"I don't know. But it probably has something to do with how you're not a soulless monster...yet." she answers in her scratchy voice. He smiles from under his mask, but she doesn't notice because she's checking on Snake.
They feel a slight jolt as the tank comes to a stop. "Don't tell anyone about me." she tells him, quickly "uh, ok. I won't tell anyone. But why?" he says "Because, I only want others to know about me when the time is right. Plus I would either be captured or forced to give up my way of life." "What do you mean?" "It's....It's complicated."
The door opens and sunlight pours in. They exit the vehicle and Drebin climbs out too. "I checked on both of your locations and you were both in Liquid's camp. So naturally I assumed you were in trouble, and lo and behold, I was right." he explains. "Well, I owe you one." she says "Don't worry about it, I'm just protecting my investments. I've gotta run, watch your back." he says before he drives off.
For a while, neither Storm nor Akiba know what to say, but after a few moments she decides to break the silence "Don't drink the water." "what? Why?" "It will only make your 'condition' worse. If you have to, use this." she says handing him a portable water filter in the form of a large drinking straw "Where do you get these things?" she shrugs and turns to the unconscious soldiers on the carpet "Oh. Well, thanks."
She nods and grabs her corners of the carpet "What now?" she asks.
"Well for my team I just need to wait for them to wake up, but for Snake I'll need to call Otacon." he informs "Who's Otacon?" she asks "I'm not exactly sure. I've heard a few things about him, like he's Snake's main source of information, and he aids his missions, but that's basically it."
They pull them into an empty building so they're out of the baking sun. Once that's done and he's making a call, she steps outside for some air.
They're on the edge of the city, where the danger is as minimal as it gets around there. The sun is setting rapidly as she scans and searches the rooftops, looking for the metal man. A small wave of panic sweeps over her when she doesn't find him within the first minute, but then relief soothes her as she sees his silhouette dashing over the buildings.
"Thank God. I thought I lost you." she whispers.
"Who are you talking to?" Akiba asks "Myself." she lies. "Alright...Come on, let's get back inside." he says, opening the door for her. She nods and casts one last glance at the silhouette before going inside.
She sits in a dark corner, pulls out her sword and her whet stone, and starts sharpening her blade. A habit of her's.
~Flashback~
The five year old pants heavily as she runs and ducks behind a thick slab of cement. "So much VR training." she mumbles as she pulls the pin out of a grenade and tosses it over her shoulder. Her objective is to find a nuclear bomb that was hijacked by a terrorist group. She knows where the bomb is but they have hostages. She's been instructed to kill them if she has to. Her only priority is the bomb, nothing else. It's no big deal for her. It's just a video game after all. As the grenade explodes she jumps up and runs inside a building, shooting down everyone who gets in her way. She peeks out of a window, plucking off the stragglers when a man holding an RPG jumps out and shouts something in a foreign language before firing at the building she's in. Her eyes widen and she throws herself out the door, flattening herself on the ground. As bits of cement and dirt fall and the smoke clears, she rolls over to her gun and shoots him down while he's reloading. She cackles, getting to her feet. She checks her map and sees that the objective point is half a mile north of where she is, and heads that way. The compound is just a dilapidated building surrounded by a razor wire fence, with two guards posted at each of two entrances at opposite ends of each other. She smirks, puts her hood up, tucks her gun under her bloodstained cloak, and stumbles toward the entrance. Sure, they're terrorists, but they wouldn't harm a wounded child. Keeping this in mind, she coughs to get their attention. Both of the guards turn and aim their guns at her "*Who goes there?!*" one of the guards shouts. (* means they're speaking in a foreign language.) "*Please. Can you help me? My family....They killed them all.*" she says with a trembling voice. The guards look at each other, back at her, and then lower their guns. "*What happened? Come on, we're not going to hurt you.*" the other guard beckons. She staggers over to them, keeping her head down so her appearance doesn't give her away. Once she's within arm's reach of them, she pulls out her knives and stabs them both in their throats before they even realize what's happening. As blood spurts out, she puts her knives back in her belt "These graphics are amazing." she comments before entering the compound. She quickly and silently takes down all the other guards before going up to the door, drawing her gun, and bursting into the small building. She assesses the situation: three guards, three hostages, one bomb. She frowns when she sees the guns placed against the hostages' heads "*tsk, tsk. You should have shot me when I first entered.*" she tells them as if she's disappointed in their performance. She aims her gun and quickly shoots everyone in their heads without even blinking. It's just a video game after all.
~Flashback End~
The sound of a helicopter's propellers beating shakes her from her thoughts. Again, she cringes at the memory even though it was just VR training. She gets up to leave but before she opens the door, Akiba stops her.
"Wait! Where will you go?" he asks "I'll just go wherever he leads me." "But who is 'he'?" "...the metal man." "Wha-" before he can say another word, she melts back into the shadows.
