose was pregnant with their child, and Raiden would
stop coming home as often. The times he did come home he'd be drunk and covered
in cuts and bruises. Eventually he just stopped coming home at all and
disappeared.

Campbell supported her and consoled her when she was grieving. Rose says she
needed to get on with her life. Even though she cared about Raiden, she was
afraid of him. Campbell being so kind to her eventually led them to get married
and live together.

Snake assures her that he'll keep her presence a secret.


5. Naomi                                                             [02NAOMIH]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake moves forward and eventually reaches Naomi's lab. He works his way around
the perimeter of the lab, watching Naomi through the windows. She's speaking on
the phone to someone.

Snake gets around to the back door of the lab and enters. Naomi finishes up
speaking on the phone, and as she hangs up her body is suddenly seizes up. She
starts groaning and has to inject herself with a syringe to get the convulsions
under control.

Snake calls out to her, and she says she knew he'd come. It's been 9 years
since they last saw each other at Shadow Moses. She also concludes that Otacon
is working with Snake, since he'd be the only one able to open the mail she
sent.

Snake asks her who she was just talking to over the phone, and she responds
that it was Liquid, or rather, Ocelot, from a medical standpoint. Snake thought
Liquid would be here, where Naomi is, but it turns out for the moment he's not.
There are no guards because they know she won't escape. She has no choice but
to cooperate.

Snake inquires about what happened in the Middle East, referring to whatever it
was Liquid activated that made the soldiers go haywire. Naomi explains. The
soldiers went hysterical because they were overcome by their emotions. Snake
asks if this was a side effect of SOP.

Naomi asks if Snake trusts her, and he's not sure yet. She agrees to answer his
question to try and gain his trust. Apparently, SOP has a function beyond
just helping to maintain control in battle: the ability to control people's
senses.

The nanomachines injected into each soldier release neurotransmitters and
hormones depeding on the battle situation they're in. It helps them stay alert
and maximizes their performance in battle. They can even simulate a combat high
by releasing endorphins, or they can suppress hormones to neutralize emotions
in order to calm them from panicking or killing their allies. All of this is
controlled by the system's core AI.

More soldiers were needed due to the war economy, thus the System was created
to make maintaining and raising armies more efficient and cost-effective. The
test Liquid put into effect in the Middle East was to try and suppress the
nanomachines, but what they didn't anticipate was the fact that once the
nanomachines went offline, the soldiers no longer had them to keep them calm
and keep them working efficiently. All the pain and trauma they experienced,
the things that the nanomachines would usually suppress, came out full force,
and the soldiers couldn't take it.

These weren't battle-hardened soldiers accustomed to war through years of
training. They were just injected and kept at a set level. They couldn't deal
with the horrors of war without the nanomachines keeping their stress levels
down and their emotions in control.

Naomi makes a comparison to Frank Jaeger, aka Gray Fox, her brother and Snake's
old friend. He was killed in Zanzibar but revived through nanomachines and kept
at a set level. SOP took it to a new level and applied it to living human
beings.

Snake mentions himself, and how he's never been under the system's control.
Naomi says that this is why she wants to examine his body. Snake is hesitant,
but he eventually lets her examine him.

He undresses down to just a pair of sweatpants. Naomi looks at his body and
how degenerated it's become, beginning to cry.

Later on, she's investigating him. She asks him if he remembers the first
generation of nanomachines, ones from Shadow Moses. The nanomachines are
recharged by body heat, and they won't stop functioning until Snake dies or the
nanomachines are extracted. Snake lost most of the nanomachines through
bleeding or excretion, but around 30% are still inside him. The first
generation nanomachines weren't registered so they don't react in the same way
as the SOP nanomachines, but they could still be interfering with Snake's
body and his heart.

Snake asks if the accelerated aging is due to FOXDIE, but Naomi says no, saying
that he was intentionally created to age prematurely when he was cloned from
Big Boss. Snakes chromosomes were provided with terminator genes to prevent
them from making copies, and the gene in charge of reproduction and aging was
mutated. Long story short, Snake wasn't meant to live long and he wasn't meant
to reproduce himself in any way. Snake and Liquid were both clones created for
war, and so they were made to have short life spans so that if they fell into
enemy hands, they couldn't be recreated in any way.

Snake puts his OctoCamo back on and asks Naomi how much longer his body can
hold out. Every part of Snake is aging rapidly, and Naomi guesses he has about
half a year. She states, however, that she's not talking about his life span,
but the FOXDIE within his body. They can't get rid of it completely, and it's
begun circulating in Snake's body like a normal virus.

FOXDIE only kills those with a specific genetic code. It only attacks targets
with specific genes. At the same time, though, it's set up to protect those not
a target of the virus. Naomi tells Snake that the rapid aging is changing the
inside of Snake's body, and as a result, the FOXDIE receptors are breaking
down. The virus is starting to mutate.

Basically, this mutated version of FOXDIE can activate and kill someone even if
their genetic code isn't programmed into the virus. In other words, it will
eventually mutate to the point that it stops discriminating who it kills and
will just infect and kill anyone around Snake.

Since Shadow Moses, the FOXDIE has been breeding in Snake's nanomachines, but
since it's already killed all the targets it was supposed to it hasn't killed
anyone else. Now that the receptors are breaking down, it will start infecting
anyone and everyone who comes close to Snake.

Naomi says there are about three months before the receptors break down and the
virus starts targeting everybody, regardless of genetic code.

FOXDIE will stop spreading if Snake dies. The virus dies with its host. Naomi
asks Snake if he's been to a hospital lately and if he'd gotten an injection
while he was there. He answers yes, and Naomi goes over to her computer. She
says that there's also a new strain of FOXDIE present inside him, and asks him
if she knows who could've injected him with it.

Snake remembers the nanomachine shot that Drebin gave him and realizes. The new
FOXDIE strain is starting to multiply rapidly, but Naomi needs more tests
before she can say more about it. She goes over to a cabinet and gets some
syringes for Snake. The nanomachines in Snake's body malfunction when the
System interferes with them, which is what causes him to have occasional
seizures. The syringes contain a compound that keeps the nanomachines from
regulating the senses, and it should stop Snake's seizures.

Snake asks Naomi where Liquid is, but she says she can't tell him until he
frees her. Liquid left South America last night, but she won't tell Snake
anymore until he frees her, saying she can't leave of her own free will. She's
being watched, but by who, we don't know.

Liquid's altered his plan. If he removes the System, his army will collapse. So
he's chosen to seize control of SOP instead and create the perfect army to
launch his insurrection against the Patriots. He calls his new plan "Guns of
the Patriots".

Naomi suddenly grabs her head and begins to scream in pain, running away. A 
stun grenade flies into the room, which goes off and disorients Snake for a
bit. In the commotion, she grabs a flash drive from her computer.

PMC soldiers rush in and grab Naomi while firing at Snake. They take her and
leave, but before Snake can give chase several Haven Troopers show up, and he
has no choice but to take them out.

Things get worse when he hears laughter and looks up to see Laughing Octopus
come down from the rafters. She releases a cloud of smoke and then she's gone,
leaving Snake to deal with the Haven Troopers.


6. Laughing Octopus                                                  [02LOCTOP]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake takes out the Haven Troopers. Laughing Octopus comes down from the
rafters, seized by laughter at the misfortunes of war. She goads Snake to laugh
with her, and Snake has no choice but to take her out.

