Blade

Escape and Training

My name is Shinji Ikari; I'm a prisoner of war. A war I never knew existed, being waged by two groups that I never thought were real; Templars, and Assassins. The Animus showed me the truth. The things I've seen, the things I've been; over a thousand of history flowing through my veins, brought to life by this machine.

They're using it, using me, to search for something. They call it the apple. It's an artifact, one of many, that they call Pieces of Eden. The Templars collect them; it's how they stay in power. If they get their hands on another one, Everything could end.

When I was first brought here, I was afraid of what would happen if I tried to fight these people. Now, I'm scared of what will happen if I don't.

But I can't do this alone, and maybe I won't have to. One of the workers here, Lucy Stillman, is probably the reason I haven't been killed yet. I think she's on my side. But now she's gone, taken by that son of a bitch Vidic and his fellow Templars. I don't know what'll happen to her, I don't even know what'll happen to me. But I do know one thing; I need to get out of here. The previous test subject, Subject 02, went insane. He killed himself, and probably another person if the amount of blood is anything to go by, and made these strange markings in the cell they now hold me in. Markings that I'm starting to see, as if the blood was never cleaned off.

My name is Shinji Ikari; this is my story.

I sat on my bed, staring at the marks left by my predecessor. I could here someone coming from down the hall. The steel door slid open, presumably so that another nameless tech could come and take me to the Animus.

I looked over to the entree, surprised at who it was.

"Lucy, where have you bee-" She cut me off.

"We have to go." I couldn't disagree with that statement, so I followed her out of the cell.

While following her, I noticed something on her shirt. "What's with the blood? Are you okay?"

We'd reached the Animus. "Look Shinji, we have maybe ten minutes, maybe, before they realize what I've done. If we're not out of her by then…" She was breaking me out?

"We're getting out of here?" She gestured to the Animus.

"I promise I'll answer all of your answers later, but right now I need you to get in the Animus." By the look in her eyes, it seemed like this was important. I got onto the table, and felt the pinpricks of the needles going into my spine as the visor covered my face.

This is different. Normally I'd be reliving the life of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad. Instead, I saw a stream of DNA reading Animus Test Subject 03: Shinji Ikari. I saw another strand appear to the left of the first. Animus Test Subject 02: I.D. Confidential.

Searching for relevant Memory Data…

Match Found

Now Downloading…

I felt the Animus starting to power down again.

"Get up, we need to move." Damnit, do you not realize how much this thing throws off your balance?

I swung my legs over the table and put a bit of pressure on them.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need a minute."

"There isn't time Shinji, we need to move." Lucy was already at the door. By the time she got it opened I was able to move around fairly well.

Once we were in the hallway, I saw something that scared the hell out of me. Two guards were coming around a corner. Lucy leaned back and said "Stay close." What did she think I would do?

And they've seen us. "Hey! You're not supposed to be up here!" Lucy started punching in the code for a door. "I'm calling this in." The door was open. I followed Lucy down the corridor. "We have a breach in the Research Wing. I repeat; there's been a breach in the Research Wing. Requesting backup from all available security personnel." As he finished speaking, Lucy turned another corner. Which had a pair of guards. With night-sticks. Shit.

"There they are." The guard reached out to grab her. She responded by knocking away the hand and throwing him into the wall. The other took a swing at her with his stick. She grabbed the weapon and the unfortunate guard got a broken jaw for his trouble. She then hit the other guard in the back of the head for good measure.

"Holy Shit!" I ran after Lucy, slowing as she opened another door. An elevator, good. I remembered something important.

"What about the cameras?" If they knew where we were, they could guess where we were headed and cut us off.

"I rigged them to loop old footage. How do you think I hid your nighttime snooping from the Templars?" I thought she was the one who was leaving me those passwords.

"You're good." I never would have been able to manage something like that.

"So I've been told. But they're probably onto us by now. We need to hurry." The elevator reached the floor. Lucy gestured to me "Careful…" Why is there a maze in the middle of the building? We need to get to the elevator on the other side of this room. Follow my lead. And be sure to keep away from security; I want to avoid a fight if possible." Fair enough. We got through without incident. When we got to the elevator door itself… "Damnit, I thought my code would work. It must be on a different system. We'll have to-" I really wasn't listening to her, and she seemed to have caught on. Something weird happened with my eyes. I could see finger prints on the keys.

