Chapter 1
YEAR : 2042
The air inside the room was cold and heavy. A tapping sound, coming from a keyboard of a desktop computer, reverberated on the walls.
A woman who was sitting on a chair was typing something on the computer. The virtual window screen provided a little illumination at her face and her room.
Suddenly a virtual window popped out in the middle of the screen.
"Ms. Rena, Takano-San wants to talk to you", the male voice said as the woman fixed her glasses on her nose. She fixed her brown hair and tightened her white lab coat and cravat around her white blouse and black blazer skirt.
"Ok," she said firmly, but the person on the other end added "Through audio." The woman looked down and sighed in disappointment.
"Ok", she said again. The virtual window disappeared and another reappeared with an indicator "Audio Only" written in the middle.
"Konbanwa (Good Evening) Rena," a voice of a woman said.
"Good Evening, Ms. Takano."
"The "cargo" from New York has just arrived at Narita", the woman said and continued, "And will be delivered there…shortly."
Rena, the woman, closed her eyes and answered. "Yes Ma'am… May I ask?"
"Yes?" the woman answered immediately.
"What was the cargo-"
"No need to know. Rena", the woman said with firmness.
"Yes Ma'am", Rena answered and looked down.
"However…I might tell you a hint though." Rena suddenly looked at the screen as the voice continued, "It is the 'source, the reason of everything'." Rena let out a silent gasp after the virtual window disappeared, ending the conversation with the woman. Her eyes were wide, startled from what the voice had said.
It's…dark… a voice of a man echoed throughout a vast open dark space.
It's…cold…the voice said again.
So…this is the underworld…hmm…the man, who seemed to be floating in the darkness of the space, said. However, slowly a small light appeared in front of him.
Hmm…? What's that…the light grew and grew until the man was almost enveloped by it.
YEAR : 2048 (6 YEARS LATER)
The sound of a beeping, coming from a BP Monitor, echoed throughout a room.
The room was a hospital room, and the air in it was cold. In the hospital bed laid a man, covered in a white blanket.
The man's chest rose as he breathed, accompanied by the sound from the BP monitor standing beside his bed together with the IV.
The man then grunted and slowly opened his eyes. His brown, empty eyes looked straight at the white ceiling and then slowly moved to the BP monitor.
The man raised his left hand and tried to reach the BP Monitor, trying to shut it off. Suddenly he heard the door of his room being opened, and the man eyed a woman who he presumed to be a nurse -since she was wearing white clothes.
"Oh!" she let out a short gasp after her eyes made eye contact with the man's brown eyes.
"Mr. Miles, are you awake?" The nurse approached the man who was looking at her.
"Wha—" the man attempted to speak but his voice croaked; his throat was dry.
"Yes, Mr. Miles?"
"Where…am…I?" the man slowly said. He raised his left hand and tried to reach the nurse.
The nurse touched the hand and said "It's all right Mr. Miles everything is okay," with assurance. She pressed something on the wall, above the man's head, and a virtual window appeared, showing the man's current medical status.
"You're in Tokyo University Medical Centre." The nurse added after she swiped the virtual window out of the wall. "We'll call your Aunt immediately."
The man's brown eyes slowly moved to look at her. He wanted to ask more but he felt a pain on his head and he was too weak to raise his left hand again and call the nurse. The nurse then went out to call the relative, leaving the man alone.
AFTER ONE HOUR
After the nurse left the room, the man looked at the window beside him. He could see the clear, blue sky with a little bit of clouds floating above.
"Tokyo…Medical…?" he said. The man was still in a daze. How did I get here…? He thought as his eyes darted away from the window to the white wall on the foot of his bed.
He heard the door opening again and his eyes slowly moved to the door and saw the nurse form before… and a woman behind her.
The woman was wearing a green blouse and a brown skirt, her brown hair waved as she approached him.
"Miles? Thank God you're awake." Her brown eyes seemed to be in a brink of tears because of happiness.
The man only looked at her. Who…is she…? He thought hard for the identity of the woman.
"I'm…Sorry but…" he started, and the woman looked at him, "Who…are you?" The woman blinked, surprised from what the man had said.
The woman touched his left hand said "Do you know your name…?" she asked, her voice was low and sad.
"Um…" the man thought for a moment. My name…? His eyebrows furrowed. …What is this…? Why am I…drawing a blank?
He looked at the woman's eyes and thought of what to tell her. "I'm sorry…I…don't know." The woman closed her eyes and then asked the nurse beside her, "What happened to him…?"
"He might be suffering from amnesia since his head suffered from a blunt trauma. Excuse me", the nurse then bowed and left the room again, leaving the two alone.
