literature

MGS-Endless Battle 3

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Literature Text

[Shadow continues through the streets of the city, aiding militiamen and
eventually finding himself traversing through their underground base. At the
end of this base he discovers a room that houses an APC. Shadow spots an M4
lying on the ground and proceeds toward it. A small monkey drinking a soda
appears when Shadow rounds the corner and he raises his gun in surprise.]


???              : Pretty sweet, huh? Whoa, hold it! Watch where you're
                   pointing that thing.


[Shadow aims his gun at the apparent owner of the monkey. A black man in dressy
jacket and military pants appears before him waving a white cloth.]


Shadow         : Who are you?

???              : Neither enemy, nor friend.


[The man waves his white cloth and somehow magically makes a grenade appear in
his hand. Shadow continues to keep his pistol aimed at the man.]


???              : Voila.


[Shadow continues to aim his gun at the mysterious man.]


Shadow         : You're not with the militia, and you're not PMC...

???              : I'm a weapons wholesaler - all shapes, all sizes. But
                   there's no need to worry, 'cause all my shit's been
                   laundered.

Shadow         : Laundered?


[The man puts the white cloth over the grenade in his hand and apparently
changes it into a red apple after removing it again. A blank expression appears
on his face as he tosses the apple behind his back. The monkey becomes curious
and starts to chase after the apple.]


???              : You see, I take ID guns like the PMCs use and make some
                   mods. Then you can use 'em without having to match IDs. In
                   other words, I'm a gun launderer. You can call me Drebin.

Shadow         : Drebin?

Drebin           : Yeah, they use that for all of us.

Shadow         : There are more of you?

Drebin           : All over the world. Not that I ever met any of 'em
                   personally. Me, I'm Drebin number 893. You ain't a
                   registered PMC employee, are ya? You need a guy like me.


[Drebin picks up the M4 that was lying on the ground and hands it to Shadow.]


Drebin           : Consider it a welcome gift. Take it.


[Shadow accepts the weapon and begins examining it inside-out.]


Drebin           : The M4. The official carbine model used by the US army...
                   Developed from the M16 service rifle. This one's a
                   top-of-the-line model. Real popular with the big PMCs. High
                   precision, not like that government-issue shit. It's
                   free-floating, of course. Relax, that barrel's clean.

Shadow         : Is the hider CQC compatible?

Drebin           : The beauty of this sucker is that it's got a lot of
                   customizable parts. Change it up the way you want to meet
                   your everyday needs.

Shadow         : Flip-up sight, rail system... Not bad.

Drebin           : Yeah, well, you know, I get a lot of newbs 'round here. And
                   if you need 'em, I got a wide selection of after-market
                   parts as well.

Shadow         : The frame's pretty rigid. No rattle.

Drebin           : Go ahead, give her a squeeze.


[Shadow attempts to fire the weapon, but his finger seems to hesitate.]


Shadow         : I can't pull the trigger.

Drebin           : Really? That's weird.

Shadow         : What's weird?

Drebin           : Wait, I got it. I bet you're using an older generation of
                   nanomachines.

Shadow         : Older generation?

Drebin           : Sometimes they don't really jibe with the new System.


[Shadow reaches for his pistol.]


Shadow         : Seriously, who are you?


Drebin           : Whoa... Slow down.


[Drebin picks up a soda from a bucket of ice and takes a drink.]


Drebin           : My day job's working at AT (ArmsTech) Security. I'm in
                   charge of production control... So I get my hands on the ID
                   chips before they're even registered.


[Drebin offers Shadow the opened soda.]


Drebin           : Have a sip.


[Shadow shakes his head reluctantly.]


Drebin           : It's a side of AT the public don't see. From the looks of
                   it, you ain't with any state army. But you ain't exactly
                   green, neither. You've got last-gen nanomachines. So I'm
                   guessing... Former US Army?


[Shadow appears surprised, displaying a cautious look on his face.]


Drebin           : I don't know what you're here for. But you'll wanna be
                   well-equipped, am I right? So? Can we talk business or what?
                   You won't regret it.


[Shadow's Codec begins ringing. He pauses to take the call.]


Shadow         : What's your take on him, Otacon?

Otacon           : I don't particularly like the guy, but it looks like we'll
                   need his help with those ID guns. Sunny's been doing a
                   little sleuthing for us. Drebin. A well-known gun launderer
                   in war economy circles. He's a businessman who deals mainly
                   in selling black-market firearms to small PMCs and local
                   militia. Somalia, the Balkans, Lebanon, Darfur, Chechnya,
                   Timor, Peru, the Punjab, Kashmir, Colombia. This guy really
                   gets around.

Shadow         : How does he pull it off, anyway?

Otacon           : You can create a non-ID gun by replacing the ID recognition
                   chip with a counterfeit version. This enables you to bypass
                   the ID recognition process and use the gun. The problem is
                   that there's still a record of the chip being replaced on
                   the System's side. Drebin's an employee of AT Security. He
                   must have connections on the inside erasing records for him.

Shadow         : You think the Patriots are involved somehow?

Otacon           : I'm not so sure. If the Patriots were running the System
                   from behind the scenes, then a weasel like Drebin would be a
                   real pain in their collective ass.

Shadow         : Can he be trusted?

Otacon           : Remember, Drebin's a green collar. He makes his living off
                   the war economy. He doesn't let emotions get in the way of
                   business, and he never gets his own hands dirty. The only
                   thing he trusts is money. I share your concern, but what if
                   we keep him at arm's length? Use him only to get intel and
                   the supplies we need? Keep it strictly business.

Shadow         : All right.


[Shadow ends the call with Otacon.]


