Clarification of a rumor {Liquid}

[mitsuko]

To think the sun was positioned up in the sky to let people know it was time for lunch and there were undead creatures here and there in broad daylight. Something didn't settle with her about that at all....sure there were quite a few of them but it wasn't as though they made up most of the populous. Besides, there were enough individuals standing their ground to make some areas safer than others. Where she used to live was one of those places until the night shift guard got jumped and started displaying some cannibalistic tendencies. So now she was back to living in alleys until someone could give her a decent job that didn't mind the amount of skin she covered up. Even metahumans were shaking in their socks over this odd occurrence considering how it wasn't as though these things would just fall over and play dead right away. Sliding her hands into her pockets as she walked along the sidewalk with a messenger style bag, it was all that woman wearing a baggy turtle neck sweater had left of her belongings.

Maybe wearing red and gray was a god awful idea, but when one is in a rush, it's difficult to have enough time for picking things out. Rubbing her thumbs against the razor blades she concealed in her pockets...all to keep her a bit calm. Normally, she'd only repeatedly injure one hand and one hand only while the other isn't bleeding just in case someone wanted a formal handshake. That was far from being the case today though and a slight bow would have to suffice with a severe lack of physical contact. Right now, she was heading over to one of the areas rumored to be a bit more safe even though where she was didn't just so happen to be completely swarming at the moment. Why not? The woman with long, blood stained tendrils could only assume it was because a feast was taking place. Sure, she could hear an occasional scream...but even she knew it was too late.

Last time she tried to save someone from death in regards to those things ripping some sap to shreds with their teeth...well...they tried to do the same to her. Fool me once, shame on you. So she tried again soon after that with some poor, innocent child who had their arm eaten off. Again, it wasn't a coincidence, yet another monster was born. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ms. Aoki learned her lesson and decided to save them all with one thing: a pain infested death. When she played the role of executioner, it was nothing short of a gory blood bath where internal organs seemed like party decorations at a twelve year old's birthday.

Night time seemed to be much worse though, so traveling during the day was her best route. In fact, she reached the destination with a group of people who looked pretty well armed and a little paranoid. Thankfully, all of her scars were well concealed and she looked normal enough for them not to ram a gun against her head. As relieved as some of them looked, the ones with paranoia lingering about their composure as a whole didn't look like they'd think twice about pelting her with bullets. "Excuse me, I was wondering if I may enter...?" Mustering up a look of concern to play this part off and a polite tone with hints of curiosity, she didn't take another step and stayed still while they whispered among themselves. After a bit of deliberation, they nodded a couple of times and made way for her.

"Hurry up, lady." Pushy pushy, but she couldn't blame them and was thankful for the fact they weren't in a state of ignorant bliss considering they were defending this place. Giving them a slight bow of her head to be polite as a silent `thank you`, she walked on by them only to see that this part of the city actually seemed to be functioning pretty normally. For once, the normalcy was a relief. Normally it made her skin crawl a great deal to see people neglecting the essence of life, but this case was a little different and the only thing getting under her skin was laughter. Cutting away at one of her thumbs within her pocket, she needed to maintain that calm sense of mind and not lose herself to the urge of awakening these poor poor souls. Making her way into a little cafe, she took a seat and stared down at the menu with a few things scratched out in permanent marker here and there.

To her, that was something she expected considering how difficult it could be to get every single bit of food listed on a menu made prior to these events. Honestly, she wasn't here to get a bite to eat. More like just sit and relax a little bit while still keeping herself aware by listening intently to her surroundings. Odd way to relax, really but it was better than staying in the park or something. At least this way she could get something to drink other than soda or bottled water since she wasn't completely sure about the water supply these days. Not knowing how the undead showed up was a pretty justified reason not to trust tap water at this point of time. Even she knew messing with the water supply wasn't that hard, pharmaceutical companies had a nasty habit of doing that as well so it didn't hurt to be a little more careful than usual with water.