"Miles…my dear, can't you really remember your name…?" The woman asked again, and the man only nodded.
The woman sighed then said "Your name, my dear, is Desmond Miles. I am your aunt, my name is Rena Claythorne."
The man blinked twice and focused his eyes on the woman. My name…is Desmond Miles…? The man thought for a while in silence.
The woman named Rena then took out her cell phone from her pocket. She opened something on her phone and then gave it to him.
"This was you and me when we went to Norway two years ago." The man named Desmond looked at the photo. He saw himself wearing a white bonnet and a white winter jacket; he was also holding a pair of ski gears and a goggle.
"We went to a skiing trip…this was taken there", Desmond stared at it for a moment, "right before you met an accident…" Rena's voice trailed away.
"Um…Aunt Rena." The woman looked at him. "I'm sorry…but…is this really my face?" Desmond asked as the woman smiled.
"Yes…if you want to see it yourself." The woman opened a drawer beside the bed and took out a hand mirror.
"Here…" Desmond received the mirror and looked at his face.
He looked at his eyes which were brown, and then at his brown hair -but he stopped when he noticed a vertical scar on the right side of his lips.
"That scar of yours…" his Aunt said then continued, "You got it from a bike accident when you were 10 years old."
Desmond put the mirror down and asked "What…happened to me? In Norway?"
"Well…there was an avalanche on the ski slope; you hit your head on a tree while you were running away from the avalanche and…" Rena stopped and gulped. Desmond noticed the woman's uneasiness and slowly smiled.
"It's…all right…Aunt." Rena looked at him and she also smiled. "I guess…I had a nasty accident."
"Indeed, but I'm really glad that my nephew is alive…" Rena moved closer and hugged the man tightly.
After the hug the woman put her hand on her handbag that was on the top of the drawer and took out something.
Desmond looked at the collar like device on the woman's hand. "Your Neuro-Linker was destroyed on the avalanche; I couldn't retrieve all of the data, so I bought you a new one."
The woman handed the device to Desmond, who was puzzled by its appearance.
"I've…used this before?" Desmond raised it above, using his right hand.
"Yeah", Rena said with a smile.
The man looked at her and said "I can't seem to recall…"
Rena sighed and said "I'll teach you, there should be a tutorial there on how to use it, but first let me put it on you."
Desmond gave the Neuro-Linker to her. The woman then moved closer and slowly attached the device on the man's neck.
"Since you forgot how to use it…then you might get a shock at first, but it will soon disappear." Rena then pressed the small button on the middle of the device.
The device made a whirled sound and the man gasped after a virtual window pop out in front of him. "You're the only one who can see it…but I'll still guide you", the woman smiled to the oblivious man.
AFTER 3 HOURS
"And that is how you use the global net", Rena finished her tutorial. Desmond swiped the virtual window in order to close it, and thanked his Aunt.
"Thank you for teaching me."
"Oh well…it's not that hard. So you know now how to use it?" Desmond nodded as the woman stood up from her chair.
A virtual window suddenly popped out on her Neuro-Linker, advising that the visitor's hour was already over.
"Visiting hour is over. I'll go home, Desmond." Rena walked to the door, but turned around after she opened it. "Just don't get too addicted to it…ok?" the man nodded while his aunt closed the door.
Desmond sighed and slumped to the bed. He looked up at the white ceiling for a couple of minutes. Then he swiped his right finger downward to access his Neuro-Linker's menu. He pressed the internet and 'surf the web'.
He searched for the Avalanche incident that occurred in Norway.
"Deadly Avalanche…in Norway," Desmond read the news clipping, "50 tourists presumed dead, 5 still missing…" he continued.
His right hand moved up to scroll down the virtual article and then he stopped and selected another news article.
"Abstergo Industries filed bankruptcy, due to close next week." Desmond stared at the title.
His eyes narrowed and he let out a short grunt. Abstergo…he thought for a moment but was then interrupted when he heard his door open again.
"Mr. Miles." It was the nurse from before.
"We're shutting down our Public Global Network. You should rest." Desmond nodded before the nurse went out and closed the door.
Desmond closed the virtual window and looked at the white ceiling again.
…It sounds familiar…Desmond thought again and rose his left hand. "Desmond Miles…that is me," he said and sighed. The man was about to bring down his hand when he noticed something on his forearm; a tattoo.
Desmond looked at the tattoo which bears a shape of an eagle, its wings spread on the top part.
"It sounds…familiar", he said as he closed his eyes.
Woo-Hoo! My new story! Action will start at chapter 4 or 5, unfortunately. :) Special Thanks to Villalala