Otacon looked back at him, briefly torn between bemusement at Snake's obvious defensiveness or trepidation over answering that question. Hadn't he wondered about that before on his first day here? If it wasn't just a game — if there was a method to why people were brought here, then it put into rather ominous perspective their choice of three of the best soldiers in FOXHOUND, and a weapons engineer. Federal training. Could the theories really be right? Were they all trapped inside some kind of Force XXI nightmare?

"Maybe there is a connection," Otacon said quietly. He paused, gathering his thoughts despite already knowing where to start. "My grandfather was part of the Manhattan Project, and my father was born on the day of the Hiroshima bombing. And I... created Metal Gear REX, the first Metal Gear capable of launching an undetectable and untraceable nuke. At the time, I believed we were developing a mobile TMD, thanks to a combination of bureaucracy, divided labour and my own naivety and... and arrogance. I should have asked more questions, but I didn't. I learned too late what I'd done."

Two fingertips nudged his glasses back into place, and Otacon lifted his chin again. By now, he was used to bearing the burden of REX.

"You were the one who told me, actually. It was how we first met."