After he takes out her Beast form, Octopus collapses to the ground, her suit
slipping off to reveal her true form underneath: a beautiful blonde-haired
woman.

She spits out ink and does short bouts of laughter, laughing at the situation.
Suddenly, she stops laughing, saying it's not funny, that nothing is funny. She
begins to walk towards Snake. She says that the truth is, she isn't laughing.
That she shouldn't be laughing. And she's only scared. She starts aplogizing
for laughing, collapsing to the floor. She gets up and starts approaching
Snake, who has to take out her human form this time.

Once he does, she collapses to the ground and curls up, sleeping. Snake heads
for the door, but on the way he sees the OctoCamo face mask she had, the one
that allowed her to mimic his face. He picks it up and heads out.

Drebin gives him a call. He tells Snake about Laughing Octopus' past, about how
she became the way she was.

Octopus was from a village in Scandanavia which was known to the locals as the
Devil's Village. It was known for the fact that they ate octopus customarily.
And there was a cult who hated the village with a passion. Laughing Octopus was
just a teenager when the cult attacked the village. They execute all the
villagers except for Octopus. They called her the Devil's child, and made her
torture her family and friends, then kill them.

And while they made her do it, they forced her to laugh.

She let fear take control and did what she was told, killing her friends and
family and laughing while she did it. As their blood ran, it turned from deep
red to jet black. And to her, it looked like the ink of an octopus.

Ever since then, she hasn't stopped laughing. But fighting Snake cleansed her
mind. In a way, he helped her find peace.


7. Rescuing Naomi                                                    [02RESCUI]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outside the research lab, Snake finds the footprints of both Naomi and the
soldiers who took her. He gets a Codec call from Raiden, telling him that
anytime something moves, it leaves a trail. But Snake says he's not like Big
Boss, tracking isn't his strong suit. He asks Raiden how he got so good at it.

After saving Sunny, Raiden wandered the globe. In Alaska, a tribal elder taught
him tracking techniques. He never went back to see Rose. In his eyes, Rose and
him live in different worlds, and he believes her world has no place for
someone like him. His place is on the battlefield.

Scouting is based on hunting. Paying careful attention to the surroundings will
help Snake pick up the trail that Naomi and her captors took.

Snake follows the trail and eventually comes to a helipad, where Vamp and
several PMC soldiers lead Naomi to a helicopter.

Vamp talks on a cell phone. Snake aims his gun. He has a perfect shot.

He pulls the trigger.

The bullet slams into Vamp's forehead, spinning him around. The cell phone
flies from his hand. A perfect shot.

Yet, Vamp spins around, catching the phone perfectly, crouching down but still
very much alive.

The PMC soldiers run out and fire at Snake's position. Vamp looks up, a giant
bullethole in his forehead. He tells the person on the other end of his cell
to go ahead and begin, then he tells the PMCs to take their shots.

He goes unconscious, saying he's going to take a little nap.

The PMCs in the helicopter inject themselves with syringes as the helicopter
takes off. The PMCs outside begin going haywire, like they did in the Middle
East. Snake seems affected as well. He looks up at the helicopter, where Naomi
tells him to inject himself with the syringe. Snake does so, and the effect
over him stops.

Some Gekko drop down into the commotion and begin to fire at Snake. Just in
the nick of time, Drebin shows up in his truck and knocks over some Gekko.
Naomi jumps down from the helicopter, which hasn't gotten too far yet, and onto
the roof of Drebin's vehicle.

In the chopper, Vamp wakes up.

Drebin pulls up next to Snake, and he and Naomi, climbs into the vehicle as it
heads off.

The PMC soldiers outside have stopped going haywire. Now, almost zombie-like,
they get up and begin going for Drebin's vehicle.

The soldiers, along with Gekko, begin storming Drebin's vehicle as it roars
towards the Marketplace. Snake mans the turret on top of the truck and fends
off all opposition, and they eventually reach the Marketplace.

While trying to outmanuever the Gekko, Drebin's vehicle flips over, and they
have no choice but to go for Otacon's helicopter on foot.

As the Gekko draw near, Snake notices someone standing on the rooftop of a
nearby building: Raiden.

Raiden jumps down to street level to face the Gekko. Drebin tells Naomi and
Snake to run, and they do.

Meanwhile, Raiden takes out the Gekko with amazing speed and skill, sporting a
cyborg body. Using a sword, he moves like a ninja and makes mincemeat out of
every single Gekko in no time.

Naomi gets to the helicopter as Otacon sets it down. Snake comes up and jumps
in shortly after.

Raiden is still down on the street, only now he's been bound up by cables from
the Gekko. Vamp is now down there with him. He draws a knife and stabs Raiden
in the torso. He continues to enjoy stabbing Raiden, who can do nothing.

Snake fires from the helicopter and severs one of the cables holding Raiden
down. Raiden proceeds to take out the Gekko around him and commences with
fighting Vamp. He and Vamp have a bloody battle which eventually ends in Raiden
defeating Vamp, for now.

More Gekko appear, and Raiden jumps onto a rooftop, catching Otacon's chopper
before it pulls away. He climbs up into it, suffering terrible injuries from
the fight with Vamp.

Down on the street, Vamp gets to his feet, still alive. He gets out a cell
phone and calls Liquid, telling him that Naomi got away. Liquid tells him not
to worry, and that it's all part of the plan. Vamp says something about
"securing the original", and Liquid says the need to find the hiding place
first.

Vamp bends down to where Raiden's blood is on the ground. He wipes some up with
his fingers and licks it, smiling.

In the chopper, Raiden begins to have a seizure and Naomi tries to stabilize
him. Otacon says Vamp has to be immortal, but Naomi says he isn't, and that it
was her design that caused Vamp to be that way. The nanomachines in Vamp's body
cause his wounds to heal extremely fast, healing him before he can die. Naomi's
nanotechnology was used to give Vamp the ability, and she believes she is
partly responsible for his creation.

Raiden begins to have another seizure, and Naomi and Snake hold him down. Naomi
says that he needs a blood transfusion.

Right before Raiden passes out, he says the words "Europe", and tells them to
go see Big Mama.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Act 3: Third Sun                                                  [02ACT3TS]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Act 3 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT3BR]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunny is making eggs again and singing a song. She breaks two eggs open into
the pan, one of the eggs containing two yolks in a single shell.

Naomi walks over to Sunny and tells her the way to properly cook eggs. Sunny
says the eggs are her "Sunny-side up fortune telling". When the eggs turn out
good, things will go well. Naomi tells Sunny to let the eggs cook for a minute,
and Sunny sets a duck-shaped timer for one minute.

Naomi sees a picture of Olga on the wall and asks Sunny if it's her mother,
saying that she's beautiful. She also comments on the song Sunny was singing,
which comes from the periodic table. Naomi begins to recite the elements,
getting stuck on one she can't remember. Sunny and her remember it at the same
time.

Sunny spots a flower pinned to Naomi's coat. Naomi takes the flower and puts it
behind Sunny's ear, showing her in the mirror how pretty she looks. Sunny tells
Naomi her mother's name was Olga.

The eggs begin to burn, but Naomi and Sunny pull them out in the nick of time.
A few seconds later, the duck timer rings and begins quacking, causing both
Naomi and Sunny to laugh.

