March 12th, 1975
"Paz!" Chico cried as she was dragged out of her cage again.
Even if she didn't appreciate his rescue attempt, Chico still couldn't bear the thought of Paz going through another day of torture. That uncomfortable truth haunted him for an hour until another soldier approached his cell. He wasted no time in opening the door to his cage and aimed his rifle at the young boy.
"On your feet!" the soldier ordered.
"Okay..." Chico fearfully replied.
The soldier escorted the captured revolutionary to his jeep and drove him to the Administration Building of the naval base. The jeep soon stopped in front of a large gate, providing Chico with a view of how secure the base was. The surplus of guards, armories, watchtowers and anti-air guns... This realization was what finally hammered it into the child how foolish it was to try and rescue Paz on his own. But he couldn't lose hope, because if he did... then any chance of rescuing Paz would truly be lost. Suddenly, the gate slowly opened revealing a section of the base that was even more secured than what he has seen so far. There were cameras around every corners and guards covering the blind spot of each one.
"How does Snake deal with this every day?" Chico mumbled as the soldier parked his jeep in front of a nearby armory.
The moment the engine stopped the guard dragged Chico to the boiler room where he found Paz indeed suffering another day of torture.
"Paz..." the child muttered.
"You've got company..." Skull Face informed Paz.
Skull Face approached the frightened boy and slapped him across his face.
"Does it hurt?" asked Skull Face.
Chico didn't respond. He couldn't respond. He wasn't sure what the right answer would be or whether there was a right one at all. Unfortunately, that indecisiveness resulted in him being mercilessly slapped again.
"Talk," Skull Face demanded.
Skull Face struck the young boy once more.
"Talk!" Skull Face demanded once more before striking Chico again. "You can speak, can't you?
Skull Face then jerked Chico towards him, intimidating the boy even more than he had yesterday.
"Then talk," Skull Face ordered before shoving him back to the concrete floor.
"Okay!" Chico relented. "Okay..."
"Good boy," Skull Face smirked. "Your boss and I go way back. Don't count on him coming to rescue you. If you're a real soldier, you'll find your own way out. But don't bother trying to escape. Let's say you get lucky – and you don't look very lucky – and by some miracle you get out of your cage. Let's even say you're able to elude the guards. Then what?
The nearest Cuban border is four miles to the east. Four miles of barren, America-controlled soil. Think you'd make it? You wouldn't get any help from the Cubans. And the border's a mess of live minefields. Think you'd make it through that? With your girlfriend in tow? If you were that lucky, you wouldn't even be here right now."
Skull Face's words drilled into Chico the reality of his situation. The only reason he was able to get to the base was because MSF unknowingly gave him a good head start. There was no way he could get himself and Paz out of their predicament by himself and no one knew where he was. There was truly nothing he could do.
"Don't lose hope," said Skull Face. "There's another way out. For both you and the girl. This way is... much simpler. I ask, you answer. Easy, right? Just tell me what you know."
"You're dumber than you look," Paz defiantly chimed in." Wasting your time torturing kids."
Skull Face struck Paz while keeping his eyes trained on Chico.
"Tell me about your base," said Skull Face.
"Chico," Paz gave him a stern look.
Their torturer roughly grabbed Paz by her cheeks and shot Chico a threatening look.
"Well?" asked Skull Face.
"Chico!" Paz shook her head.
Chico didn't know what to say. All he knew was that he couldn't bear seeing Paz tortured again.
"Hit me!" Chico demanded.
Without saying a word, Skull Face accepted his response and swung a leather belt at Chico's face.
"Again!" the child barked.
"Hmpf. Trying to impress the girl, little man?" Skull Face replied. "How cute."
Skull Face then turned his attention back to Paz and said, "All right. Let's try something else."
The torturer approached the battered and bloodied girl and started swinging his belt at her.
"Stop it!" Chico yelled.
"She'll get what she deserves," said Skull Face. "We were comrades, once. But she betrayed us. Deception and deceit. What better proof she's a... real woman."
Skull Face dropped his belt and lifted Paz up by her neck.
"Show him," Skull Face smirked.
"Do you realize what you're doing?!" Paz exclaimed. "Cipher is watching."
Without a word, Skull Face quickly released his grip on Paz's neck, jerked her by her uniform and slammed her against the wall.
"Let go of me!" Paz demanded. "You'll be next! Your hideous face wi..."
To Chico's horror, the inhuman torturer tore off Paz's uniform and tossed her in front of him.
"Repulsive, isn't it?" asked Skull Face. "Look. Look carefully."
