Disclaimer- I do not own Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid or Metal Gear Rising. All rights belong to Hideo Kojima and Konami.

"I've wanted to join the military since I was little." A young man thought to himself as he marched with nine other young men and women down a military compound to the quart yard.

"I've always wanted to feel like I was making some sort of difference in the world even though all of this worlds nations and countries have known almost twenty years of peace." He continued thinking.

"And most of all, I wanted to have the chance, or at least try to, to meet my childhood hero, Solid Snake. But unfortunately, I never got the chance to. He passed away before I was even old enough to register for the military." The young man continued to think.

"But now, I, along with many others, have been chosen to participate in some sort of test or exam. I don't know what's going on, but it must be important if they chose the top ten rookies to take part in this." He thought as he continued marching with nine others before stopping and turned to the right to face their drill sergeant, who had a red headed woman standing beside him. The woman eyed each and every one of the ten rookies before her eyes landed on the young man, and for a brief moment she looked shocked, surprised even, before quickly regaining her composure.

The drill sergeant took one step forward and began to speak.

"Cadets! All ten of you have been gathered here today to take part in a special test to see if one of you have what it takes to be part of the Stealth Unit! All of you are at the top of your class! So it's only fitting for you to know who this woman behind me is, and why exactly she is here besides finding new recruits for U.S armies Stealth Unit! Allow me to introduce you to Meryl Silverburgh!" The drill sergeant shouts and steps back as Meryl steps forward to address the ten rookies.

All ten rookies keep quiet as Meryl steps close to all of them before she smiles.

"Judging by your silence, I assume you all know who I am?" She asks.

"Yes ma'am!" They all shout. Meryl smiles wider and nods.

"Good. Then this will be easier for all of us." She says before losing her smile and gains a serious look on her face before pacing back and forth while addressing the rookies.

"You all know who I am. You all know what I'm capable of and the things I've done in the past. Well, you should also know who I was friends with before he passed away." She begins while pacing and keeping an eye on all ten rookies in front of her.

"And in case you all don't know I am no longer an active soldier, I am an active mother and wife to my family, but because of my reputation and relationship to a certain legendary hero, the president and others in the White House have asked me to oversee this test to recruit the one person who will rise above the rest. That person... is one of you." She said as she stops and points to all ten of the rookies. They all look at each other in confusion before looking back at Meryl, who had begun pacing again.

"Now, I know what you're all thinking. Is there really going to be a test? Or, what does this special test have to do with anything?" She says before stopping to look at them all again.

"And my answer is, yes, there is going to be a test, but not a test that you're thinking about. Not exactly at least. And my other answer is, everything. This test has to do with EVERYTHING." She answers while looking at them. They all look at each other in confusion again, except one. And Meryl could see that, because he was looking right at her.

The nine rookies whispered to each other before Meryl spoke up, silencing them.

"Quick question for all of you. You all know who I am, but do you have any idea of who I'm talking about when I said I was friends with a legendary hero?" She asks. The rookies look to each other to come up with an answer but they all shake their heads, not knowing who Meryl was talking about, even though they should.

But the young man raised his hand while keeping his gaze on Meryl. She points to him before walking up to him. She stops in front of the young man and stares back into his hazel yellow eyes while he stared into her sapphire blue eyes.

"What's your name, kid?" She asks him.

"Adam Eagles, ma'am." He answers. Meryl nods and smiles before speaking again.

"Adam, who is the legendary hero I'm talking about?" She asks him as they both stare each other down.

Adam waits for a moment before he answers.

"The man you're talking about, Mrs. Silverburgh, is Solid Snake." He answers. Meryl nods before taking a step back to speak again.

"That's correct. The man I'm talking about is the legendary Solid Snake. I'm actually genuinely surprised that nine of you didn't know who I was talking about." She says while pacing back and forth once again.

One of the rookies raises her hand, Meryl notices her and and points to her for the young woman to speak.

"Mrs. Silverburgh, if the man your talking about is Solid Snake, then what does he have to do with us?" She asks. Meryl nods and stops again while looking at them all.

"Because this test is going to decide which one of you will be the next "Snake". All of you will be put through series of VR training that resembles situations that Snake went through while he was alive." She answers.

All the rookies look at each other and whisper except Adam, he just kept staring at Meryl, he was trying to show that he wasn't scared or afraid, but he was shaking in his boots. He gulped as multiple thoughts ran through his head.