A little later, Naomi is downstairs with Otacon and Snake. Liquid is in Eastern
Europe, looking for Big Boss' body. It's the final key he needs to gain access
to SOP. To gain access, a person needs Big Boss' genetic code and biometric
data. There's no other way to gain access.

Naomi types at the computer. As she speaks to Otacon, her hand rests on his,
creating an awkward moment.

Liquid's been performing tests to see if he can get in without Big Boss' body.
First, Liquid tried using his own DNA to get into SOP, and then he tried
using Snake's DNA. Since both Solid and Liquid are clones of Big Boss, Liquid
figured it might work. But Naomi tells them that neither Liquid nor Solid are
100% genetic matches to Big Boss.

Naomi removes her hand from on top of Otacon's.

Scientifically, there are many reasons why there could be differences. Both
Solid and Liquid are as close to Big Boss as they can be, but they are still
different.

That's what Liquid meant when he told Snake that they were free in the Middle
East. They're not carbon copies of their father, Big Boss. They're their own
men.

Because Solid and Liquid weren't perfect copies, Solidus was created. He was
100% identical to Big Boss.

The AI running the System keeps track of all data. Any data that doesn't seem
to belong is erased. The authentication process is set up so that it only works
if the key matches perfectly. So someone can only gain access to SOP. if they
have a body with Big Boss' EXACT genes, nothing else.

If the AI figures out that someone is trying to break into the System, it
registers that genetic code on a blacklist. That code is locked and can't be
used to access the System. So if you're going to use someone besides Big Boss,
you need a new code with each try. When Liquid accessed the System in the
Middle East and South America, it was only a test.

Otacon has a hard time believing that Snake and Big Boss don't have the same
genetic code. Naomi grabs his hand, explaining that that means Snake and Liquid
aren't the same either, explaining why FOXDIE only affected Liquid at Shadow
Moses and not Snake.

If Liquid can get Big Boss' body and use it to gain access, he'll have the
System completely under his control.

However, in addition to the code, you also need biometric data. Otacon brings
up the point that Big Boss is already dead, so biometric data is impossible to
get, but Naomi corrects him, saying that Big Boss is still alive.

Or, his cells are, at least. Big Boss survives only as a brain-dead shell, but
he is not dead. Liquid has already left for Europe to get the body. He knew his
experiment in South America wouldn't work.

If Liquid gets his hands on Big Boss' body, he'll be able to take complete
control of the System, unless Snake can stop him.

Raiden, who has been resting on a bed nearby, suddenly wrenches awake. Naomi
tries to stabilize him as the knife wounds on his body reopen and begin to
spill blood.

Sunny calls Otacon, having hacked some new information from AT Security.
 
Naomi, observing Raiden, is brought to tears. His cybernetic body reminds her
of her brother Frank. Otacon tells her that the war economy has increased the
research and development race to create new technology. Not only the PMCs, but
every corporation connected to the military-industrial complex is losing its
sense of morality. And scientists are being forced to do this work, not even
realizing the horrors their creations are bringing about.
 
Naomi looks over at Otacon, who realizes what she's feeling.
 
Sunny asks if they can make Raiden better, and Otacon's not sure. Sunny becomes
extremely upset at this. Naomi comes over to her and asks if she can use the
computer. She begins to type rapidly, eventually stopping and saying there's
nothing they can do here.
 
Naomi shows Sunny a diagram on the computer screen. Raiden, having a cyborg
body, has artificial blood, and it needs dialysis. Sunny notes that this is the
fuction that kidneys carry out. Raiden, without kidneys to filter the blood,
needs special machines to do it. They don't have any of those with them,
however.
 
Raiden's artificial blood is an older type of blood called White Blood, and
after its been in use for a while it needs to be filtered. Right now, Raiden is
slipping into autotoxemia, which means the wastes in his blood are toxifying
his body.
 
Sunny becomes upset and begins to type rapidly on the computer, looking for
more information. Naomi and Otacon look at each other.
 
Raiden, between gasps, says that the equipment he needs is in Eastern Europe.
There's someone there by the name of Dr. Madnar who healed him before. Dr.
Madnar is a world-renowned cybernetics expert, but he's strictly underground.
 
The decision is made. With Dr. Madnar and Liquid in Eastern Europe, that's
where they're heading next.
 
Later that night, Otacon works at his computer. Naomi reaches up to her
necklace and removes a small object from it: a flash drive. She hides it in her
hand and walks over to Otacon. The two of them begin to talk.
 
Otacon tells her about Emma, his sister, who was killed by Vamp. He also tells
her of how he got into his line of work, being fascinated with the robots in
Japanese animes. He had no idea that he or his creations would be used to bring
pain to others.
 
An air of awkwardness begins to build around the two as they talk. Otacon
dismisses it by changing the subject, but it's still painfully obvious that
it's there.
 
He shows her the Mk. II, and says that Sunny helped her build it. Naomi is
surprised. After all, Sunny's just a child. Otacon tells her that Sunny was
taken by the Patriots when she was born. She never met her parents and spent
all her time with computers. That's why she has a speech impediment.
 
To Sunny, a computer is home. She's always using it to search for her family or
trying to find out who she is. Naomi says this isn't right, and that she
deserves a real home.
 
Snake, who is sleeping nearby, wakes up and begins listening.
 
Otacon says he's afraid of letting Sunny leave the Nomad, afraid that she
wouldn't be able to handle the real world. Naomi says she'll be fine. The
awkward mood rises as Otacon begins to put on his glasses, but is stopped by
Naomi, who claims that he looks more handsome without them. They pull in close,
about to kiss, but a beep from the computer interrupts them.
 
Naomi puts the flash drive back into her necklace and asks Otacon if it's okay
to sleep in the helicopter parked at the rear of the Nomad. She says that she
is a woman, and the privacy would be nice. Otacon tells her to go ahead.
 
Otacon shows her in. More awkwardness ensues as Naomi climbs into the
helicopter. They say goodnight to each other, and just when it seems like
they're about to kiss, Otacon breaks it off again. He closes the door to the
helicopter and turns away from it, still extremely nervous.
 
At the last moment, Naomi wrenches open the door and pulls Otacon inside.


2. Eastern Europe                                                    [02EASTEU]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A train station. Campbell talks in voice-over, explaining that a state of
emergency has been declared to try and root out the resistance. An Outer Heaven
owned PMC by the name of Raven Sword is carrying out the hunt.
 
Snake comes up in voice-over, and says that this means Liquid is lurking behind
the scenes. The top targets are the Paradise Lost Army, the resistance group
led by Big Mama.

Snake steps out of a train and begins walking. His mission is to infiltrate the
area where Big Mama's group is believed to be. Big Boss' body is sure to be
with them. He's been added to the PMC's blacklist, so he'll have to lie about
his identity to get in.

Snake walks up to a security checkpoint. People in line ahead of him pass
through with no problem. When it is Snake's turn to pass, he just stands still
in front of the checkpoint without walking through. The soldiers get suspicious
of him and are about to take him away when Meryl of all people shows up and
says that she'll deal with him.

Meryl leads Snake away from the checkpoint. Snake's face is visibly younger,
and it's revealed that he's using the FaceCamo he got from Laughing Octopus to
change the appearance of his face. Meryl tells him that she's in charge of
overseeing all PMC activity, along with the rest of Rat Patrol, who stand
nearby.

