April 27th 2015

Brandon Docks, Chicago

Wednesday, 9:30 pm

The modern day never seemed to amaze me. In a world where we were all connected, and where our entire lives were reduced to megabytes and strings of ones and zeros on a screen, I was amazed at how similar some things were.

I still rode the L train through Chicago to clear my head. The rumble of the tracks and the ambient murmur of conversations helped soothe me. It made me feel a bit less lonely. Today, however, was not one of those days. I was on my way to grab Robbie from his own method of meditation.

The L train ground to a halt, and I stepped off onto the platform in Rhodes, breathing in the crisp autumn air. I was in the Brandon Docks, a place known for it's shady types and deals. The Black Viceroys owned a lot of the area, and it showed through the graffiti, through the burnt out and shot up cars, and especially through the lack of police - they were either too scared to get too close to the Wards, or they were already paid off.

I made my way down the stairs of the train station and walked along the rode, checking my phone for the GPS. Eventually, I was led to a small congregation of storage units off the main road, backing onto the old railroads. I looked around at garage doors, checking my phone for which one I was looking for. However, I didn't even need to look at my phone, as I heard cheers coming from the one with the largest door, with chipped and faded white paint.

I looked at the electronic lock on the door, and with a few taps on my phone, it began to creak and jutter its way open. Light flooded into the dingy room, which was lit with one sole lightbulb as I gazed inside.

Exposed brick walls with folded tables and a truck parked up against the back - all usual things to see. Apart from the handful of men watching two other men fight. Sitting on top, with a bloody fist raised was a man with a shaved head, muscles rippling and his shirt missing. Below him, was Robbie - lean, with a messy array of dark hair, bleeding from a large gash on his lip.

"Afternoon." Robbie grinned, before he grabbed the man on top by the throat, and propelled a heavy punch into the man's ribs, knocking him off. Robbie then sat on top of the other man, holding a hand around his throat in a vice-like grip.

"Outside. Now." I ordered.

"Come on Edie, it's just a bit of fun-" Robbie shrugged as he talked to me, only the man beneath him took this opportunity and punched Robbie in the stomach, "Motherfucker!" Robbie grabbed the man's head and launched his own down with a smack. The man fell onto the floor, his head lolling from left to right.

"It's important." I said, moving back and out of the garage.

Moments later, Robbie came out, holding his jacket and shoving several dollar bills into his wallet. He looked at me for several moments before speaking.

"Ah, the angry silence. It's like music to my ears." He put a cigarette in his mouth.

"I'm not angry, I'm disappointed." I said, taking the cigarette and throwing it onto the ground. He simply grinned.

"Easily mistaken. So, go on then," Robbie moved away from the garage door, which began to close again, "what's this big news of yours?"

I followed Robbie down the side road, next to a collection of wheel-less cars, riddled with bullet holes.

"You remember the blackout two years ago?"

"I'm not likely to forget am I?"

I paused. Of course he wasn't - neither of us were. I could still remember the panicked yells from that day, when chaos ruled for less than an hour. But everything changed. Chicago changed, our lives changed, even Robbie and I changed. In a heartbeat, we had lost everything. Absolutely everything.

"No... no, of course you're not." I mumbled, still recalling the darkness of that day.

"What about it?" Robbie asked, placing another cigarette between his lips.

"It wasn't an accident."

"Yeah, I worked that one out," Robbie said, rolling his eyes, "so who was it? Your little band of freedom fighters?"

"Try again." I nodded towards a logo that was graffitied over an old billboard by the tunnel for the L-train, advertising for a hunting store. The logo was two triangles side by side, making up a very rudimentary outline of an animal's head.

"The Fox?" Robbie asked, all traces of mockery vacant in his tone. I nodded.

"I found out his real name. Aiden Pearce."

Robbie looked back to the poster, his fists clenching.

"How do you know he did it?"

I pulled out my phone, loading the video file. I passed it over to him, letting him watch it intently.

"Holy shit..." he muttered, before looking back up at me, "Where did you get this?"

I paused, trying to find a way of saying this that wouldn't prompt another one of his sarcastic gibes.

"I... found it..." I said, unsure of how to lie about it.

"Edie..." Robbie raised an eyebrow.

"We tried to contact him."

"We?" The corner of his lips pulled up into a grin. "What was your end goal?"

"What do you think? The ctOS-"

I was cut off by Robbie's laughter.

"Th-the evil conspiracy of indoctrination thing?" He cackled once again, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Just because you don't believe in it, it doesn't mean it's not true-"

"Bullshit!" Robbie cut me off again. "The only bad thing about ctOS is the people who abuse it."

"What, like me?"

