Imagine a year of your life spent erasing yourself from existence. Cutting ties, with no answer to the question "when will I see you again?" But Lucy had volunteered for this. The Assassins had needed someone to infiltrate Abstergo, but most of them were spread so thin that no one could find the time to commit to a long-term project. When Lucy, just back from an assignment in Africa, heard that the position was still open, she applied immediately. Without a break between posts Lucy found herself dropped off in front of the looming Abstergo building only three days after arriving back in Europe.

Lucy's immediate attention to the unpopular job was due to her close friend, Leila Marino. Leila had worked at Abstergo only five years past, and passed away while employed there. Nothing was released to the public about the cause of her death, and Lucy took this as an opportunity to investigate the mystery. Leila had been the assistant to a man named Doctor Warren Vidic, the same man Lucy was waiting to meet.

The first thing Lucy noticed about Dr. Vidic was his tendency to ramble on. Not ten minutes into the interview he was pacing around the table, using extravagant hand movements and speaking passionately about his work. Lucy interrupted him with questions periodically, to which she received enthusiastic answers, until she asked about Leila. At the mention of her name, Vidic sucked his cheeks in and frowned. His expression shifted to one of cheerful reminiscence in a moment, and he exclaimed fondly; "Leila! Leila, Leila, Leila… Couldn't have asked for a better helper. Very good with the Subjects." He ended the interview there, and offered to give Lucy a tour of the floor she would be working on.

"Since you'll be mostly running odd jobs for me, you're going to want to learn to use all of our equipment. There should be someone in every department willing to help you, but if they won't, just tell me. I'll make sure they receive proper punishment." Warren chuckled darkly. Lucy couldn't tell if he was being serious.

A woman's voice came over the intercom.

"Doctor Vidic, Mister Rikkin requests your presence in his office."

Vidic cursed under his breath. "That man has terrible timing. Please excuse me, Miss Stillman. I trust you can find your way back to my lab? If I'm not back before your lunch break, feel free to take the rest of the day off."

This amazing stroke of luck gave Lucy two and a half hours, at least, alone in the office of a Templar. It was hard to keep from grinning. "Yes, sir. I'll find my way back."

"That's a good girl." Warren disappeared into the maze of hallways. Lucy let the smile take over her face and turned to walk back to Vidic's lab.

"Hey, miss!" A young man waved at her from a cubical down the hallway. "Can I have a minute?" Lucy's expression must have turned sour, because the man stopped waving and seemed to shrink slightly. Then, laughing he said, "No wonder the Doctor likes you so much! Full of spirit! But really, miss, only a second of your time." Lucy approached him, and he invited her into his cubical. Then, sitting down on a rolling chair, he tipped back to get a better look at her. "Mm, I see. Warren really knows how to pick 'em, doesn't he?" Lucy glared down at him. The Templar chuckled uneasily. "No offense! Here, I'm Richard." He held out his hand in greeting. Lucy shook it. "Lucy Stillman."

"New apprentice to the big man, eh? Well, second in charge, I guess. Of the Project. 'Course he does all the hands on stuff, Rikkin just shouts orders." There was something of a disapproving buzz from his monitor.

"Oh, jeez! Gotta watch what you say here. There's mic's and cam's everywhere. Sorry, Rikk! You're awesome!" Richard turned slightly red with embarrassment.

It was as much as Lucy expected. "They've got this entire building covered?"

"The lower lackeys like me don't have a choice, but the project managers with the big, fancy offices can choose not to consent to the mic's. Like," his voice lowered, and he leaned closer to Lucy. "I don't think your boss has any, and he's notorious for disconnecting the cameras." He leaned back in his chair again. "So yeah! Abstergo's a great place to work!" He said, unnecessarily loud. Then, back to normal volume, " Hey, I've got a great idea. How 'bout I treat you to lunch?"

"Oh no, that's not necessary…"

"C'mon! First day on the job, and I promise you your Doc won't be back today. He and Rikkin could argue forever. Let me show you a little company hospitality."

Lucy had no choice but to comply. "My break is at twelve -thirty."

"I'll be out front! Enjoy your day, miss Lucy."

Lucy thought it was awfully risky of Richard to treat the high security with such disregard. He seemed a little too aloof to be working at a place like Abstergo. At the same time, she couldn't help but like him.

Everything in Vidic's room was locked. Each individual drawer required a key, and any cabinets were securely padlocked. Lucy supposed that if it came to it she could try her hand at lockpicking, but her skills were far from refined, as most important information wasn't contained computers, not desks.