Later, Meryl and Snake sit at a table along in an adjoining room. Meryl tells
Snake that after reporting the events in the Middle East, she wrote up a threat
assessment, and the President finally realized how dangerous Liquid is. He's
called for immediate action, so now Meryl's in charge of a joint Army-Marines
team who's ready to take on Liquid at any time.

Snake warns her that taking Liquid by force isn't the smartest thing to do.
Meryl insists that she doesn't take orders from Snake or Campbell. Snake
asserts that it's going to be the Middle East all over again, but Meryl tells
him that if things get out of control, they can use the System to lock up the
PMCs' weapons.

Snake still isn't convinced, but Meryl is. She tells Snake to just worry about
his mission and let them worry about theirs. She expresses her concern about
Snake risking his life just to carry out a hired hit on Liquid. To her he's
still a legend, and this kind of mission doesn't fit him. Snake, of course,
doesn't consider himself any sort of legend or hero. To him it's just another
mission.

Meryl eventually becomes fed up with Snake, saying that he's too senile to face
the truth. She may have loved him once, but not anymore.

She tells "Old Snake" to wake up and face reality, then leaves.

Snake gets up from the table and exits the train station, getting several
strange looks from the PMCs standing guard.

Outside, Otacon contacts him. They've most likely added Snake's young face to
the blacklist as well. Snake has to get to Big Boss' body before Meryl's troops
arrive. The streets of the city are under curfew, meaning there are only PMC
soldiers and resistance members outside.

Resistance members are supposed to meet at Big Mama's hideout. The best thing
for Snake to do is to find a resistance member and follow him until he reaches
Big Mama's hideout.

Otacon also mentions that Raiden will be fine. They got into contact with Dr.
Madnar, and Naomi and Sunny are taking Raiden to see him now.

Snake is relieved, and heads off. He finds and tails a resistance member until
he reaches Big Mama's hideout.


3. Big Mama                                                          [02BGMAMA]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the resistance member reaches Big Mama's hideout, Snake jumps out of the
shadows and grabs him in a CQC hold. He holds the member in a chokehold with
one hand while aiming his gun with the other and steps into the hideout. Other
resistance members come out to try and take him out, be he puts them all down
with more CQC.

He steps into the church as an apple rolls down the aisle. At the altar stands
Big Mama herself. She calls off the resistance members and goes up to talk to
Snake one on one, calling him David instead of by his codename.

She reveals that she is actually the mother of both him and Liquid. Once the
embryos were produced using cells from Big Boss, they were put into Big Mama's
womb to grow and eventually be birthed. She is, in all respects, the mother of
Solid and Liquid Snake, having given birth to them for the Patriots.

Liquid wants her dead. He's locked in a bitter struggle with Zero, the man who
was Big Boss' commander during the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater.
Zero is revealed to be the founder of the Patriots, starting them during the
Cold War. Big Mama was also one of the founding members.

Zero created the Patriots to control America. The organization eventually came
to be under the control of several AI's, who were responsible for creating
the war economy. They also created the Sons of the Patriots system.

But Big Mama says she shares some of the blame for the creation of the
Patriots. In 1964, she took part in a CIA operation called Operation Snake
Eater. Her mission was to support Big Boss, whose codename at the time was
Naked Snake. Big Boss passed this name onto his sons.

Zero was the commander of Operation Snake Eater and head of Special Forcees
Unit FOX. Big Mama was a double agent for he Chinese. She was supposed to
obtain the Philosophers' Legacy, a large sum of money, and bring it back to
Beijin. She procured the microfilm detailing the location of massive funds
assembled by the Allies in World War II.

It turns out that the microfilm she obtained was a fake, and as a result she
was exiled from China. She went on the run, ending up in Hanoi where Big Boss
found her.

Zero used the funds from the Legacy to start the Patriots. The other founding
members were Big Boss, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Ocelot.

Big Boss rescued Big Mama from Hanoi and she went on to join the Patriots. Zero
wanted to achieve unity in America, which he thought was The Boss' goal.

The Boss was a legendary World War II hero and Big Boss' mentor, known as the
Mother of Special Forces. The Boss' fierce patriotism and will was what drove
Zero to create the Patriots after her death. To lead the people, they needed an
icon. Zero used Big Boss, who could be considered the Boss' son, as this icon.

Zero turned Big Boss into an idol, exaggerating his story to make him appear
larger than life. It gave everyone a hero to turn to, a symbol to control the
people with.

Zero eventually became greedy for power, and this caused a rift between him and
Big Boss, who was tired of being Zero's puppet. Big Boss began to split away.
Zero, knowing he needed Big Boss, started a new project to ensure that Big Boss
would live on: Les Enfants Terribles. He wanted to create a clone of Big Boss,
a person everyone considered the ultimate soldier.

Dr. Clark, known as Para-Medic at the time, led the project. After many
failures they finally produced a fertilized egg, which came from a healthy
Japanese woman. Big Mama asked to serve as the surrogate mother, and eventually
gave birth to Solid and Liquid Snake.

Big Boss had had enough, though, and broke away from the Patriots. He created
his own mercenary company and drifted around the world. Big Boss never wanted
Snake or Liquid.

Zero lost control after Big Boss' departure. He used a fortune that he amassed
from several wars to develop weapons and build up armies. The Patriots
influence began to spread across the globe until their influence was immense
and unmatched. Zero wanted a perfect world where he could control awareness.
He misinterpreted the will of The Boss, but so did Big Boss, determined to
create a world for soldiers. A war between Zero and Big Boss began, The Boss'
noble will lost in the struggle. They only wanted to destroy each other.

Big Boss came back to the US and assumed command of a new unit, FOXHOUND, aptly
named due to its original function of taking down Zero's FOX unit. He started
Outer Heaven in an attempt to fight Zero, but was taken down by his own clone,
Solid Snake.

Gray Fox and Big Boss' bodies were left near death. Zero recovered both bodies.
He reconstructed Gray Fox's through surgery and the use of an exoskeleton to
make him into a type of cyborg ninja.

Big Boss was a prisoner of Zero. He was irreplaceable, as both an icon and a
friend to Zero. Because of Big Boss' betrayal, he lost his faith in humanity
and decided he could never leave the Patriots in the hands of people. Thus, he
set up a network of AI's to run the Patriots, which consisted of four AI's:
GW, TJ, AL, and TR, with JD, John Doe, as a core AI to run them.

The GW AI was the same one Snake and Raiden destroyed five years ago during
the Big Shell Incident. Since then, JD and the other core AI's have been
controlling global information, everything from economics to culture. The war
economy is their creation.

Big Boss exists only as a vegetable, trapped in a brain dead prison. Zero
turned Big Boss into an icon to ensure control over the world. Ocelot and Big
Mama planned to free Big Boss from Zero. They hired Naomi Hunter to join their
organization. They also used Gray Fox to kill Dr. Clark, and Ocelot tortured
the DAPRA Chief, also known as Sigint, to death, making it look like an
acciden.t This all took place during Shadow Moses.

Para-Medic and Sigint were dead, with Zero the only founding member left alive.
Ocelot left Big Mama's organization. He wasn't working for anybody, he was just
fighting for Big Boss, who he idolized. Ocelot had Liquid's arm grafted onto
his after Gray Fox severed it in Shadow Moses, and was in turn possessed by
Liquid's thoughts and spirit. Physically, he is Ocelot, but his mind belongs to
Liquid completely.

