Our lives are unpredictable, out of control for simple humans. We do not know the future and we can only suppose some things, based on a few observations and facts. Human lives aren't like the weather that meteorologists can predict and put on a scale.
The wind outside the window with lights on at 3am gave away a few creaking sounds, as if threatening to shatter from pressure. It wasn't very common for people to stay up late in the neighborhood since it consisted of retired men and women who had found peace in their cozy beds inside small apartments. Groans and complaints were heard by the computer screen of a rather young man. The screen cast a reflection to his glasses, gray letters on a black screen running sideways in a rapid speed in rhythm to the computer's keyboard. His fingers found their way to each sign and letter without any need to look down at what he was typing. "Bloody hell.." he muttered when his computer made a beeping sound, obviously denying him the access he was seeking.
It could go on for hours and he would only leave his seat by the kitchen table when going to the toilet or to brew another cup of coffee. A pile eventually formed by his side and cast a shadow on his table. He sat back and stretched, looking outside into the storms eye. The wind had calmed some, but the man knew it was only a for a short while until hell would break out again. London was known for its gray skies and cold summer which he despised so much. What brought his four eyes back to the screen was a flashing email icon. A small click made a window pop up within seconds.
"Hey, Shaun! My flight is canceled because of 'bad weather' so it seems
that we'll have to meet some other day. I wanted to talk to you in private
(you know how many unwanted eyes there are on the net) but I find this
information okay to share. I attached a zip file, open it and let me know
if it was of any use to you. I must say, I do not like the fact that you play with fire.
Be careful. /Bcc"
A zip file was indeed attached to the email and he didn't hesitate to open it. It held a few text files of complete nonsense, encrypted by his friend to maintain privacy. "They'll crack this if they must" he smiled some and copied it before opening a decoding program. To his surprise, the sent information was quite useful to say the least. In fact, it contained several keys that could be used directly to trespass into databases. For months, Shaun tried to make his way through codes of different kinds and into the very heart of various algorithms. 'The bloody devil got there before me..' he thought while typing into the password field. He knew she wouldn't make it through all the way but, the fact that he hadn't done it sooner himself, made him criticize his skills. Only slightly.
Heavy rain fell once again against his window. An alarm clock showed 5:03 am with bright red numbers from across the room. Shaun felt how his eyelids grew heavy and was about to turn off his computer when a window popped up. He stared at it in surprise and read "Enter password". 'What on earth..?' He checked what the code he had written contained and with time, his eyes widened. Shaun had found a way into the database he was looking for. Letter after letter appeared in the password field when he pressed a key and within a matter of seconds, his screen turned completely black. Panic rose in his body and he couldn't understand what had happened. 'Did I make a mistake?'
To his relief, a logo appeared on his monitor along with the title "Abstergo Inc". A small grin was brought to his otherwise stale face expression. Months of work had finally been paid off. Shaun didn't bother going through all files since it required time he didn't have. After all, he could easily be detected any minute. A status bar popped up in the middle and he watched it fill up with green color while files were transferred to his computer. That's when everything came crashing down. The transition was canceled and the bar disappeared, replaced by a warning sign and noise. His facial expression was once again panic and the only thing he could do was removing his battery as quickly as possible from his laptop. 'It must have saved', he thought to himself. It would be the least pleasant thing to witness that there were no copied files stored. Shaun was praying that they hadn't had time to track his location because if that was the case, he had to leave immediately. He had been very careful and used several methods to disguise himself. The easiest task was to change IP-adress. That alone would of course not save his ass against a powerful corporation like Abstergo. The chances of making it all the way in without detection were few and was a miracle rather than luck. His breath calmed just like the weather outside, a few rays of sun reaching the wall behind him and cast a shadow of his silhouette. As if that wasn't enough of a sign, he yawned and closed his eyes. A bed would be much more comfortable but his exhaustion made him fall asleep right on the table.