[Liquid Snake]

They say there's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole. But really, what is an atheist, if not someone who relies on common sense, logic and reason? True, there are various gut instinct moments in battle. That little inner voice that warns you of danger, that sixth sense that all veterans have. You have to survive a few firefights, see a few friends die to learn that. But sometimes, all there was to rely on was reason and logic.

Liquid Snake was a man logic, as twisted of logic as it was. During his travels and countless incursions, he'd witnessed things he couldn't explain, things he couldn't simply dismiss. Among the most recent were Vulcan Raven's shaman powers and Psycho Mantis' psychic abilities. There were forces at work in this universe. The ignorant would mistakenly call them unnatural or supernatural. In reality, they just lay outside modern science's current understanding of the universe. Given time and research, they too would fall into the realm of the natural and understood.

It also helped to look at the surrounding world with a pure, unbiased mind. Years of battle had changed Liquid's way of thinking, as they would for any professional soldier. One must make a friend of horror. Otherwise, horror is an enemy to be feared. And horror was a good adjective to describe the current state of affairs. The dead rising to confront the living and the living joining the ranks of the dead, or rather undead. Fascinating really. Bible thumpers and other religious nuts claimed it was the end of days. They, like most everyone else, were unable to look at things from a clear, pure and unbiased perspective.

Something had to be causing this, whether it currently lay outside modern science's understand or whether it was triggered by known means. And it wasn't something magical or some other hocus-pocus bullshit. Liquid went by what he'd seen for himself. Being in command of FOXHOUND, he'd been dispatched to help contain the threat. He also secretly authorized an investigation to find out what was causing it.

What'd he'd discovered, from both the investigation and his experiences battling the undead was a mechanism that seemed to be spread like a virus. Like rabies. Victims would get infected over being bitten and in some cases scratched. When his secret investigation was finished, they reported to him that it was indeed viral. Something they'd never seen before, obviously. But viruses could be contained. Viruses could be fought. He'd thought of reporting to his superiors on his findings but then thought better of it. Another gut instinct moment. He didn't trust them. But he couldn't do anything himself, not directly, so it was time to play the role of the puppet master once more.

At one point, it may have been no surprise to find someone in New York City driving a black 2010 Morgan Aero SuperSports. However, in this war zone of a city, it stuck out like a sore thumb. Such elegance and beauty in such a dirty and crude setting, like wearing a tuxedo to a heavy metal concert. It offered lots of style and elegance, lots of luxury, lots of performance and best of all, it was British.

A laptop sat in the passenger seat and Liquid periodically glanced over it to get a fix on where he was in relation to his target individual. An individual he'd, a while ago, given a very special present to. Mitsuko, who carried a tracking device just in case Liquid needed to get a hold of her again. Now was that time and the laptop indicated he was close, damn close in fact. He braked with one foot and mashed down on the clutch with the other, using his right hand to downshift the transmission. Such a lovely and visceral sensation, totally absent in the nerdy paddle gearboxs of some other high performance cars.

Slowly, he came to a stop and got out. He wore his trademark attire, BDU trousers with combat boots, gloves and a big heavy trench coat. Despite the chilly temperature, Liquid kept the front of his coat open, exposing his bear chest and his dogtags. He looked brutal, totally uncharacteristic of someone who would drive a Morgan.

Hands in his pockets, he walked casually toward the building entrance. The guards....for some reason didn't stop him. It felt as though he belonged there. That just being near him made them safer. Maybe it was the way he held himself, the posture of a career killer. Or maybe it was that infamous and envied thousand yard stare. Or maybe they were afraid of him....

Either way, they let him enter the diner. Sitting there, at the counter, was his quarry. He walked toward her, the soles of his boots making a distinctive clicking and clacking noise against the diner floor. He'd probably already gotten her attention and made her look toward him. If not, him approaching her to within about four feet and saying "Well met, Mitsuko" would probably draw her attention to him, where in she'd recognize his familiar sight.