"Jesus Christ, those are going to be big boots to fill if one of us passes this test. This... is going to be both interesting and frightening." He thought as he gulped again before Meryl began to speak again.

"Now, considering that nine of you had no idea who I was talking about, I will tell you all, including you Adam, what situations you will be put through in VR. The first major situation will be Solid Snake's first ever mission of his life, which is when he infiltrated Outer Heaven. The second is the Zanzibar Land Incident. The third is..." Meryl paused for a moment before inhaling to speak again.

"The third is the Shadow Moses Incident. The fourth will be both the Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident. And finally, the fifth major situation will be the Guns of the Patriots Incident." Meryl concluded while keeping an eye on the reactions of the "Snake" candidates.

Every single one of them looked terrified, and with good reason. Nine of them had no idea who Solid Snake was or what incidents he was a part of that he had to prevent, but then there's Adam. He knows perfectly well who Snake was and the incidents he took part in. So Adam knows full well what he's getting into. Yes, he's terrified, but he knows exactly what he needs to do in these VR training tests because he knows every piece of history that Snake was part of. But if he is to be the new "Snake" he will have to make his own decisions and live with all the choices he makes. He will have to eventually think, "What would Adam do?", not "What would Snake do?"

Meryl smiles faintly while subtlety keeping her eyes on Adam.

"The fact that he looks like Snake makes this even more interesting if he passes the tests and earns the title. I just hope he's up for the challenge." She thought before shaking her head slightly before she addressed the rookies again.

"Alright! Now that you know why you were summoned here today, we will give you one day to mentally prepare yourselves for these tests. Because they will take up five days to complete. Five tests, five days. So, all of you get some rest and prepare yourselves for tomorrow. After those five days one of you will have a much more different life once the tests are over. That is all for now. Dismissed!" Meryl said with both enthusiasm and worry for all of them.

They all saluted Meryl and the drill sergeant before turning on their heels to march back to their quarters.

"Adam, wait just a moment." Meryl called out.

Adam stopped and turned around to face Meryl with confusion on his face.

"Yes, ma'am?" He said as she walked up to him.

"Look, I know what you're thinking, and trust me when I say this, you're all going to be fine. Yes, this test may challenge you guys mentally and physically to see if you have what it takes, not just for the title of "Snake", but to see if you belong here." She said as Adam just listened while she continued.

"Taking tests is one thing, but taking a life and making difficult choices on the battlefield is another thing entirely. Trust me, Adam, you're all at the top of your class, but test scores don't mean anything when you're out in the field. You know that, don't you?" She asked him.

Adam nodded his head before he answered.

"Yes, ma'am, I do. I know what the job requires of people. Mrs. Silverburgh... I knew the risks when I signed up for this. And yeah, I'm still a cadet so I still have yet to experience the things you and Snake did during your time together as comrades. But this is what I signed up for, I know the risks, so there's no turning back now." Adam explained as Meryl just smiled with each word he spoke. She nodded before turning around to walk away, but Adam spoke again.

"Mrs. Silverburgh, don't think I didn't notice."

Meryl stopped and turned her head to look back at him.

"Notice what?" She asked.

"When we all lined up, you looked at all of us, but when your eyes landed on me you looked like you were shocked or surprised. Why?" Adam asked her curiously. Meryl smiled.

"Because you look like him, you know? David." She answered. Adam looked at her in confusion.

"Who?" He asked before Meryl laughed.

"David was Snakes real name. Not many people knew that. I don't even think Raiden knew. I think he knew him only by his code name. But that doesn't matter, we all knew him for what and who he really was, a hero. Even though he never thought he was, we all knew. So, that's why I looked surprised, you look a lot like him. Except for the eyes. His eyes were blue. Yours are more like a hazel yellow." She answered with a smile before she continued.

"And since I'm being honest here let me say this, I have hope for you Adam. I'm not picking favorites but I have hope for you. Your scores are way off the charts, but remember, test scores mean nothing on the battlefield. We'll see how well you and the others do tomorrow." She said as Adam nodded his head.

Meryl nodded as well.

"Now, go rest up Adam. You all have a big day tomorrow, so make sure you get as much rest as possible. I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Dismissed." She said before turning around to walk away with the drill sergeant.

Adam stood there for a moment longer before turning around and walk back to his quarters to rest up for upcoming VR tests in the morning.

"Let's see how all of this turns out." He thought as he walked.