The annoying sound of a vibrating mobile phone brought Shaun back from a deep sleep. He could feel the vibrations on his face, trying to find it with a hand and brought it to his ear. "Yeah?" he mumbled tiredly. The voice of a woman, most likely stressed out, was heard on the line. "I've tried to contact you for an hour now! What the hell happened to your computer?" she spoke quick and loud. "What time is it?" he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on. "It's midday, Shaun. Why were you asleep?". How annoying, he thought. "My computer died last night and I fell asleep late. Are you satisfied with that, Rebecca?" She clearly didn't like his way of talking but didn't comment. "Anyway, I'm calling you because you're in trouble. My friend informed me that Abstergo is going rampage and that all is caused by an intruder. We both know who that is", she let the words sink in. Shaun rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You'll get a golden medal for being obvious later. Do they know though?"
The voice cracked some, most likely because of bad connection. "It's a matter of time. You better get out of there, stay in a hostel for some days or any other place where they don't request a passport. I warned you, Shaun. Curiosity killed the cat." He smiled widely and turned around in his chair, picking up cups and putting them into a sink. "But satisfaction brought it back, Rebecca, and I'm very satisfied" he said. At least he hoped he wouldn't be disappointed when he opened up his computer again. "You better be right.." she sighed. Trains and people could be heard in the background as well as annunciations. "Wait, is that Italian I hear?" he tried to concentrate to tell apart words. "Maybe" he heard an amused tone, followed by more noise from the trains. "Anyway, get going. Shoo. I'll call you again to make sure you are in a safe place. Bye" she hung up and left Shaun with a pulsing sound.
By 1pm, he had packed most of his belongings and tossed a bag into the trunk of his car. It shouldn't have been such surprise to him when Rebecca told him that Abstergo could be breathing down his neck soon enough. Yet, it was hard to believe that he was about to flee and look back to make sure no one was pointing a gun at him. For years, the mysterious company had been in the background of different technological inventions, never directly in the spotlight but very influential. Along with that, Nobel prise receivers in technology and biology had gone missing and if interviewed, they simply said they found peace working on a project. They obviously didn't tell what it was but they said it'd be revolutionary. That alone gave Shaun a reason to be suspicious and curious.
The BMW rolled onto the main street and continued for a while out of the sleeping region. The best plan was to go around London and find a similar town to this, with not too many but not too few people. In a small neighborhood, the chances that everyone knew each other was high. A stranger like him would disturb the peace. Trees were shining from the light that reflected raindrops and lit up the dark green color. Shaun loved this place, it calmed him in so many ways and thinking about leaving this town forever depressed him. He turned and drove past a farm to get to the main road. His trip would take some hours so eventually he turned on the radio. 'There better be a comfortable bed when I arrive..', he thought and relaxed in his seat.
Time passed and the surrounding area turned from a green countryside into a town built from red bricks. Various shops and cafés were open, people sat by small circular tables and sipped freshly brewed coffee. His car was almost out of gas, which indicated pure luck that he had arrived already. A sign that hung on the four floors tall building read 'Hostel' with old painted letters. Shaun parked and stepped out, grabbing his big sports bag with all belongings. As he had thought, he only had to pay and sign a paper in case he lost the key. A long and narrow staircase led him to room 11. "How cozy" he said to himself and dropped the bag on the floor, locking the door. It wasn't very big but had space for a bed and toilet with shower space. Small curtains with embroidery hung over a window, covering the view for unwanted eyes and still letting in light. Of course, the first thing he did was to pick up his computer and put it on his lap. "You better work, bastard.." The Hostel had no WiFi, though he had no need for internet connection yet.
A startup screen lit up and he typed in the password, leading him to the desktop with several folders. When Shaun named files or anything for that matter on his computer, he hated to write it's full name and therefore created files that only have a few letters. In the end, he'd forget what on earth he meant by "H2k" or tried to find a file and never remembered the shortcut. This time though, he knew exactly where to look for the, hopefully, stored data. Before he could do anything, his phone vibrated in his pocket, way too close to something else. He jerked it out of there and answered.
