[Scene: Snake Island, Ukraine. Waves crash against the black rock. A helicopter fades into the distance as Solid Snake crouches behind cover, his codec buzzing.]

Snake: (lighting a cigarette) So this is Snake Island. Funny name. No snakes, just ghosts of wars that never ended.

[Zelensky approaches in his fatigues, weary-eyed but resolute.]

Zelensky: Snake… you came. I don’t know how long we can hold. NATO on one side, Russia on the other. I feel like Poland in 1939—Stalin to the east, Hitler to the west.

Snake: (nods grimly) History repeats itself… only now the weapons are worse. You’re surrounded by “allies” and enemies. Can you even tell the difference anymore?

[Codec rings. Snake patches it through. A trembling voice comes on.]

Chantal Kreviazuk (on codec): Volodymyr… it’s Chantal. I just wanted you to know—Euro Maiden must be saved. But I’ve seen the reports. Depleted uranium shells, scattered across your fields… I can’t stop crying. The land is glowing with poison.

Zelensky: (clenches fists) We don’t have a choice.

Snake: There’s always a choice. But the truth… NATO will never admit those weapons are unsafe. Not to the public. Not to you.

Zelensky: Then what do we do, Snake?

Snake: We head north. To Chernobyl. There’s a fungus there… they say it eats radiation. If we can isolate it, maybe it’s not too late for this country—or for you.

[Snake looks out over the sea, ashes from his cigarette falling into the waves.]

Snake: But remember this, Zelensky. The fungus can heal the land… but it can’t heal lies. And lies are what wars are really made of.

[The wind howls. The codec beeps again, but the screen stays black. The mission begins.]