[mitsuko]

Perhaps it was best to just keep moving...keep going forward. Would that truly be better than just sitting here for a while...? Or at least see if they had a library of some sort in this safe zone. Maybe even see who could be of use to her and convince them to help her correct the undead parade issue going on. It seemed like a much better idea than sitting in a place that didn't have much to offer aside from a bit of peace and quiet. However the peace and quiet was rudely interrupted as with her thoughts as her keen sense of hearing picked up on the distinctive clicking and clacking upon the tile floor. Not to mention the soft sound of metal tapping together like dog tags those in the armed forces wore in case their bodies needed to be identified. Strange...she hadn't heard that combination in a while but it was still quite familiar...a little too familiar.

Sifting through her memories as though to desperately try to assess whether or not a threat was among her and a course of action must be taken right away...or even if it was just someone who stayed imprinted within the confines of her mind. Looking over her shoulder, it was around that time those onyx hued optics with a silver lining around the pupils took in the sight of someone she had met once before and it was confirmed without a doubt by his voice. That's right....he had given her a tracking device just in case he needed to seek her out for whatever reason. The device was hidden away in her pocket even though it was a literal example of a bloody mess at this time. A large portion of her greatly doubted he was there to see how she was doing, those sorts of people didn't exist in her life which was for the best in the long run. Simply getting out of her seat which caused the chair to make a little `skreeeee` noise that caused the sadomasochist to close her eyes for a moment before getting out of the chair and reopening those peculiar optics once more. Normally, she'd at least have contact lenses in to conceal the slight oddity but the will to remain among the living in the face of zombies didn't exactly give her the time to gather everything she would of liked to.

Turning to face the blond who went through all the trouble of finding her leaving her hands in her pockets. Not really looking thrilled nor even upset, her composure was just nothing more than calm despite the situation going on outside of this particular safe zone. "You seem to be well..." finishing those words which seemed casual yet completely mellow to say the least without so much as a smile, it was just a mere pause as she adjusted her posture to stand upright and give him direct eye contact before continuing her words, "Somehow, I doubt you are here for idle conversation, especially in a time such as this. So please...do tell me what you are here for, Liquid." It wasn't as though her words were bitter or cold, more along the lines of a level minded individual stating a fact which was rather ironic considering her view point of life. Certainly she willingly kept the little gift knowing well he was capable of finding her, however that didn't mean she wasn't going to be a bit cautious. Caution wasn't to be thrown to the wind just yet, that level of trust was going to take more and more earning...especially with the sort of life she chose to live.

Why didn't she initiate an attack on him? It wasn't as though they knew each other so well that they could trust one another with ease. Well, first impressions are generally quite important and the impression he left was that he needn't be awakened with copious amounts of pain and could be dealt with in a what many would call a civil manner. Besides, Ms. Aoki was more than willing to hear someone out before jumping to conclusions requiring a `harsh` course of action right away anyway.

[Liquid Snake]

To create a world just dripping with tension. A world where men like him were valued again. A world where they were desired. This world, this current state of affairs, was a soldier's bliss. But only momentarily. All good things must come to an end and if this were permitted to linger on any longer, if the dead kept rising to confront the living, then there would be no more soldier's paradise. There would be no more world, period.

But strangely enough, Liquid had encountered hints of resistance in the U.S. government, indicating that there were some higher ups intent on making this continue. It's not so much Liquid didn't trust them, after all the Patriots needed the living to rule, not the dead. It's that he trusted himself more, but he was prevented from directly taking action. A pawn, on the other hand, would prove most useful. A pawn to prevent his hands from getting dirty. Mitsuko as a pawn and Liquid as the hidden chess master.

Mitsuko wanted to know what brought Liquid to her and rightfully so. A smile crept across the Snake. One might at first mistake it for a kind and caring smile, but it was a smile that one would note upon further inspection that was completely devoid of things like kindness. It was a malicious, cynical smile and with such a smile on his face, Liquid answered with, "Come with me and I'll explain."

That's all he said before turning around and beginning to proceed back outside, where he assumed Mitsuko would follow him.