"What?"
"Are you there yet?", Rebecca asked from the other side of the phone-line.
"No, I'm currently in a van with twenty guns pointing at me", he replied while opening the folder named 'absIn748'. She laughed some and the sound of chewing could be heard. "Nice, take pictures so you can update your status one last time." Shaun's eyes widened and his smile would probably rip his face if he didn't stop. "You won't believe this, I actually got the most of it."
A loud sound could be heard, forcing him to pull away his phone. "Are you alright over there?", he asked amused.
"Are.. o seri..s?!", Rebecca shout while causing more disturbing sounds. "Even their project plans?" He could hear her more clear now. "Sorry, I dropped my phone. What does it say?"
Shaun opened a document and scrolled some. Stamps and signatures were covering the bottom of every digital paper copy along with illustrations. "This must be the most bizarre files I've seen in my life", he had to comment. Pictures were in the folder as well and Shaun could feel his heartbeat rise. "Incredible..", he whispered.
"Hey, say something! I helped you too after all", she complained. "They are working with Artificial Intelligence, and we aren't only talking about computers here."
"Good god, what is it then?"
Shaun corrected his glasses and cleared his throat. He was overwhelmed with this information in his hands. "They seem to want a living robot. I honestly don't think it's possible but.. who knows. If Abstergo has stopped collecting people for this project, it means they're getting somewhere. I honestly hope they're not. It's an absurd idea." Rebecca agreed on that. "I will see you tomorrow. Send me the address if you can. Good luck, Shaun", she said as she hung up on him again.
Shaun was left staring at the monitor with anxiety. 'Who and why would anyone want to do that..?' he asked himself while continuing to read descriptions and reports. Most files consisted out of the same subject, which started to bore him. It was too much to take in in one day. After a few more minutes he put the computer on sleeping mode and closed the screen. At least one thing was sure, Abstergo was up to no good, just as he had suspected. As dawn fell upon the local streets, his eyes grew heavy but mind didn't let him slip away. In the empty corridor a clock hung, dusty which could make one assume it had seen better days. Ticking sounds reached the Hostel room and it started to get on Shaun's nerves. Tick.. tuck.. tick...tick.. Had the clock gotten stuck?
Eventually, Shaun made up his mind and rose from the silky bed sheets. Wearing only boxers, the British man made his way towards the annoying sound on his toes. One of the clock hands had stopped working between the numbers "9" and "10", struggling to break free from its longer twin. Shaun opened the clock carefully and moved it, watching it continue its route around the clock face. "Not my fault if someone gets late because of this", he smiled to himself at the thought and returned. Perhaps it would be better if he had stopped it completely but it turned out to be rather hypnotic and calming. Slowly, his eyes closed. They were too heavy to withstand.
Another morning, yet another day. Sheets were laying on the floor in a messy pile with a leg dangling over the edge. Quietly, the hunter got closer to its prey. Step by step, it circled around him in the room. It leaned over him, feeling how heat radiated from his bare skin. "Shaun... your mother-in-law is here and you're nude...", she whispered with a smug smirk on her face. His eyes flew open, accompanied by pure panic face expression. Covering up what god gave him, Shaun stared at the woman who had been so kind to wake him up. "Have you lost your mind-?", he hissed, a shade of red painting his cheeks. "Not yet, though you lost your blanket", Rebecca picked it up and tossed it at him. "Next time, it'll end bad", he pulled it closer to his chest and thighs. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I had better things to take care of. For example, you now have a new phone. No need to thank me", she reached out and gave him a slim black phone. "It has a SIM-card already."
Shaun flipped and turned the phone in his hand. "Thanks, this time I mean it."
"When did you not mean it..?", Rebecca stared at him, startled by the new discovery. "Who knows", he replied with a shrug. "Do you have money.. I.. kind of spent everything on that", she smiled sweetly pointing at the phone. "Are you bloody serious, Bec?" She scratched her head and left the room to give him privacy when getting dressed.