Big Mama leads Snake out into the courtyard. She tells him that Raiden appeared
to help her find Big Boss' body, the location of which he obtained from GW. He
obtained Big Boss's body and brought it back to Big Mama.

She leads Snake out to where a black van is parked. She opens the rear door to
show a limbless, skinless body attached to various medical machinery laying on
a bed.

It's Big Boss' body. Big Boss is alive, but his consciousness is suppressed by
nanomachines. Liquid is on his way to repeat all the mistakes that Zero made:
manipulating people's minds for his own ego.

Snake receives a call from Otacon, who says that Naomi disappeared right after
she and Sunny returned from seeing Dr. Madnar. Raiden is hooked up to a
dialysis machine and will be fine, but the process will take 48 hours. They
suspect that Naomi has returned to Liquid.

Back in the church, several unmanned scouts known as Scarabs appear. Liquid has
found the resistance hideout. The resistance has no choice but to take Big
Boss' body and get out of there before PMCs and Gekko arrive.

Big Mama leads Snake outside to her motorcycle. She climbs on while Snake sits
behind her. She explains that all the resistance members were orphans who were
caught in the vicious cycle of war. As kids they grew up next to war, and as
adults they took part in it. It's become a game to them. Unless the Patriots'
System is stopped, the cycle will continue.

Big Mama says it's been a while since she's been on a ride, since oil has
become rare with so much war going on. Snake asks if she's sure, and she says
she only gets off her bike when she falls in love or falls dead.

She tells him to call her EVA, and with Snake sitting on the seat behind her,
she guns the engine and pulls off. PMCs and Gekko chase them as they fire their
way through, EVA maneuvering the bike with skill and expertise.


4. Raging Raven                                                      [02RAGRAV]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake and Big Mama protect the van with Big Boss' body from any enemies.
Eventually, the air is filled with unmanned flying mechanical ravens, with
Raging Raven, their commander, close behind them. She and the unmanned ravens
begin tailing Snake and Big Mama, firing at them relentlessly.

Just when it seems like Snake and Big Mama are almost out of danger, one of the
flying ravens fires a missile at Snake and Big Mama, which sends the motorcycle
and the van with Big Boss' body flying through the side of a building.

Big Mama is leaning against a gate, the metal from which has pierced her in the
abdomen, an injury that she experienced 50 years ago. Snake hears Raven up near
the roof of the building they're in. He gives Big Mama a rifle to defend
herself and then heads up to the roof to deal with Raven.

As he gets to the top floor, he begins to have another seizure, which he calms
with a syringe just as Raging Raven bursts through the wall. Snake has no
choice but to take her on and does so.

He successfully takes her down, at which point Drebin contacts him. He tells
Snake that Raging Raven was about 20 years old. She was from Aceh and was
captured as a kid. They caged her up along with numerous other kids.

The captors had their fun by abusing all of the kids day after day, which
slowly made them angrier and angrier as the days passed. The soldiers called
the kids parasites and ravens and kept on beating them.

Then one day the soldiers just left. The kids that survived were eaten by
ravens. They eventually went to eat Raven as well, but they only ended up
cutting her ropes and freeing her.

She killed all the ravens and then followed the soldiers who had kept her
captive to their camp. Letting loose all her rage, she went in and killed every
soldier and even the civilians they'd captured, screeching like a raven while
she did it.

Drebin tells Snake that he managed to free Raven of her rage. Just like he
freed Octopus of her misery. He says Snake could be the seed of war, and even
war itself.


5. The Patriots Bested                                               [02PATRIO]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake comes down to the first floor after defeating Raging Raven. Big Mama
informs him that the vans she and Snake were protecting were actually decoys.
The real van is floating down the river. Snake and Big Mama head towards the
riverbank downstream to rendezvous with everybody else.

Big Mama and Snake descend into the sewers and make their way to the riverbank.
A scarab monitors the two as they disappear into the sewers.

They eventually reach the riverbank and climb back up to the surface. As they
approach the riverbank, however, they spot a man sitting casually, smoking a
cigar:

Liquid Ocelot.

Big Mama asks him where Big Boss' body is, and Liquid indicates a burning boat
floating nearby. PMC soldiers come out and surround Snake and Big Mama. Vamp
arrives on his own boat, Naomi standing behind him.

Apparently, Naomi told Liquid everything. Now Liquid has Big Boss' body and
can access the System.

Snake and Liquid engage in a fierce CQC match, but Liquid comes out on top. He
grabs Snake's stun knife and digs it into Snake's shoulder, forcing him to his
knees.

Snake brings up the point that even if Liquid accesses the System, he'll only
gain power over one part of the Patriots' AI, the military part. Liquid says
it's only a matter of time before he has everything.

Liquid continues to torture Snake by using the stun knife embedded in his
shoulder to send electricity shooting through his body. He tells Snake about
GW, the AI that Snake and Raiden destroyed in the Big Shell 5 years ago.

Snake and Raiden thought they destroyed GW, but all they really did was cut it
into pieces, which Liquid found and reconstructed. Then he stored it inside the
network of JD, the core AI. He used Big Boss' body to get past all the
security barriers and gain access to GW. Once he destroys JD with a nuclear
strike, GW will move up and become the core AI in JD's place, allowing Liquid
to have full control of the Patriots' System.

Liquid continues to beat up Snake while telling him about their origin, how
they never should've existed, and how the Les Enfants Terribles project never
should've happened. They only exist because of the Patriots desire to create
them.

Liquid says he won't fight anymore. He'll kill Zero and Big Boss and become a
Patriot himself.

A boat pulls up to the bank, which Liquid jumps onto. It begins to depart. Just
as it does, however, Meryl shows up with Rat Patrol on another boat. Their
boat, along with several others, surrounds Liquid's boat and keeps it from
going farther.

Helicopters also arrive, and armored trucks begin to roll onto the bridge
crossing over the river. Soon, there are soldiers on all sides of Liquid and
his men.

Snake helps Big Mama towards Rat Patrol's boat. They both climb aboard as
Liquid begins to raise his right hand.

He points forward with two fingers, and the floodlights on all the boats
surrounding him turn off. Meryl tries to fire at him, but her gun won't work.
The rest of the soldiers are unable to fire as well.

Liquid shouts that the System is his. This is his plan: Guns of the Patriots.

Liquid, now having full control of the System, easily shuts down every offense
directed at him. The helicopters crash into the river, and every soldier under
Liquid's command obeys him like a robot, firing at the opposition.

Liquid then puts his fingers to his head, mimicking someone shooting themself
in the head. Suddenly, the same event that occurred in the Middle East and
South America begins happening again. Every soldier begins going hysterical and
loses control.

On Rat Patrol's boat, Akiba runs around, seemingly unaffected, checking up on
his comrades who lie on the ground screaming.

Liquid begins manipulating his soldiers to kill the army and marine soldiers.
They fall one by one, unable to fight back due to Liquid disabling their
weapons.

Liquid aims the guns on his boat at Rat Patrol's boat and fires. As Liquid's
boat passes them, Vamp grabs Big Boss' body and throws it onto Rat Patrol's
boat. Liquid doesn't need the body anymore, and is just disposing of it.