Drebin           : So... We ready to make a deal, or what? OK, then. Let's talk
                   business. This is a war zone. There's product coming in here
                   by the truckload. And you'll be picking up a lot of guns out
                   in the field, I'm sure. Whatever guns you don't need, I'll
                   take and buy 'em off ya. That'll earn you points you can
                   cash in for services.

Shadow         : Like what?

Drebin           : I'll launder your ID guns - no more locks. And I can also
                   sell you the guns I've got in stock. Let me show you...


[Drebin approaches the back of his APC and waves Shadow over. Shadow cautiously
makes his way inside the vehicle, observing various photos on the wall, along
with a personal soda machine.]


Drebin           : To ensure you can use non-ID guns, I'm gonna have to
                   suppress the old nanomachines you've got in ya. Otherwise,
                   they'll interfere with the System.


[Drebin presents a unique looking syringe and shows it to Shadow.]


Drebin           : Here. Stick yourself with this. It's full of suppressor
                   nanomachines.


[Drebin quickly readies the syringe and attempts to inject the suppressor
nanomachines into Shadow. Shadow counters and holds Drebin's hand back.]


Drebin           : Relax, it won't hurt. You scared of needles or something?


[The monkey begins making some noise and Shadow slowly eases off Drebin. Drebin
then makes a syringe injection in Shadow's neck. It appears to be painful.]


Drebin           : See? No sweat. Now you can use non-ID guns, no problem.


[Drebin picks up his soda can attempts to exit the APC. His monkey tries to
to plead for the soda can.]


Drebin           : Hey... Be nice to our guest.


[Drebin instructs Shadow to follow him.]


Drebin           : Step outside.


[As Shadow begins to get up the monkey holds up the red apple from Drebin and
offers it to him.]


Shadow         : Boo.


[After scaring the small creature with his gesture, Shadow exits the vehicle. He
then makes sure the M4 is loaded and fires off a shot.]


Drebin           : There, ya see? No problem. From now on, when you pick up an
                   ID gun that says "LOCKED"... You just let me know. You name
                   it, I can launder it. Of course, it'll cost you. The going
                   rate depends on the war price at the time.


[Drebin takes another drink from his soda.]


Drebin           : Man, I gotta give this shit a rest.

Shadow         : Looks like you're doing pretty well for yourself.

Drebin           : You might say that... What with the war economy and all...
                   And the System clamping down on things. System codes are the
                   law now... And control's essentially absolute... Paving the
                   way for fat profits, if... You're willing to bend the law.
                   Demand keeps on growing thanks to the war economy. I sell ID
                   guns to the PMCs and state armies... And naked guns to to
                   terrorist groups and paramilitaries. And these ID guns can't
                   be sold on the black market. System's practically a license
                   for us arms dealers to print money.


[Drebin picks up the bucket of ice and places it in the back of his APC. He
then closes the rear door hatch.]


Drebin           : Privatizing the military's made the PMCs big and bloated.
                   And the fatter the PMCs get, the line between civilian and
                   soldier is gonna get real blurry. Sooner or later, the whole
                   damn human race is gonna be green collars. More like, we're
                   all gonna be fighting proxy wars. But hey... This war
                   economy puts the food on my table. You're a green collar
                   too, aren't ya? Yeah, it's in your eyes. You've seen a lot
                   of combat.

Shadow         : What makes you think you know me?

Drebin           : Nothing to be ashamed of. I'm the same way. I grew up here,
                   too. I got no interest in the outside world. All right,
                   then. If you need me, holler. We specialize in speedy
                   service. Catch my drift?


[Drebin runs his fingers across the side of his APC and prepares to enter the
cockpit. Before entering, he turns around and gives Shadow a peculiar hand
gesture.]


Drebin           : Eye. Have. You.


[Drebin enters the vehicle and his monkey seals the top hatch. A garage door
opens and the APC rides off. Shadow takes a back door out of the room and is
then receives another Codec call.]


Otacon           : I know what you're thinking, but Drebin does have a point.
                   The world depends on war - on the war economy. Can you
                   imagine what would happen if war just disappeared overnight?

Shadow         : Otacon, you and Drebin both mentioned something about a war
                   price earlier. What did you mean by that?

Otacon           : It's a kind of market price, one that fluctuates according
                   to demand not only for PMCs and military industry... But for
                   the production, distribution, and energy supply networks
                   that support them. It's been growing by leaps and bounds,
                   and investors are really starting to take notice. As the
                   fighting in any given area becomes increasingly intense and
                   prolonged, the war price goes up. No doubt Drebin's rates
                   are linked to that war price. The longer and bloodier a
                   battle becomes, the higher service prices are going to get.
                   To put it another way, the quieter things are, the better
                   the bargains. Snake, we'll use the Mk.II to deal with Drebin
                   from here on out. He's what you might call a street vendor.
                   The Mk.II can act as a kind of delivery boy -  connect you
                   with him. Whenever you pick up multiple units of the same
                   weapon, any extras will automatically be sold to Drebin. Any
                   ammo that's inside gets added to your cache. In other words,
                   you keep the ammo, and the weapon itself gets traded to
                   Drebin for points.

Shadow         : I see.

Otacon           : You can then use the points you've earned to unlock ID guns
                   or buy new weapons.

Shadow         : Sounds good.

Otacon           : We should assume Drebin has other agents collecting guns for
                   him besides you, Snake. You know, freelance green collars
                   who collect weapons in exchange for services?

Shadow         : Guess I'll have to rely on him for now.

Otacon           : OK. Now go meet up with our informants, Rat Patrol.
Shadow meets up with a weapons dealer who calls himself Drebin...
© 2010 - 2024 Shadow-McCloud
Comments1
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Lightclaws's avatar
yeah... very good.