Shaun joined Rebecca outside the Hostel, leaving for a cup of coffee each. If he didn't get his morning coffee in time, Shaun got moody and easily distracted from work. "Spit it out, why on earth were you in Italy?", he sipped some and gave her a curious look through his spectacles. "You have to know everything, don't you?", she rolled her eyes and bit off a piece of biscuit. "Simply wanted to have some time off, can't I? Of course, you have no idea what a thing such as vacation is", she laughed. "You're right, I'm a workaholic, you got me", he rose his hands above his head. Some cars passed them and left a trail of gas behind, making them both frown. With the corner of his eye, Shaun noticed a car that stood parked a few meters away. It was a black van with tanned windows, but you could still see a light reflect from the inside. Was someone watching them? Despite his paranoia, they continued sitting. Chances that it was a simple car cooling film that one could put on the window to keep out warmth of the sun, were high, but it kept nagging on him.
Rest of the day passed rather calmly, a chilling wind teased both adult's hair. They found a good spot in a nearby forest to observe the territory from above. "Isn't this great? You should go out more often, maybe even renew your wardrobe", Rebecca spoke in a slow pace. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?", he glared, demanding an excuse. "Well.. in those clothes you kind of look like my grandpa." Shaun's eye twitched at that. The formal outfit he wore on a daily basis was a white button-up shirt with a gray pullover vest. Not too fancy and quite comfortable. "You know who you look like?", he grinned. "Just like my dead sister." That comment frightened Rebecca. "I get it, I'm sorry. You look like my dad." They remained sitting on the same spot until dawn and discussed what had happened the past four months. Both of them were active in the conversation, something Rebecca appreciated since Shaun wasn't the chatty kind of guy. When the wind got chilly, they agreed on going back to the hostel. "If you'd like, I can sleep on the floor. Just this time though, don't get too excited", he corrected his glasses and grabbed a tree branch hanging above his head, slowly climbing down from the formed cliff. "A real British gentleman", Rebecca pat his shoulder when he had gotten down. He decided to keep his comments to himself this time.
To Shaun's relief, the black van from earlier was gone, not a single trace left that it had been standing there. He took one last breath of fresh air and followed his companion into the building. A tall blond woman was standing behind the reception desk, smiling at them as they passed. "Have a good night, Mr and Mrs Hastings." Shaun stopped and shook his head. "You got the wrong idea. Me-, we aren't married and we're not dating at all either, yeah", he realized he was making a fool out of himself and simply carried on slightly quicker. "Don't say a word", he hissed at Rebecca who was about to pass out from holding in her laughter. "You just made her even more suspicious, good job. People aren't your thing."
A fly was desperately trying to get out from the stuffy room, making a dull sound against the glass surface. No one in the room even noticed, buried with their face in their soft feather pillows. It was past midnight, some light cast a spiderweb-like shadow on the wall through laced curtains. Cars rarely ever passed on this street but tonight was different. The black van stood a few meters away from the hostel with a man peeking out with his binocular. "All clear. We're moving in", he looked at the backseat to get eye contact with his subordinates. Their footsteps were quiet, almost ghostly. Within a minute, their feet took them upstairs to room 11 where their target, hopefully, was unaware of their uninvited company. They counted down and slammed the door open and headed directly to the bed. To everyone's surprise, they found a woman, but since they didn't get any orders to leave anyone out, a man pushed her down and held a mix of chloroform against her nose. The man they were looking for had already stood up and shouted at them but was forcefully knocked out with a punch. "Take them both, don't forget his computer", one of them said and left the room. On their way out, the man stopped by the reception and smiled to the blond woman. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll make sure these criminals never find their way back here. As I promised..", he put an envelope on the counter and slid it her way with his palm. The receptionist nodded and took it without hesitation. If one had a problem with something, you could always buy the solution with money. The squad entered the black van and disappeared, leaving town as if it was untouched.