Lucy had never actually seen an Animus before. She had done research on them, strange machines that only Templars had. The Assassins had tried to duplicate it, but had been so far unsuccessful. The one standing proudly in the middle of the room was impressive. She had no doubt it ran perfectly, and tinges of jealousy poked fun at her, reminding her of how much more of an advantage the Templars had over them. She ran her fingers over its' smooth surface. It hummed slightly when she touched it, like it opened up to the feel of flesh. Its' capabilities were marvelous, but why was exploring memories so important? The Templars had hidden this secret well, and now it was her job to uncover it.

Vidic had mentioned Subjects - presumably people they were using the Animus on - was there one here now? Lucy opened the last unopened door in the room. It led to a bedroom with an adjoining restroom, but it was empty. She checked the dresser, but it was bare. No personal belongings sat on top, and the bed looked unused. The bathroom was clean and fully stocked. No Subject here now, but would she eventually have to experiment on one? Lucy paled at the thought. By the looks of these living quarters they were comfortable enough, but how dangerous was it to be in the Animus?

During her lunch with Richard Lucy learned the daily schedules of almost everyone on their floor. The young man's vast knowledge of almost everything that went on there was due to his quote; "boredness with the mundane tasks he did all day". He told Lucy that his actual work was on the field - but ever since Vidic was given an Animus, his knack for computer code had him stuck behind a desk, helping speed up the time that it took the Subjects to access locked memories. When Lucy asked him what exactly they were using the Animus for, Richard laughed and said, "You should let Vidic tell you, it's really his thing. He'd probably get upset if I spoiled the surprise for you."

Throughout the week Lucy gathered little more information about the Animus. She was constantly running around the cubicles, gathering and delivering messages too important to e-mail. She caught sight of Rikkin twice, but was never able to approach him.

Doctor Vidic seemed to still need adjusting to her presence, and often jumped when she called his name to report back. He would scold her for moving so quietly, and told her to make more noise when she walked, or else he'd have a stroke for sure. And so Lucy adjusted to life at Abstergo, as she was slowly integrated into their society.

A month into her employment, Lucy was introduced to Subject Fifteen. She was escorted into the building on a Sunday afternoon, walking timidly behind an armed guard. There were bruises on her thin arms, suggesting that force was used to get her here. Her stomach protruded ever so slightly from her slender form.

Doctor Vidic stood behind the young woman, his arms on her shoulders. She was quivering where she stood, her eyes pinned to her shoes.

"Lucy, meet Alison Rossi. Alison, this is your new best friend, Lucy." Warren spoke to the woman like she was a child, but even her small build couldn't hide the fact that she was quite mature.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rossi." Alison only shifted slightly, and didn't respond.

"Take her into her new room, Lucy, there are some of her possessions there. We'll begin the Animus sessions tomorrow."

Lucy escorted Alison to the elevator. She was walking painfully slowly, and Lucy had to keep a firm grasp on her arm because the poor dear kept stumbling. When they were finally in the elevator the young woman slid onto the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. She was solemn and inconsolable, and when they reached the bedroom in Vidic's office she sat down on the bed and faced away from Lucy.

Lucy sat beside her. "Hey, everything's going to be fine." She knew Alison had good reason to be frightened - Richard had told her she had been kidnapped. It sickened her that the Templars felt tearing people from their homes was justified.

Lucy still hadn't figured out exactly why they needed to explore the memories of certain, selected Subjects. Alison was Subject Fifteen, which meant that fourteen others had been kidnapped over the course of the last few years, but none of these disappearances had been documented. There were no files on the last fourteen Subjects, and Lucy hadn't been given the access codes to the computer, so she was unable to gather any more information. She wanted to make Alison's stay as nice as she could, as long as that might be.

Alison made no effort to respond to, or look at, Lucy.

Despite her efforts to be as helpful and kind as possible, Lucy had failed in all of her attempts to communicate with Subject Fifteen. The woman seemed fine speaking to Doctor Vidic. She would answer all of his questions patiently, and he would do the same for her. It was easy for Lucy to take the hint that Alison had some unexplained dislike for her.

As much as she would hate to admit it, Lucy couldn't wait to observe Alison's first Animus session. She absorbed every word Vidic said in explanation about it to her before Fifteen was allowed out of her room, and was told that she would be further instructed by Richard in how to actually use the machine. Much to her delight, Vidic had planned to give her almost full control of Alison's sessions as soon as Lucy finished her training.

It was hard not to rush Alison straight to the machine when Lucy unlocked her door. When Warren saw this he laughed, sharing with Lucy that she was acting much like he did when he was given this job, and that he was glad to have such an enthusiastic assistant.