[mitsuko]

Such a smile was a little unsettling, however it was much better than one filled with bliss and utter ignorance. Being one who has to portray emotions considered as normal and common toward society...it wasn't hard to see the true nature of an individual's facial expressions. Honestly, it didn't seem as though he was trying hard to conceal his true intent...more along the lines of an ignorant fool required copious amounts of pain to awaken into reality. Ah there were so many of those and it couldn't be helped...especially since she had to be careful. The cards life had dealt to her required being cautious for any form of victory...this was no different. What was she getting into with this British blond anyway? How he told her to come with him for an explanation was more than enough reason to understand that there was in fact a degree of secrecy and importance.

Why explain something mundane in privacy, such logic would be a wasted effort in her opinion. One thing she confirmed without a doubt about this man she began to follow is that he was one who didn't waste effort or time. Someone who had their priorities set out and a plan to get their goals attained. Qualities of a leader...however his motives were currently a mystery and it wasn't like she was actually going to assist him if it went against her own goals. All she knew about him at this point is he was part of an organization called FOXHOUND was in charge and some went so far as to consider them as terrorists. Why in the world would she associate herself with someone suspected to be a leader of terrorists anyway?! Wasn't she above that sort of thing?

Well, the same could be said and has been said about her in the past...ignorance had a tendency to mistake the true meaning behind things and she was all about fact, not fiction. Yet another thing to consider as a little odd...he had individuals working for him that were more than capable of various tasks. Did something happen to them? All she could do was ponder and fish for answers when the situation presented itself. Whatever he didn't answer that was of importance to her, she planned to weed the answer out for herself. Oddly enough, the soles of her feet didn't so much make a soft little noise to let the world know they made contact with the hard, cold surface. A small fragment of her mind mused at the potential of this being a trap...but again...from her little bit of research and observations...the man who opted not to wear a shirt with that coat didn't seem the sort to go after some petty cash like some greedy moron.

Even though logically, the possibility of this being a trap to get the price on her head was ruled out...the same level of caution was there. Mitsuko had learned before that just because you research something doesn't mean it'll reveal the entire story, that's why when someone wanted to know...they'd go to the source and hear it for themselves to make their own justification. A couple of the guards even looked over to see what was going on. Quite frankly it was a little strange to have someone out of the clear blue in a car drive on up only meet up with a person who seemed to be a traveler taking refuge. Strange? A little, enough to get a `wonder what's going on` sort of look from a couple spectators. Catching a glance of those gazes herself, she wondered if it would be less suspicious to leave them be or make certain that a gift of excruciating pain was given before setting them free from the ties of this world to prevent curiosity turning into nosiness. Drawing attention wasn't a good idea...but nor was someone potentially sticking their nose where it needn't be causing very unwanted complications.

Perhaps it was best to wait it out and see if those two fellows nearby would mind their business...

[Liquid Snake]

Turning and walking away, the young woman behind him, Liquid's stride seemed as casual and carefree as someone going to the market. No, there was something different about it. There was a hint of glee in his eyes and facial expression. Barely a trace of it, but it were there. Just enough of it to make it seem as though he were on his way to play a round a golf with some business partners. It was the facial expression and walking stride of a man who had something exciting to look forward to. A man with a plan that was in the first stages of fruition.

The black Morgan outside was a real head turner. Perhaps it was unwise to use it for such a top secret hush-hush scenario. After all, anyone could over here and catch a glimpse of them. Anyone could be working for the hidden hands that pulled the puppet strings. Fortunately, no one was around to witness them and once Liquid had Mitsuko inside the Morgan, it would be impossible to see them through the car's tinted windows.

Yes, there was no one around to see them. Except the guards out front. A pity for everyone. A pity that the guards would have to die. A pity for Liquid because he'd have to waste bullets, bullets that were fired from a silenced pistol into the back of the head of each guard. There was no hesitation behind it, no calculation. No planning, no plotting and no emotion. Just a simple bang, pow, done. The human monster, worse than any zombie or other abomination created by this strange virus. But much like Godzilla, it was a monster you liked, so long as it was on your side.

Putting his pistol back within the depths of his trenchcoat, Liquid walked over to the far side of the Morgan, opening the passenger door for Mitsuko before walking back around and hoping in the driver side of the car. Since the young lady had followed him out, he trusted she'd get into the car, after which he'd pull away and begin discussing business with her.