"Of course not like you! Like this Aiden Pearce! Like Raymond Kenny! The bad guys!"

"From where I'm standing, the only enemy is the ctOS."

"So why come out here and tell me about Pearce?" Robbie asked, cocking an eyebrow once again.

"I figured you could use a lead." I said, trying to look away from his smug grin.

"What, you think I'm right now? Trying to make them pay?"

"I'm getting sick of seeing you get a kicking every time you go idle."

Robbie rolled his eyes in response.

We quietly began to walk back to the train station. It had become routine now - whenever I caught him in some fight club, I'd take him back to my apartment for a healthy, cooked meal and some more scolding.

However, this time, our routine was interrupted.

Before we went up the stairs, we heard the breaking news tune. I tried not to pay attention, but then I heard the name.

"...Xavier Maxwell..."

I spun around, stopping in my tracks and doubling back to the WKZ-TV newsstand, which had a live video feed. Xavier Maxwell, the CEO and founder of Blume, was clad in a tuxedo, sporting a large beaming smile of pearly white teeth. He stood at the collection of microphones and began to talk. However, with the curious crowds forming, I had to push my way past to make out what he was saying.

"...The United Kingdom! Everywhere else in between! Their governments investing in our technology to make their cities run more efficiently! That's right folks! Although we were planning on asking - they asked us to put ctOS in their countries!"

The cameras then zoomed in on a video which read, in the font we knew too well from ctOS announcements...

Hello World... I'm ctOS 2.0

I looked back to Robbie, whose smile had faded completely, and was replaced with a clenched jaw and fist. He stormed past the crowds, and into a car park for the many warehouses nearby. I followed after him, and approached him as leant against a wall, smoking his cigarette, with every ounce of him seething.

"They're doing it again." Robbie stated lowly. "They're idiots. People are just going to abuse it again."

"It makes them money Robbie." I tried to explain. "They're not going to just going to bin the whole programme."

"They should!" Robbie snapped. "How many people have died because of that system? How many more blackouts need to happen before they get it?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that." I said sadly, leaning against the wall beside my brother. "Hopefully we can shut it down before someone like the Club gets involved."

"You think they would?" He asked, looking up at me, his eyes hard and impenetrable. I paused, unsure of what to say. Eventually, I elected to be honest.

"I think they could." Robbie dropped his cigarette onto the ground, not bothering to stub it out. "But I also think they can be stopped."

"So let's do it." Robbie said. "Let's stop the Club."

I scoffed, turning away from his joke. But, with another glance at his face, I saw he wasn't joking.

"You're not serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"The Club, Robbie?"

"Why not?"

"Oh, don't be stupid..." I tried to walk away, only to have Robbie grab my arm and turn me back around.

"Edie, we can do this! You could hack them, and I could kill them!"

"Kill them? You couldn't kill anyone Robbie."

"I don't imagine it'd be that hard."

"Robbie, you're talking stupid!"

"Edie..."

Robbie looked at me with his eyes - those dark forest-green eyes that were usually glinting with a joke or an insult - I had only seen him as sincere as he was now once before in my life. It was two years ago, when I told him what had happened during the blackout. How there was nothing anyone could have done.

"Edie, we could help people. We could stop people like Pearce, we could save lives. Isn't that why you joined DedSec? To help people?"

I tried to find a reason to talk him out of this.

"What... where would we tart?"

"You're a hacker right? So, hack. Find a member of the Club, and I'll pay him a visit."

I sighed.

"You're serious about this?"

"Of course I am."

"Robbie, if we do this, we're criminals. There's no going back - once we start this, we have to finish it."

"We didn't start anything," Robbie said, taking out his phone, "Aiden Pearce started this when he killed our father."

I grabbed his arm as he tried to move past me.

"We're not in this for revenge Robbie. We're going to take down the ctOS, we're going to take down Blume, and we're going to take down the Club. But we're doing it because it needs to be done. Pearce doesn't need to die."

"You just find me my targets. Let me worry about Pearce."

Robbie then walked off ahead of me, leaving me to follow him up to the L-train. And this was the night we decided we were going to start a war with the Chicago South Club.

So guys, that was the first chapter - I'm not too sure how long this will be, but I've had this idea knocking around for a while. I will be writing another Watch Dogs story soon, which will be a SYOC, but for now, I want to focus on this.

This was partly inspired by ChaseInSpace's story, Watch Dogs Rise of the Wolf (/s/11851665/1/Watch-Dogs-Rise-of-The-Wolf), and I borrowed the news broadcast from his story as a little nod to his story (Awesome author!). It's turning out to be a really great story, so I'd recommend you check that out as soon as you can!

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think of:

Edie

Robbie

Their Mission

Any criticisms