3-2-4-7… Shit

7-4-2-3… come on

2-3-7-4… yes

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know." That's wrong, I know exactly what that was. But how could I use Altair's Eagle Vision.

No time to stop and think about it. I followed her into the elevator.

The garage was thankfully clear of guards. I'd hate to think of how it would have gone if we'd had to fight our way through. I followed Lucy to one of the cars. She popped the trunk and looked at me. "Get in."

"You're joking." I'm being shoved into a trunk again.

"It's for your own protection." I resigned myself to the inevitable and climbed in. "We're almost there."

I felt the car stop moving. I wonder where we are now. I heard someone come around to open the trunk. I guess we got away safely. I started to climb out.

"Thanks for that, it was great. Getting shoved in a trunk, bouncing around; that was fun, can we do it again?" Looking around, I it seemed we were in some kind of warehouse.

I looked over to Lucy, "This way." She started walking towards some stairs.

"So, you ready to tell me what's happening?"

"There was a reason for the escape, Shinji."

"Well that's kind of obvious, are you going to tell me what that reason is?"

"We need your help."

"For what, another treasure hunt through time?" I just finished doing that.

"The Templars are going to replace their Apple. The map your ancestor found guarantees it. The other Assasins… they'll do what they can, but…"

"But what?"

"We're losing this war Shinji. We were hit a lot harder by the impact than the Templars were, and they were able to secure control of the U.N. Everyday, more of us die…"

"I still don't see how I fit into all of this."

"We're going to train you, turn you into one of us."

"Me, an Assassin? No way, I can't do this. Besides, it would take months, years even, to train me." There wouldn't be enough time for me to be able to make a difference.

"Not with the Animus, not with the Bleeding Effect." She's right about that last part, but still…

"But I'm just one kid." Not even a teenager yet.

"Sometimes, one person is all you need to make a difference. And as for your age, it'll work for you." As she was talking, something clicked in my head.

"So that's why you found him, my ancestor. What was his name? Ezio?"

"If you can follow in his footsteps, you can learn everything he did. Just like he did. Years of training and experience, absorbed in a couple of days." We were coming up to the top of the stairs.

"So that's why you broke me out, to make me an Assassin." It wasn't a question.

"There's more to it than just that, but it'll have to wait. Just trust me." You tell me that you aren't telling me everything, and then you want me to trust you? Then again, I don't really have a lot of options. If I leave, the Templars will just capture me again.

"I'm in; just tell me what to do." The fact that I want revenge is pretty good incentive too.

"Are you serious?" She seems surprised for some reason.

"I thought you'd be a little happier about this." And it's the only option available.

"I'm just a little surprised. I spent the whole ride over here trying to figure out how to get you to-"

"Save it. After what those bastards put me through, I'm ready, willing, and able."

She walked over and hugged me. "Thank you." That's the most affection I've been shown in years.

I followed her down the hall into a large room. There were two other people in it. There was a dark brown haired woman wearing headphones, sitting in front of a chair with a bunch of electronics seemingly connected to it. At the other end, there was a man with light brown hair and glasses. His desk had one computer and several folders and documents scattered across it. The woman was the first to notice us. She stood up and walked over "Lucy, it's been so long!" the two women embraced. "Seven years; can you believe it?"

The man walked over from his desk. "Indeed; welcome back Lucy." He turned to look at me "And this must be Subject 03."

"Who are you?" His accent doesn't seem American… British?

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Shaun Hastings, and this is Rebecca Crane."

The aforementioned woman looked over to me. "Nice to meet you Shinji." She seems nice enough.

Hastings spoke up again. "Right, well it's been lovely chatting, but if you don't mind, it's best we get to work right away. Time is precious" no arguing with that "doubly so these days" he muttered the last bit.

Lucy then handed Rebecca what looked to me like a little metal cube. "I brought you something. A little parting gift from the Templars."

"Whoa! The memory core? Things will go a lot smoother with their data. I'll get to work on uploading it to the Animus." She went to work on her computer.