[mitsuko]

Such a ghost town...only a few alert guards who had to make sure they could defend one of the safe areas of this city...as happy for them as she was, there was a sense of pity for their poor souls. Having to deal with zombies, worried if just a sudden horde will come out of no where...it was going to be a fear the majority, awakened or not, would possibly develop soon enough. Even to the likes of her, the thought of a horde trying to end her life to sustain their own was something she simply didn't enjoy the thought of. Following after the British blond, leaving her hands in her pockets and one of her thumbs rubbing against the little razors to keep her mind at ease, there was something unsettling about this entire situation. Only when seemingly mindless zombies show up is she tracked down...that's one thing that set off a little red flag on the scale of importance. Maybe she wasn't the only one who suspected that all of this was more than what the news let on. They had almost the entire population fooled that this was some sort of paranormal event, not her though.

The more those monsters would feast, the larger their numbers grew. To her, werewolves weren't some unexplainable paranormal event either as with vampires, however people thought of them as such. Those three things had one thing in common, it passed on like an infectious disease, all of which acted differently. Never would she subject herself to injury from those things, much too risky. Glancing over to the man who decided to seek her out, it seemed as though he was keeping a composure that was casual. A good idea at that since it wouldn't draw as much attention. It wasn't exactly a good idea to raise suspicion in a time such as this, hence why she opted to remain absolutely calm and not give off an expression that would be out of the norm.

Of course that changed ever so slightly when he pulled a pistol from his jacket....one with a silencer as well? There was a great deal of logic and sense behind carrying around a weapon, even for those with unique abilities....but...none of them were turning into undead monsters! Was he actually stupid enough to turn this into a trap? Just because she had a base level of respect for him didn't mean she was going to standby and let a gun be what kills her off after all that hard work she put into her attempts at saving others! Ah...but that wasn't the case, not at all...instead he ended the lives of the guards who didn't see it coming. It did in fact matter to her that those who kept themselves aware for this long were just murdered and normally she would do something about it. Everyone deserved at least a single chance to explain themselves.

Watching the guards' assailant open the door for her soon after putting the silenced pistol away inside of his trench coat...even he deserved a chance to explain himself. How ignorant and foolish would it be to start a brawl over something such as this? Not like he used the gun on her as well, however those men did nothing wrong. Well, if this little meet up didn't offer a good enough reason...she was going to take the role of judge and executioner to make absolutely positive that no further recklessness took place. Taking her slightly bloodied hands out of those pockets, there were a couple of cuts on her gloves, namely her thumbs. Pain is what kept her sane, to keep reminding her that here she was in reality, not some state of slumber. Carefully, she took off the messenger style bag containing what was left of her belongings as well as carefully picking up the laptop and got into the lovely black Morgan before taking a seat placing the bag upon her lap along with the portable computer and closing the door.

Seeing how she got some blood upon the handle as well as the laptop, it was rude to just leave it there so fixating her thoughts upon those particular little patches of blood as it simply slithered over to her palm and curled itself into a ball before hardening into what seemed like a marble for playing some sort of childish school yard game. Call it clean up, call it insurance, either way she slid it into her pocket and looked over to the driver who...matched yet didn't quite match the picture of luxury this vehicle had to offer in a time of crisis. Ready to listen, she figured he was intelligent enough to start explaining what he went out of his way to find her for without being prompted seeing how she got into this pretty little vehicle. Besides, she wasn't really one for much conversation unless it was to make herself mesh in with the crowd and look normal or to someone she could relate to enough to speak for more than just one response or a plethora of b.s she had to come up with to sound `sane` by their standards. At least what he probably had to say would be interesting to say the least...didn't seem like the sort to blurt out brainless dribble. Resting an arm upon both his laptop and her bag, she kept them in place to make sure they'd remain undamaged. For someone who would go around inflicting copious amounts of pain on individuals as a method of helping them appreciate life and zero friends currently present in her life...she definitely had decent manners.