Chico couldn't help but look over Paz. He was shocked by how many bruises and scars she had. It was at that point when Chico realized that she had a darker history then he had realized.
"Watch out when you grow up, boy. This is the kind of woman you'll want to avoid," said Skull Face. "Of course, scars like those make it rather difficult to lead a normal life. I should know."
Skull Face turned to a nearby marine and handed him a chain to string Paz up by her arms. He then turned his attention back to Chico and laid out the how the situation would proceed.
"Talk, and you both go free," Skull Face explained.
"Chico, no!" Paz begged as she was tortured. "Don't..."
"Only you can stop this," Skull Face calmly pointed out.
"Don't talk!" Paz begged him. "Chico, please! No!"
Suffering torture far worse than the days before, Paz could no longer scream. All she could do was hum the song she was meant to perform on MSF's Peace Day. Hearing those subtle hums caused Chico to once again question every action Paz has made. Why did she hijack Metal Gear ZEKE? Why did she threaten Snake and MSF? Why was she here? And most importantly, why did she bother to protect them now?
"Paz..." Chico mumbled, trying his best to hold back the tears. "Why?"
Hours of nonstop torture passed by until Skull Face finally ordered the marine to stop. His unmerciful gaze was then directed to Chico.
"Move," Skull Face ordered. "Get up."
"Huh?" Chico replied.
"You heard me," Skull Face jerked him up to his knees and forced him to keep his eyes on Paz. "Do you like what you see?"
"...Huh?" the confused boy forced himself to keep his eyes trained on Paz's face.
"I said... Do you like what you see?" Skull Face repeated in a more threatening tone, tightening his grip on his prisoner. "It's like... fruit. Does she look sweet or sour? A man has to know these things. Time for a taste test."
Skull Face released Paz from her bonds and threw her in front of Chico.
"Either you take her – now – or you're strung up next," Skull Face instructed.
Chico's eyes widened with horror as he processed what he was told. He shook his head and was thrown to the ground. He didn't want to do it. He couldn't. Not like this. He fearfully glanced down at the weak and fragile prisoner behind him.
"Don't worry, Chico," Paz weakly smiled.
"No..." he replied under his breath. "No..."
"It's okay, Chico..." Paz assured him. "You won't hurt me."
"I don't..." Chico refused.
"Get on with it," Skull Face ordered.
"I can't..." said Chico.
"Chico!" Paz pleaded.
"No..." Chico continued to refuse.
"Come on," Paz pleaded once more.
Sometime later, Skull Face escorted Chico to the jeep that brought him there, where an unconscious Paz awaited him.
"...Out at sea... Staff of 300... but usually there's less than that... the base is protected by a bipedal weapon armed with a nuke acquired from Peace Walker... ZEKE... Metal Gear..." Chico repeated like a broken record.
"See? That wasn't so hard," Skull Face congratulated the boy.
"You got what you wanted," angry child snapped. "Aren't you satisfied?!"
"We're halfway there," said Skull Face.
Chico was forced into the jeep and was taken back to the prison camp along with Paz. As soon as the guards left, the frustrated child turned his attention towards the horizon and finally realized that it was night time. Was this going to be his life now? Being tortured into selling out his comrades again and again?
"Chico. Chico?" he heard Paz call him.
He turned around and watched Paz stagger onto her knees.
"...Thought you didn't want to talk to me," Chico muttered.
"There's... one thing I want to say," said Paz.
"What...?"
Paz forced closer to the bars that separated them and spoke the one thing that he didn't expect to hear.
"I missed you, Chico," Paz said with a small smile.
Chico face grew red. It was the same reaction he had when Paz first smiled at him when they first met. Except that was a charade back then; nothing more than a ruse. This time it was for real.
"...Yeah," Chico nervously nodded.
"Come here," said Paz.
"Huh?"
Chico inched his way towards Paz, wondering what she could possibly want. He reached the bars between them and was immediately embraced by her. Before he could process what was happening, he felt Paz's bruised and bloodied lips press themselves against his. Paz or Pacifica, this warmth and affection was something he wanted for a long time. It was a moment that should be enjoyed.
"...No," Chico said, backing out of the kiss.
But it couldn't.
"...Sorry." Paz apologized.
"Enough already," Chico pushed her arms away.
He immediately turned away from Paz and banged his head against another set cell bars. It couldn't be enjoyed. He didn't want to enjoy it. He didn't deserve it. He wanted to kill himself and begun to wish that Snake didn't give him a new life and put him down like the traitor he was. Those feelings would haunt his thoughts until he heard something else that he never expected to hear.
"You want to do it here?" Paz proposed.