Big Mama sees the body and begins to crawl towards it. Snake runs to protect
her as Liquid fires a bullet at a fuel tank. Snake barely pulls Big Mama away
in time, but the resulting explosion completely burns the left side of his
face.

Snake yells out Otacon's name, and Otacon takes the chance and makes the Mk.
II jump onto Liquid's boat as it pulls away.

Ed and Jonathan from Rat Patrol lie on the riverbank, good as dead. Akiba runs
up to Meryl, who is unconscious, and begins giving her CPR. She eventually
gain consciousness.

Snake sits on the street nearby, holding Big Mama, who is in her last moments.
She tells him that he and the beasts are the same: scorched shadows born into
the world. As long as there is light, the shadow cannot be erased.

She dies. As Snake sits with her body, a monkey struts up to Snake. Drebin's
monkey, Little Gray. Drebin follows close behind. He removes the knife from
Snake's shoulder, saying he prides himself on service.

There is a final shot of the devastation at the river as Snake loses
consciousness.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Act 4: Twin Suns                                                  [02ACT4TW]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Act 4 Mission Briefing                                            [02ACT4BR]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunny is cooking eggs again. This time she places the lid on the eggs like
Naomi taught her and sets the timer for one minute.

In the lower section of the Nomad, Otacon and Snake are watching footage that
the Mk. II picked up when it jumped on Liquid's boat. Liquid mentions firing a
nuclear warhead at JD, the core AI. He can't control nuclear weapons with GW,
but he mentions that he can use REX, the Metal Gear model Snake went up against
in Shadow Moses, to carry out his plan.

Vamp says that JD is in orbit on a satellite in space. It's disguised as debris
to keep anyone from figuring out what it is. By the time the Patriots catch
onto Liquid's plan, it'll be too late. And once JD is destroyed, GW will rise
to take control of all the other AI's, giving Liquid control of everything.

Liquid tells Vamp to go prepare their "Haven". Vamp nods, and Naomi
accidentally hits the stealth camo disguised Mk. II with her foot. Vamp bends
down to take a look at it and grabs it. The footage cuts off.

Otacon places a new replica of the Mk. II, the Mk. III, in front of Snake.
Snake mentions that Drebin mentioned something about Havens, referring to what
Liquid said to Vamp.

The Patriots System was controlled by four AI's, with JD as the primary AI. GW
was one of them. GW was thought to have been destroyed, and Liquid used this
fact to secretly reconstruct GW and use it to get into the System.

GW was installed on Arsenal Gear during the Big Shell incident by Otacon's
sister Emma Emmerich. Emma created a virus which should've permanently
destroyed GW, but Liquid was able to recover it. JD can't recognize GW because
the System believes GW is destroyed, so in essence, GW is like a blind spot.
Liquid can still use GW to control a part of the System without JD even knowing
that it's there.

Liquid used Big Boss' genetic code to gain access to the System, and GW to
control a part of it. The System was none the wiser. Liquid found a haven on
the network.

Otacon says Mei Ling is using the data from the Mk. II's video transmission to
find out where Liquid is headed.

Liquid also mentioned something about Metal Gear REX, which hints largely at
Shadow Moses.

They receive a call from Campbell, who tells them that the US military systems
are under Liquid's control. All guns have fallen silent. The media is beginning
to pick up on this, but the Patriots won't be able to control the information
this time. With the war economy being such a giant part of the world, there's
little the Patriots can do to cover up the fact that it's ground to a halt.
People are going to notice.

Liquid is planning to take out JD, the main AI, so that GW can have full
control of the System. To do that he needs to fire a nuke at JD and destroy it,
but Liquid only has control of SOP, which controls guns and small firearms.

Campbell assures them that Liquid cannot access a nuke. All the nuclear weapons
developed by the US are put under JD's authority. This way, they can have full
control over every single missile they have. After they put these new JD-
controlled nukes into service, they got rid of the old ones.

The three of them eventually come to the conclusion that Liquid is going to use
REX's rail gun to fire the stealth nuclear warhead that was developed during
Shadow Moses in 2005. This was before SOP was put into place, so it has no
control over REX.

Snake destroyed REX nine years ago, but the wreckage is still in Shadow Moses,
just waiting for someone to come by and take the rail gun. Their mission is
clear: they have to go to Shadow Moses Island and stop Liquid from taking Metal
Gear REX. Otherwise, he could launch a nuke at JD without having to worry about
being shut down by the System.

A little later, Snake begins having another seizure. He calms it by injecting
himself with a syringe. Otacon watches him with a sense of concern. He tells
Snake that he's in no shape to take on Liquid. Snake keeps waving away his
accusations, saying it's not about winning or losing. They started this, and
it's their duty to finish it.

Snake goes over to Raiden, who is resting while a machine performs dialysis on
his blood. Sunny tells Snake that Raiden isn't ready to fight, but Raiden wakes
up and tells her to let him go anyway. Otacon takes Sunny's side, saying he
still isn't in good enough shape to fight.

Raiden says he'll be fine and begins telling Snake that he'll live his life by
his own will, nobody else's, after the mission is over. He also begins talking
about how he has nothing left to lose, and how it was never going to work out
for him.

Snake removes the bandage from his burned face and shows it to Raiden, telling
him that he has no future. He'll be a biological weapon in three months. But
Raiden has something to live for. He has a family.

At this comment, Raiden flips out and grabs Snake, shouting that he has nothing
and no one, that he's alone and always has been. He asks Snake not to leave him
on the Nomad alone when he goes off to fight. Snake just answers that it's his
fight, his destiny.

Raiden goes unconscious. Afterwards, Snake and Otacon get a call from Mei Ling.
She tells them it's been confirmed that Liquid is headed for Shadow Moses. Once
there, he'll take REX. All the newer Metal Gears were ID-tagged. The government
never got to REX because the DARPA Chief and ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker
were killed, and former Secretary of Defense Jim Houseman was arrested. There
was almost nobody else left who really knew what happened in Shadow Moses, and
all the data remaining about the incident was changed or destroyed to cover it
up. This means that everything should be as it was nine years ago when Snake
was there.

It's free from Patriot control. It's a haven.

Mei Ling says she'll arrive at Shadow Moses soon with her ship, the Missouri.
It was decommissioned before the System was put into place, hence why it's
still operational. She cuts transmission.

Otacon says he has to atone for his past. He created REX, and has to keep it
from causing any more destruction.

The Nomad heads towards Shadow Moses Island.


2. Shadow Moses                                                      [02SHADOW]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Otacon and Snake approach Shadow Moses by helicopter. Otacon lets Snake off
near the Heliport, from which point Snake sneaks past Gekko and Scarabs to get
to the nuclear warhead storage building.

Snake mentions to Otacon that nine years ago they had to use the communications
tower to get around the glaciers, but Otacon tells him that this time there's
no need for that since global warming has melted most of the glaciers. Snake
heads to the back door but finds it locked. He has to get into security and
unlock it, which can be done from Otacon's old lab.

He reaches Otacon's old lab, where he reminisces about fighting Gray Fox. The
Mk. III goes over to a computer and begins to hack into security. Snake enters
a password that Otacon told him and all the computers in the lab begin to start
up.

Snake and Otacon talk reminisce for a while about Shadow Moses. Otacon's old
lab was where they first met, nine years ago.