Lucy's excitement was quickly cut down, however, when Richard returned back to the office early, and she was pulled out of the room for briefing on the Animus, thus unable to see Alison's first session.

And so Lucy's work became much more hectic. Warren truly had given her full control over Fifteen. She was instructed to fill out an agenda to plan the woman's life… up to the minute. Meal times, exercise schedule, personal time, Lucy was in charge of it all. Of course, she asked Alison what she would prefer.

"I want to leave."

But Lucy persisted - she was later abhorred by the fact that, honestly, she didn't want the woman to leave, she wanted to continue the sessions - and managed to squeeze answers out of her. And so Alison's life was now dictated by a book, and jealously guarded by Lucy. And Lucy stuck to it. For a little over seven months she spent her days dominating the life of another. It didn't take long for her to master the Animus, and to gain enough of Vidic's trust to be left alone to observe Alison's time in the Animus solo. But still, she would not be told the reason for Fifteen. And Fifteen herself was still extremely hard to talk to. Lucy was able to piece together several haphazard clues, but they would never point her in a sensible direction. She knew her pestering's about Leila didn't help her cause, and at times she felt that upper management might have been growing suspicious - but that didn't keep her from trying.

"Warren, there's something you should know before you leave -"

It was Friday, Doctor Vidic was leaving for the weekend, leaving Lucy in charge of the lab until he got back.

"If it's important, send me an e-mail, I'm going home." Warren was disgruntled. Their search for the Apple in Alison's memories was at a standstill. Not that the clues had be flowing anyway - it was apparent that they had chosen the wrong Fifteen. He cursed Rikkin daily, and argued with him even more often. Lucy was really the only person he could depend on. Even though their search was completely dry, she persisted, and had even enhanced the performance of the Animus far past what any of the other workers had. But the worst part about it all was that Alison was dangerously close to the nine-month mark of her pregnancy, and was frequently too unwell to use the Animus for long periods of time. He tried to reason with her - in the early days she had been quick to follow his advice, but now it seemed she would only speak to Lucy. Lucy had been at first overwhelmed by the sudden, large amount of attention she was receiving from Fifteen, but it was mutually understood by both Abstergo employee's that a woman near childbirth preferred the consolation of a woman over a man.

Nonetheless, Lucy was basking in the delight of finally having another female to talk to.

Lucy nodded and Warren left the room, the metal doors slid shut behind him and the lights in the room dimmed. Lucy's heals clicked on the hard floor as she shut down computers and locked cabinets.

Something about Vidic still bothered her, though. He had taken to using the phrase "end up like Leila", which Lucy could only assume was some sort of threat. He only said it during moments of severe mental stress, but these times had rapidly increased as Rikkin pushed him to extract something worthwhile from Alison. Lucy was tempted to ask him about it, but instinct told her that now was not the right time.

Lucy found herself running her fingers over the smooth exterior of the Animus. She had become almost infatuated with the machine. Watching Alison relive the memories of her ancestors, and knowing that she was a part of this momentous leap in genetic sciences, gave her a sort of feeling of superiority over others. A feeling she tried to suppress, but it was evident in the way that she held herself when she walked, and even the way she had started to treat Richard. Before, she had been the apprentice, and he the one who was given the task to introduce her into this new world. Now, she felt they were equals, if even she was not above him. Vidic had taken a sidelines approach to her education of Abstergo. Lucy was unsure if he had more to teach her, and so she continued to hold him in respect, and treated him like he was her better. And Vidic would always remind her of how much she still needed to learn, which seemed to cast a curious mist over the Animus and its' capabilities. How much more could they do with it?

Lucy tore herself away from the machine when she remembered she had something of dire importance to tell Doctor Vidic. She typed the e-mail as fast as she could, hoping that Vidic would be home soon and check it. Alison was becoming dangerously unstable - something that hadn't happened to the last Fourteen Subjects. There were moments when her eyes would glaze over, she would become panic-stricken and fling herself across the room, sobbing and crying out for help. This baffled Lucy. As well did the fact that, as the baby matured, the Animus was having a difficult time staying focused on the memories' of the mother, and would unexpectedly try to switch to a memory of the fathers'. Whenever this would happen, Alison confided with her, she would experience piercing migraines, and would dream of committing suicide. She would have terrible fits sometimes, and beg for Lucy to just kill her.

"There's blood. Everywhere. All the time."

And so Lucy called this The Bleeding Effect, and took detailed notes of Alison's spiral into insanity.