Part 49: Walking the Road to Peace

Part 46: Walking the road to Peace



We're done. Pull everyone back, we're not going to conquer Campulung. Vlad's taken care of all the snatchers for us.

Are you serious about canceling Metal Gear? All that work I've put into it…I even have the legs ready!

Metal Gear's a great weapon, but it's also a trap. All that power in one spot is too easily turned against us. That dragon was Vlad's Metal Gear, and if he hadn't insisted on riding it he might still be alive. We wouldn't have lost Paz if it hadn't been for Zeke, and even Volgin would probably still be around it he hadn't literally tied himself to the Shagohod. And Napoleon…

Just what did you see?

I fought my son from the future, and the descendants of my technology, and now I just fought myself, who I'll turn into if I keep on the same path. Someone's trying to tell me something.



Dammit, thefts are up again! Having a spymaster watching things is good but we need an actual police station around here!



Sweet, the city-states are giving us free reading material! Huh.

What's it about?

"In a strange land beyond time, worlds and histories have been smashed together in a brutal global conflict. Men and women from thousands of years apart clash in war and join in alliances, devastating and dazzling everyone with their fantastical prowess!"

Heh. Sounds familiar. What's it called?

"Warriors Orochi."



Also some books by some guy named Proust.

Huh…poignant. I should read this.



Mother Base is upgraded again! Look, Snake, even if you're serious about canceling Metal Gear…and I think that might be a mistake… we should still work on getting resources to build some other kind of mobile armor units. Don't want all of Huey's robotics knowledge to go to waste.

Right.



Snake. A lot of things haven't been going well lately. I'd rather you cease your meddling in my affairs.

Oh, go to hell.

Are you sure we haven't already? Tell me, have you heard…the Voice?

…

HAH! You have! Well, Snake… we'll be seeing more of each other in the future. I'm sure of it.



THIS IS FRONTIERLESS RADIO, The Station Without Borders! We are live and ready to hit you with your favorite tunes. Coming up next: The Carpenters with "Sing!"



Running water, electric lights, music from nowhere… it's all so wonderful. The fools who demanded my homeland be closed off from the world had no idea of the possibilities that lay before them. A more superstitious man would consider these things sorcery. But they are physical things. Men can achieve anything if they are unafraid of change.

Maybe that's the message. Maybe I really have been afraid of changing who and what I am…always fighting, but for no real purpose. If I keep on that path, I'll become as bad as Vlad…a bloodthirsty maniac who kills for its own sake. Figuring out how I should change, though… that's the tricky part.

BOSS! We've got a new visitor! Some old friends!



Snake!

Snake!

: Oh, my goodness…you've built so much!

What?! This is…amazing! Where were you all? I thought you were dead!

Consider this a peace offering, Big Boss.

…You?!

They were prisoners of Nebuchadnezzar, freed during the last battle with him. He means something dark for this world, and I could do nothing to stop him.



What about your legendary powers over the earth?

…hah. Legends. Someone tells it, someone else remembers it, everyone passes it on. I started a few rockslides to crush my enemies, and eventually I became renowned as a god of stones. Legends are sometimes disappointed by reality, Snake.

Damn…

Were you imagining some great and terrible battle with me where I crushed everything in my path, with giant stone fists or fissures from nowhere?

Well, that does sound pretty cool when you put it like that! But…you haven't really given me a reason to fight you.

I'm nothing now. All my glory has been smashed to pieces by conquerers capable of things I can't even dream of. If you face Nebuchadnezzar, and I think you shall… you won't even know which way is up. He's a nightmare. He claims to see past the veil of the physical world into something strange and incomprehensible. Dreams and reality…I couldn't tell the difference between them when I faced him. I don't even know if he can tell, either.

That's…pretty ominous. Thanks, though, your majesty, for returning my friends. Look, if you want help retaking your capital…

Hmph. I don't quite trust you yet. Relations between our peoples are too…barbed. But that would go a long way to ensuring the peace.



Dammit, Gray Fox, when you kill an intruder, you don't have to behead them. And you definitely don't have to give me their head as a present! That thing's dripping all over the place!

Sorry.

You need some serious therapy, man.



Hi, I'm Steve Jobs, and I've got a product that I think you'll be interested in, Big Boss!

Go on.

It's a portable device that handles all your personal information needs. Electronic mail, music, maps, documents, even phone calls! It's all here in one place, with an easy-to-use interface!

Oh, wow, a Walkman and a phone in one? I'd love that! You said it can display maps too? Sell me all you've got!

The civilian model I've made is called the "iPhone," but I think you'll need the military model "iDroid" with holographic projection. Don't worry, Boss, you'll never leave home without it!



Goddamn gangsters are attacking Washington! No matter how many we cut down, more keep appearing. This world'll never be free!

Free…



I'm a fighter. Always will be. But maybe I need to fight for more than just fighting itself… Zero was going on about how there needed to be one world order. I could never swallow that. I already freed myself, but maybe I need to help other people get their freedom too…



Yeah…this feels…right, somehow.



Okay…so what exactly should we do to fight for freedom?



Food, of course! People can't be happy if they've got no food.



We need to strike a balance with finances, too. Unchecked free market greed just puts a tyrant behind a CEO's desk instead of a politician's desk. Make it so that business and government keep each other in check so the little guys aren't hurt by assholes swallowing up all the money at the top of the pyramid. It's not as straightforward as just grabbing everyone's money and doling it out like the communists would, but it's more flexible.

Well, as the great man said, democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other forms that have been tried.

Heh. Guess this means I'll have to learn how to campaign.

Ahh, don't worry, Boss, you're too damn likable for your opponents to have a chance. Anybody who hated working for you quit years ago.



Well I guess you're doing something right, Boss, the morale is already going way up!

Ah…good…



Frank!



FRANK!!!



Frank's not here, Mr. Miller! I've been watching his stuff. He said he had to go do something over in Babylon. Big Mama also said it'd be good experience for me to stay in the guard station.

Goddamnit! EVA! Why would you do that!? We can't stay powerful if we don't maintain our technical superiority, and we can't do that when we have KIDS guarding our documents!

Sorry! I thought it'd be an easy assignment. You said you wanted to keep him away from the action after all.

Hey! Don't treat me like a kid!

You'd better want me to treat you like a kid, Chico, because I'd fire you if you were an adult.



My goodness, we've got an oil bonanza in our territory. This will certainly help us fuel our society for quite a while.

For once, the future's looking up. I wonder how long it'll last…

To Be Continued!