in the quiet loop. (solid snake x reader)

16 - the distance between us.

Rose emerged from the hallway, looking confused. "What's going on?"

Snake turned toward her. "She's gone."

"What?" Rose blinked. "How?"

"Through another exit," Otacon said grimly.

Rose's expression fell, but then, she glanced between them, as if weighing whether to speak. "In our session... she mentioned the nightmares. She's been dreaming about wars she never lived. The Boss. The Cold War. Even places she didn't recognize. When I asked when it started..."

Otacon leaned forward. "What did she say?"

Rose hesitated, then said softly, "After she was captured by the Patriots."

Otacon's lips parted slightly. His eyes met Snake's. "Does that mean—"

Campbell stepped in, his voice grave. "The Patriots must've injected her with the nanomachines when she was captured."

A heavy silence followed. Snake looked away, something flickering in his eyes. Otacon picked up his tablet again, already walking toward the chopper.

"We should get back to the Nomad," Otacon said with urgency. "I'll trace everything with the best that I can, including today's flights. If she's in an airport, we can narrow it down."

Snake followed, without a word.

Campbell stayed behind, watching them go. The wind rustled his coat as he muttered under his breath, "God help her."

----

The hum of the Nomad's engine was a dull backdrop as Snake and Otacon stepped back onboard, the weight of what just happened still hanging heavy over them. Neither of them spoke at first. Snake dropped into one of the metal chairs in the mission briefing area, his eyes distant, and jaw clenched,

Otacon went to work immediately, pulling files, loading sample archives, and powering up the diagnostic systems. He retrieved the small, preserved sample they had of your blood taken months ago, back when you were recovering from the Patriots. He hadn't thought of it much then. Now, it was the key to everything.

Snake finally broke the silence. "You really think it's the nanomachines?"

Otacon didn't answer right away. He stared at the results as they came up on-screen with rows of code, chemical signatures, timestamps, all aligning with one another in horrifying clarity.

"They're there," he said quietly. "She was injected with nanomachines."

Snake straightened. "When?"

Otacon zoomed in, narrowing the margin. His voice grew tighter. "Date of presence aligns with her time in captivity. Right after she was captured by the Patriots."

Snake swore under his breath, rising to look at the screen with him.

Otacon ran a secondary scan, comparing neural activity samples, mapping the side effects. "It wasn't just a tracking system. These nanomachines were doing something else."

"What do you mean?"

"They're affecting her brain. Directly. These types of patterns—I've only seen them in experimental cognitive warfare programs. They're implanting false memory signatures. Simulated dream sequences. Constructed fears." Otacon looked up, troubled. "Her nightmares. The battles she dreamed about... The Boss. The Cold War. The battlefield she didn't even recognize... They weren't dreams. They were injections. Narratives designed to look and feel real."

Snake stepped back, his throat dry. "Why would they do that?"

Otacon shook his head. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this. Not even the SOP system used that kind of manipulation. This is more psychological than tactical... but still incredibly advanced. They weren't just watching her. They were... rewriting her."