Otacon talks about his sin of developing REX, which leads to talk of Naomi, who
recently betrayed them and went back to Liquid. Otacon says that she used them
to get a sample of Snake's blood so Liquid could access SOP, but Snake mentions
that if that was all she wanted, she would've left them after South America,
but she stuck around.

Otacon looks at the security logs and sees that there've been people coming and
going recently. He brings up some security footage that shows Naomi and Vamp in
Shadow Moses, headed for the underground base where REX was being stored.

With the door unlocked, Snake heads back up to the first floor and goes through
the back door.

3. Crying Wolf                                                       [02CRYING]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snake arrives at the snowfield where he fought Sniper Wolf nine years ago. As
he approaches forward, a large mechanical wolf appears in front of him: Crying
Wolf.

She and Snake begin a tense sniper duel in the snowfield while Haven Troopers
arrive and simultaneously hunt down Snake. Eventually, Snake triumphs. He walks
over to Crying Wolf, who has fallen out of the mechanical wolf suit. She begins
to cry hysterically, and Snake has no choice but to incapacitate her.

After the battle, he gets a call from Drebin, who is once again going to
explain the story of another B&B member: Crying Wolf. She was from a nation in
Africa where there were rival factions participating in ethnic cleansing,
trying to wipe out people of a certain ethnicity. Her village was attacked, and
she and her baby brother were left orphans. She took her baby brother and fled
the village, trying to find some safety.

They eventually came across some enemies, so she and her brother had to hide in
an abandoned shack. Her brother started to cry, and she was terrified that the
enemies outside would her him and kill them both. Trying to silence him, Wolf
covered the baby's mouth, which stopped his crying. The soldiers left, but when
Wolf looked at her baby brother, he was dead. She had accidentally killed him.

Drebin says wolves eat their own pups when they die, and continues on to say
that people spotted Wolf wandering through battlefields with her dead brother
in her arms. She had visions of a wolf walking alongside her, and it would howl
and cry like her brother had.

Wolf made it to a government camp for refugees. Her brother's body had rotted
away. In the camp there were other babies and children, and she was tormented
by their crying. The wolf that had followed her went around the camp and killed
every child. The only thing was that there was no wolf. It was her. She was the
one who killed the children, but she couldn't admit it to herself.

And now, fighting with Snake helped her release her emotions and deal with her
past. There's only one more B&B member for Snake to take down: Screaming
Mantis, the leader of the B&B Corps and the one who has been controlling all
the other Beasts.

Snake cuts contact and moves forward into the base.

More Plot Summary to be added soon...


===============================================================================
III. The Themes of Metal Gear Solid 4                                [03THEMES]
===============================================================================

In this section I'm going to try to give my interpretation on various symbolism
or themes I've seen in the game. Please note that these are only my views, and
in some cases, the views that are generally accepted by the MGS community. They
may not necessarily be what Hideo Kojima intended, but I try to give in-game
evidence for any conclusions I draw.

Hopefully this will increase your understanding of the game. If you have your
own interpretation of anything I analyze here, feel free to e-mail it to me at
[email protected]. But make sure you use in-game evidence to back up your
conclusions and don't just pull stuff out of your butt because it sounds cool.

Again, section this contains massive spoilers, so read at your own risk.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Symbolism                                                         [03SYMBOL]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Sunny's Eggs                                                      [03SUNNYE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably the first instance of symbolism in the game, and a running motif
throughout each act. Sunny is shown in the mission briefings frying eggs. In
the first act she fries two, claiming that Solidus has taken the day off. She
is, of course, referring to the three chickens they have on board the Nomad
(who are each named after the three Snakes: Solid, Liquid, and Solidus). But
this could be taken to mean that Solid and Liquid are the only two clones of
Big Boss left, with Solidus out of the picture. Raiden kills him at the end of
MGS2, and he is assumed dead until the end of MGS4 when Big Boss tells Old
Snake that the body they thought was Big Boss' was actually Solidus', kept
barely alive on nanomachines.

If I am correct in assuming that the two eggs represent Solid Snake and Liquid
Snake, then I can go on to say exactly which egg represents which Snake. When
Sunny breaks the eggs open and pours them into the pan, one of the eggs retains
its yolk, while the yolk of the other busts open.

I always saw the busted egg as Solid Snake and the other egg as Liquid. In the
game, Solid Snake has aged prematurely, so while only being 42, his body looks
and performs more like he's around 70 years old. He's gone past his prime, he's
dying, and he is, in essence, a busted egg.

Contrast this to Liquid, who, at the start of the game, owns a corporation
which controls the five largest PMCs in the world. He has an extreme amount of
power from the get-go, and on top of this he only seems to climb higher and
higher as the game progresses, eventually controlling the Sons of the Patriots
system. He is, for all intents and purposes, in his prime. He has never been
stronger, and thus, he is the egg that retains its yolk.

So while Solid Snake becomes Old Snake, Liquid Snake becomes nearly
unstoppable.

In Act 2's briefing, Sunny once again makes two eggs, only this time both of
the yolks bust open. This could be symbolic in the sense that, if the eggs do
in fact represent Solid Snake and Liquid Snake, both Snakes are now nearing
their end. Snake is nearing his end due to the premature aging and his body
shutting down, and Liquid is nearing his end because Snake is eventually going
to kill him.

Another interpretation is that Liquid's egg is busted because he is actually
already dead. At the end Big Boss informs us that Ocelot used a combination of
nanomachines and hypnotherapy to make himself believe he was Liquid, meaning he
never was Liquid throughout the events of MGS4. So Liquid has been dead since
Shadow Moses, and his busted egg could reflect this as a little easter egg to
the player who already knows this.

The eggs also seem to be running together after their yolks bust, showing that
Solid and Liquid's destinies are pretty much inseparable. Snake will die sooner
rather than later due to the aging, and he will join Liquid.

In Act 3, we get a weird occurance. Sunny cracks open one egg, which retains
its yolk in the pan. Then she cracks open a second, out of which two yolks come
out (still retaining their shape). There are only two eggs, meaning Solidus
must still be taking his "day off", but there are three yolks. The one lone
yolk could represent Solidus, and the fact that it is still whole and not
busted could be a hidden way of showing that Solidus is still alive, since we
meet his body in this act (though we are led to believe it is Big Boss' body).

The two yolks that come out of the one egg are Solid and Liquid. They are
twins, but as is revealed, they are not 100% perfect copies of their father, 
Big Boss. Solidus, however, IS a perfect clone of Big Boss, thus why he's
separate.

Also, Solid and Liquid were both born together as twins, given birth to by Big
Mama aka EVA, hence why their yolks come out of the same egg. Solidus was
created by the Patriots later on after both Solid and Liquid failed to be
perfect clones of Big Boss, hence the reason Solidus comes out of another egg.

In Act 4, Sunny's final egg frying, she cracks open two eggs. The eggs retain
their yolks, but they pull together and combine into one yolk. This could be
symbolism for the fact that Snake and Liquid are both tied together genetically
and by something more, like fate or destiny, and even though they start off in
different places (different eggs) they always cross paths.

So that's my interpretation of what Sunny's eggs symbolize in each act. There's
also one tidbit I'd like to mention. It's the fact that in Act 3, Sunny refers
to her cooking as her "Sunny-side up fortune telling". So if the eggs come out
good, good things will happen, and vice versa. This can easily be seen if you
look at the events of the Act in question and the way the eggs behave in the
briefing.

