Fallen Liberty
Chapter Two
[1984]
"Come on, David! Don't be so hesitant to strike! Tyler! Keep your guard up. Don't let him sneak past you!" Big Boss observed the two boys as they sparred against one another. They did so daily, but only for a few hours at most. In the beginning he had to keep reminding himself that they were children, and not soldiers. The distinction came without thinking now, but in a few years time, it would no longer exist.
"Watch, David, watch - " Tyler delivered a swift kick into David's side, and when he twisted in pain, the other thrust him to the ground. Before David could react, his brother was upon him. Big Boss watched the two for a minute, encouraging David to push his brother off. When it became clear that he lost, he yelled, "That's enough! Tyler!"
He hit David a few more times before letting up. Instead of getting up, he leaned in closer. "You will never beat me, little brother. Ever." David screwed up his face and pushed with all his strength, but to no avail. His brother would not be moved. Tyler laughed as his brother fought back tears of frustration.
"All right, enough. Tyler, get off of your brother." Even though they were twins, no one would ever know it. Tyler was an inch or two taller (though he claimed it was more than that) and possessed blond hair, where his brother's was brown. Tyler had been born a few minutes before David, a fact which he believed made him the "big" brother. He used it at every chance as an excuse to belittle David, or taunt him after a sparring match (which he usually won). Jake had tried to put a stop to it years ago, only to be met with a thick-headed stubbornness to match his own. He also discovered that it motivated David beyond anything he could produce.
"That's enough for today, boys. Go inside and cool off."
"He means you," Tyler sneered.
"Enough."
"Sorry, father," Tyler muttered and slithered off inside.
David began to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "You lost again." Jake said it as a fact, not a put-down. David saw it a different way.
"I know." His eyes started to well up again.
"Hey," Jake shook the boy gently to get his attention. "None of that, now. Crying won't fix anything."
"I know, but - !"
"But nothing. Tyler beat you today. But you beat him yesterday. If you break down, all those things he says will be true." At once he saw a change in the boy's demeanor: the tears dried instantly, and he straightened up, not consciously perhaps. "Go on."
David walked inside holding himself higher than he had only a few minutes ago. He was determined, and that was enough. Big Boss smiled proudly at his... son. Both of them.
-
[1990]
Big Boss beamed as David and Tyler came into view. He checked himself, they had new names now: Solid Snake, and Liquid Snake, respectively. No small coincidence, he thought, that his clones would be given similar code names to his. The higher-ups must have thought it some kind of honor. That or they were as uncreative as the Canadians. It made him smile.
"Look at you both," he said without hiding the pride in his voice. David and Tyler straightened up; Tyler had been in the middle of provoking a fight with his brother. A fight which would go either way, Jake decided. The two Snakes were now an even match for each other, a far cry from when they were children, and Tyler won 95% of their sparring matches. "All suited up and about to be sent out on your first mission."
Tyler shot David a sideways glance. Both grinned. "Come now, father. Don't get sentimental on us, now. Not after eighteen years," Tyler pleaded halfheartedly. It was strange to see their father, a top Patriot assassin, so close to tears.
"I'm sorry boys, but nothing prepares a soldier for this." Strange, he thought, that his sentiment was more for the fact that the boys were now grown and leaving (Where had the time gone?) and not at the danger they were putting themselves in. They waited patiently for him to collect himself. "I just cannot believe that this day is finally here."
"Me either," David said. Tyler nodded. A call over the communications system of the base requested Liquid Snake and Solid Snake to the briefing room. Tyler sneered at his brother when they said his code name first; David pretended not to notice.
"Well, I guess its time for you to go," Jake said reluctantly.
"We'll be back, don't worry."
"Yeah," the boys turned to leave, and had taken a few steps when their father called after them. "Boys - wait."
"Father?"
Jake opened his mouth to say something he desperately wanted to say: that they were both clones of himself, but could not find the right words. Instead he said: "I'm very proud of both of you."
That put a genuine smile on their faces. With nothing else for any of them to say, they turned and continued away. The intercom buzzed again calling for the twin Snakes. Tyler quickened his pace, pulling ahead of his brother. Before long they were racing down the hall, leaving Jake, Big Boss, alone.