I decided to talk with these two and see what I could learn about what they did. From what I could gather, Shaun was in charge of gathering information and Rebecca managed their Animus. She claimed that anything the Templars could create, she could make better and faster.

The Animus itself was much different than the table at the Templars HQ. For one thing, it was a chair. "So how does this work?" She took out a needle, making a sympathetic face. "Of course. Ow!"

Shaun spoke up "What are you, a little child?"

As I felt myself beginning to lose consciousness to enter the memory, I shouted out "Yes!"

I spent the rest of that day reliving a few years of the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a son of an aristocrat in renaissance Italy, and an Assassin. As I relived his acquisition of his skills, my actual body began to change to allow it to do the same. The Bleeding Effect is truly an amazing thing, in moderation. In larger amounts however, it could drive a person insane. Like what happened to 02.

So it was probably a good thing Lucy and Rebecca pulled me out of the Animus. Lucy decided that it would be a good time to test the progress of the Bleeding Effect by having me go through an obstacle course in the main floor of the warehouse. My strength, speed, flexibility, and balance were unbelievable. I'd never even seen the actual course she put me through or done anything like it (with my real body), but was able to do the course like it was part of an everyday routine.

After the test, I asked Lucy something I'd been thinking about for a while. "I've been wondering, why Ezio? I mean, we could have just as easily gone back to Altair again; relived his early days."

"You have a right to know. Around the time when 02 died, Vidic started becoming obsessed with Italy. Trying to find something there." And thanks to Ezio, I knew what.

"The Codex; they're trying to find it!" If they get a hold of that, then we're pretty much fucked. That thing has every important piece of information about the Assassins for over a thousand years.

"Now do you see? If they get a hold of that, then they gain yet another advantage over us." And it could be the advantage that finally kills the Assassins.

"Then we need to figure out what happened to it soon."

"You're right about that, but this is still primarily training for you. Don't forget that."

"I got it." The long term effects could give me problems later on.

"You spent a long time in the Animus today, you should get some rest."

While in the Animus the next day, I began to grow concerned about the long-term effects on my mind. Physically, I was still a child; but I had the psychological experience of a twenty-three year long quest for vengeance, with all the memories of killing that accompanied that.

I stopped to focus for a moment. I can think about this later, this memory looks pretty important. Ezio Auditore had finally eliminated the last of the group of Templars he had been hunting. Using the Pieces of Eden they had fought with, Ezio opened a hidden room inside the Vatican. A bright light appeared before him and spoke thus "Greetings prophet, it is good that you have come. Let us see it; to give thanks." At this, Ezio held out a golden sphere, an Apple, and the light took on the form of a woman.

The woman looked over Ezio's left shoulder. "We must speak." If I didn't know better, I'd swear she was looking at me.

Ezio seemed to have recovered his voice "Who are you?" The woman's attention was returned to Ezio.

"I have gone by many names. When I died, it was Minerva. Before that, Merva and Mera. And on and on." She gestured to her left, "The others too; Juno, who was before called Uni; and Jupiter, who was once Tinia."

The names of these Roman deities seemed to click in Ezio's head. "You are… Gods." Awe was evident in his voice.

"No, not gods. We simply came… before. Even as we walked the earth, your kind struggled to comprehend our existence. We were more advanced. Your minds were not ready." She seemed to be looking at me again. But that couldn't actually be what she was doing, could it? "Still… not; perhaps never." Her face turned grim. "You may not comprehend us, but you will understand our warning. You must."

Ezio still did not understand what was happening any better than I did. "None of what you are saying makes any sense."

Minerva appears irritated with him. "Our words are not meant for you." She looked back to where I was.

… Holy shit.

"What are you talking about; there is no one else here."