2. The Beauty and the Beast Corps                                    [03BBCORP]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is probably a lot easier to grasp and less of a stretch than Sunny's eggs.
The Beauty and the Beast Corps consist of four women who all suffer from Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, which was brought upon each of them due to
witnessing a horrific act of war. Details on what each Beauty experienced is
given in-game by Drebin after you defeat each member, but what they all have in
common is that they were events which brought intense emotions to the front of
each Beauty's psyche.

Being so traumatized by the events they experienced, they dealt with it the
only way they could: by becoming instruments of war themselves. A running 
theme in the game is the fact that war transforms human beings into beasts. The
B&B Corps demonstrate this quite literally. They each wear advanced military
suits which reflect their codename, given according to the emotion they were
traumatized by and an animal that reflects it (Laughing Octopus, Ragin Raven,
etc.).

Let's take Laughing Octopus for example. She was forced to kill her friends and
family as a child and laugh while she did it. As a result, laughter became a
twisted obsession of hers, and when you encounter her in the game she is always
laughing at the death and misfortune of others. In her Beast form, she is an
octopus, complete with OctoCamo (like Snake's) and mechanical tentacles.

There is barely anthing human in her when she is in her Beast form. She has no
compassion or sympathy for others, and she is, for all intents and purposes, an
octopus. She was transformed by the horrific events of war that she experienced
and could only deal with it by becoming an instrument of war, a Beast.

The B&B Corps is probably the most literal manisfestation you'll find of the
game's "war transforms us into beasts" theme.

3. No Place for Hideo                                                [03NHIDEO]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This message is seen on a box early on in the game when Snake is forced to hide
from some Gekko. The mere fact that Snake doesn't hide in the box is symbolism
in itself, and the Gekko not being fooled by the box is even more symbolism.

Put simply, the phrase "No Place for Hideo" means that things are different
this time around. What worked in the past games won't work this time. The
infamous cardboard box trick is thrown out the window from the get-go, as are
many other things, such as old gameplay elements and controls.

Kojima is probably saying that this time, he doesn't have a place in his own
game. It's so different that there's no place left for him. MGS4 is radically
different from previous installments. The differences are, for the most part,
improvements, but they are still differences which require a different type of
mindset to get accustomed to. Using the cardboard box won't work here, so
you've got to find another way. An oil drum, perhaps...?


4. Snake's Age                                                       [03SNKAGE]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably the biggest difference this time around. Solid Snake is now Old Snake,
and as his name implies, he isn't as young as he used to be. To me, his age
always seemed like a commentary on war itself. In the previous Metal Gear games
he was young and skilled, and he fit in perfectly with the war setting.

In this game, however, war has changed. Thus, Snake has changed. He's kept
running by his OctoCamo, which doubles as a muscle suit, and by the syringes
that Naomi gives him. He just can't cut it on his own anymore. This probably
symbolizes the PMC soldiers, who can't function properly without dependence on
the Sons of the Patriots System. In fact, in the instances where Liquid
disconnects the soldiers from SOP, such as in the Middle East and then in
South America, the soldiers go insane and can't even perform basic functions.

In my opinion, Snake's face is the face of war, and his age is meant to
symbolize the changing face of war. It's not what it used to be, and nobody can
really cut it on their own anymore.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Themes                                                            [03THEME2]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. "War Transforms Us"                                               [03WARTRA]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a running theme throughout all the Metal Gear Solid games. The
characters directly involved in the fighting are never referred to by their
real name, but by codenames taken from animals (Snake, Ocelot, Mantis, etc...).
This is for security reasons to protect the operative's indentity in case
somebody listens in on transmissions or gets ahold of classified information.
But it can also be interpreted as this: those who fight become animals, beasts
themselves. War transforms them into beasts.

Snake mentions to Sniper Wolf in the original Metal Gear Solid that mercenaries
are called "Dogs of War". The B&B Corps are also prime examples of this theme,
almost literally becoming beasts due to the horrific acts they experienced.

The ones doing the fighting are removed from their human counterparts, and they
become beasts. Drebin also brings up this point to Snake in Act 2, coming right
out and saying it. This theme more than likely is meant to illustrate the
amount of inhumanity involved in war. Things like the Beauties' backgrounds are
horrific examples of how war removes everything human from inside us and turns
it into something more animalistic, more ruthless and cold.

The Metal Gear series has always been known to have a prominent anti-war
stance, and this fourth installment is no different. War transforms us into
beasts.


2. "Without Light, There Can Be No Shadow"                           [03WLIGHT]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My interpretation of this theme is that until we die, until our light is
extinguished, we will always bear the burden for the sins we've committed. For
some sins the only absolution is death. In my opinion, the light represents
life, and the shadow represents sin or regret. Until we extinguish that light,
the shadow will always remain.

Naomi is a character who illustrates this theme well. Her whole life has
revolved around trying to cleanse herself of the sins she's committed, from
creating FOXDIE to creating the nanomachines which make it possible for the
Sons of the Patriots System to have total control the human population. She
shows a large amount of remorse for her actions, but in the end she isn't able
to free herself of the sins until she dies in Act 4. After that, she falls into
eternal rest and eternal peace, absolved fully.

Snake, along with his brothers Liquid and Solidus, also illustrate this theme
well. The Les Enfants Terribles project is itself seen as a sin against
humanity and nature. Though Snake and his clone brothers aren't at fault for
their creation, they still seem to bear the burden of the sin from which they
were created. Snake himself says many times throughout the game that it's his
duty to stop Liquid, to put an end to what he started. Though he didn't really
have a choice in his creation, he still places the burden on himself.

We could take it even further with Snake by applying this theme to the FOXDIE
within his body. Naomi informs him that in 3 months he'll become a biological
weapon, harboring a virus that will not discriminate in who it affects. At the
end of the game, he visits the graveyard where The Boss is buried to end his
life, to extinguish the light to get rid of the shadow. He realizes that he
must do this for the good of everyone. He doesn't do it, but the suicide
attempt is a representation of this theme. He must end his life to get rid of
the virus. He must extinguish his light to get rid of the shadow.

Big Boss is probably the prime example. Everything started with him and his
genes, and he's bore the sin for decades. When he finally passes away in the
graveyard, all the sins go with him.

There are many more instances in the game that this theme can be applied to,
but the ones I've mentioned above are probably the most important ones or most
representative examples.


===============================================================================
IV. Credits/Thanks                                                   [04CREDIT]
===============================================================================

Thanks to GameFAQs.com for hosting the guide and getting it out to all of you.
Without them, you wouldn't be reading this, and I'd have wasted a LOT of time
and energy typing this up.

HUGE thanks goes out to Konami, Kojima Productions, and most importantly, Mr.
Hideo Kojima himself. I've been a fan of Metal Gear Solid series since I played
the first MGS back in 1998, and with new installment I grow to love the series
even more. Games with a story so deep, complex, and emotional come along
extremely rarely, and I'm glad I was able to experience the ride for myself and
help you understand the story that makes the series so great.

Thanks to you, the reader, for using the guide and making sure I didn't do all
this work for nothing. I hope this guide really helped clear up some confusing
plot points and gave you a greater understanding of the game's message and
themes.

And now, I'll be humbly bowing out. 'Til we meet again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (2009) by ssk9716757
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All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
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