"Enough! I do not wish to speak with you but through you. You are the Prophet. You've played your part. You anchor him, but please be quiet. So that we may commune." I stand by my previous statement on the situation. Minerva's physical from faded out. "Listen. When we were still flesh, and our home still whole, your kind betrayed us. We, who made you! We, who gave you life! We were strong; but you were many. And we both craved war. So busy were we with earthly affairs, we ignored the heavens. And by the time we noticed the impending destruction, it was to late to stop it. The world was nearly destroyed, and it ought have been the end. But we built you in our image. We built you to survive. And so we did. Few were our numbers; both your kind and mine. It took sacrifice, strength, compassion. But we rebuilt. And as life returned to the world, we endeavored to ensure such a tragedy would never be repeated. But now we are dying, and time has worked against us. The truth has been made into myth, and legend. That which we built, misunderstood. Let my words preserve this message, and make a record of our loss. But let my words also bring hope. Man will have a way to fight back. Man will have weapons to act as a sword and shield against what destroyed us. There will be few who can wield these weapons; but with them, this world might be saved. You must be quick. And guard against the cross. Their influence spreads farther than you believe." Minerva reappeared. "It is done; the message is delivered. We are gone now from this world. All of us. We can do no more. The rest is up to you Shinji."

I felt myself being pulled out of the Animus.

"What the Fuck!?" I was disoriented from being in the Animus. The others were running around and an alarm was blaring.

"…There's only about ten minutes until they get…"

"…Need all of my equipment…"

"…Ready to go before they do…"

"Shinji!" Lucy's yelling at me.

"Yeah yeah" I was rubbing my eyes.

"Shaun, I need you and Rebecca get everything in here packed and loaded into the truck. Shinji, you and I will deal with the Templars."

"What, they're here!?" I was up now.

Shaun answered "It was only a matter of time before they discovered us. To be honest, I'm surprised it took them as long as they did." How long have you been here then!?

Lucy got my attention. "Let's go." She tossed what most would see as a gauntlet towards me. We knew exactly what it really was, and how deadly it could be. Looks like I'm getting a real-life test of my new abilities.

I set up the weapon on my left arm, finding that unlike Ezio's equipment, there was only a blade to work with. That'll be enough. I followed Lucy to the stairs.

"So what's the plan? We ditch this place, and then what?"

"There's a safe house, it's-" the power cut out. "We've got company." I stopped for a second, and my vision became much clearer. I could see where Lucy was, and I could see the Templars moving below. I knew this sensation. The power held by my ancestors; Eagle Vision.

We got down the stairs just in time to see a group of Templars come around a corner. Vidic was with them.

"Little Shinji! What an unexpected turn of events. And here I thought that we'd have to waste more men hunting you down. So nice of you to save me the trouble." Before I was kidnapped I would have run away. After I'd started being trained in the Animus I'd have flicked out my blade and charged him head-on. Now I waited; there has to be some reason he came personally.

"What do you want Vidic!?"

"For you to come home, of course. We miss you terribly. There's still so much work for us to do."

"It's not happening, Warren." I agree with you there Lucy.

"You continue to disappoint me in every conceivable way, Ms. Stillman. I saved your life once. Do you remember? And This is how you repay me?"

"You saved me so you could keep experimenting on people! Ruining all of those people's lives, for what?"

"Oh, not this tired old argument again. As I recall, you were right there with me, every step of the way. Their blood is on your hands, just as much as it is on mine."

Lucy turned to me. "You need to stop him."

I intended to do that already. "I'm on it." Vidic ran off while guards moved to surround Lucy, only one of them coming towards me. It's killing time. I flicked my blade out and dived into the man, my blade slipping between his ribs and destroying his heart. I started slashing at the guards, knocking their weapons aside and slashing their necks. The last one I killed had tried to hit me with his night-stick. I ducked under the strike and grabbed the stick as I turned away from him, being carried by the momentum of my slash. Lucy was holding her own against the three guards still surrounding her. At some point she'd picked up one of their weapons.

"I'll be fine. Go after Vidic!"

I ran off in the direction he'd headed to find another wave of grunts. These bastards can't lay a finger on me now. I tore threw most of them, leaving a couple to Lucy as she came around the corner. I could see Vidic standing in the back of the giant truck parked in the new hole in the wall.

"Looks like you're the last man standing doc." I heard the engine start.

"Enjoy your victory boy, temporary as it is." The truck drove off.

"Shinji, we have to go!" I ran back and got in the van with the others.

"You'll get your turn; Warren's going to get what he deserves."

"So now what?" She mentioned a safe house earlier.

"Rebecca's going over the tapes from your Animus sessions. As for us, it's time we tell you everything. What do you know about the Second Impact?"