EDITED: 1/6/2016

Chapter Four

King of the Castle

"What do you mean, it's gone?"

Dr. Caire blinked, looked up from his tablet. He squinted at the man before him — at only 27 years old, Juhani Otso Berg was built like a bear, with pale eyes that looked too old on his face. If Berg was afraid of punishment, he didn't show it.

He seemed to take up a lot of space in the small observation room. Dr. Caire remained seated on the pristine white couch while Berg stood off to the side, giving Dr. Caire enough room to still look out the glass to see the floor below. A grid-work of blue and dark gray cubicles were outlined below, each with their own team of occupants: one in the Animus, and the other an analyst that ensured their longevity.

These were the 'recruits' of Rikken's latest scheme, an extension of the old Animus Project run by Warren Vidic. Rikken didn't seem to have one imaginative cell in his whole body, it seemed; always stealing everyone else's ideas and pretending they're his own. Dr. Caire had no idea why he was resurrecting such an outdated idea, but so long as it actually got him results this time (and didn't get them killed), Dr. Caire could overlook his personal distaste about it all. There were more efficient ways to find the right gene, but it was not Dr. Caire's place to tell his superiors what to do.

"Subject Seventeen, sir," Berg said, in a low Finnish accent. His left eye was still half-closed, but noticeably working, considering the recently-healed scar tissue that crawled across one half of Berg's face. "The intruders took nothing else aside from him and his personal effects. Anyone who witnessed them were killed."

"What about security footage?" Dr. Caire asked, although he was starting to think it was a moot point by now. If they still had security footage, Berg and Sigma team would be hunting them down right now, not reporting their failures.

"Gone. The computer was destroyed shortly before they escaped."

"How did they even get inside in the first place?

"We aren't sure, sir. My team and I are still investigating."

"How many dead?" Dr. Caire refused to let anger or frustration taint his voice; his grip tightened around his tablet nonetheless.

"Nineteen, sir."

"God dammit," Dr. Caire muttered, grimacing. The last time he showed this much emotion was two weeks ago when he lost all power in his house, despite the fact that Laetitia promised him none of the Templars would be effected by the Flare.

He raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose behind his glasses, closing his eyes to think for a moment. "Who knew the Assassins could be so audacious. Why would they come for just the body? Our servers are a more prominent target."

"From my guess," Berg offered with a shrug, placing his hands behind his back, feet shoulder-width apart. Always the soldier. "They knew what we were planning to do. I met Subject Seventeen's father last month — he had a lot to say about what we did to his son. I'm not surprised they retaliated."

Dr. Caire threw a withering look at Berg. "Oh, really? Well, if only your insights could've been more helpful..."

This time it was Berg's turn to scowl. He turned away, perhaps to hide the fact he just rolled his eyes. "The Assassins of the modern age are too sentimental. That's their weakness, and I will exploit it like any other."

"I can't wait to hear how you'll accomplish that," Dr. Caire said with an edge of sarcasm, eliciting a disgruntled sniff before leaving Dr. Caire to go stand in front of the window. He was silent for while Dr. Caire went back to his work.

Dr. Caire had just gotten a pop-up warning him of a subject's increased heart rate, when Berg asked out of the blue, "What is Rikken looking for? Another artifact?"

"No," Dr. Caire gave Berg an annoyed look (which went unregistered because Berg's back was still to him), as he addressed the pop-up with a typed reply to continue pushing the subject. "We are seeking a replacement to our failed EyeAbstergo project."

"You need memories to build another satellite?"

It took a bit of effort to keep Dr. Caire from losing his patience with this man. Berg may be an excellent killer and a sharp tactician, but he did not have a mind for science. "Of course not, idiot. Our research team uncovered documents from the early Eighteenth century — the Golden Age of Piracy — speaking of some ancient temple in the Caribbean Islands, with smooth walls and glowing lines. We have reason to believe that it is a site built by the Ones Who Came Before — but not just any old temple, like the one we found here in New York. No, this one allowed them infinite sight. Unfortunately, only those known as Sages knew the location of the Observatory, and we have been unable to identify any from this age. So we will have to look for them in the Seventeen-Hundreds."

He knew his answer would create more questions than answers for an ignoramus like Berg, but surprisingly the blond man didn't ask about Sages or the First Civilization. Instead, he said, "...but why do are you using children?"

"No one will miss them. They are orphans, taken from various places across the country. They won't be connected to us." Dr. Caire said with a wave of his hand. It took him a moment to figure out why this particular detail bothered Berg so much. Glancing up from his tablet, Dr. Caire squinted at him. "I hope you're not getting sentimental on me, Juhani. Science and progress has no place for paternal instincts."

Berg cast him a cold look, his face impassive. "I know that. It just seems... unnecessary."

"Well, after the disaster that was Subject Seventeen and his Assassin brethren," Dr. Caire said with raised eyebrows. "We've taken care to divert our attention to less interesting people. Besides, children's minds are easier to mould — they will adapt better to the synchronization process as they get older and their brains adjust to the exercise."

Berg still didn't look convinced; in fact, Dr. Caire might've made it worse by saying that, so he deftly added, "It's for the best, Juhani. Please consider. Would you prefer if it was your own daughter down there, rather than the other children?"

Dr. Caire smiled as he watched Berg stiffen, eyes widen; it wasn't necessarily a threat, but Berg's buttons were easy to push, and Dr. Caire was the kind of man who knew just how and when to push them. It was easy to keep him in line this way. Without waiting for Berg to reply, he said, "Of course not. Your daughter is special; she doesn't deserve this. She'll thank you in the future one day, Juhani, for saving her from this. Isn't that worth it?"

Berg didn't say anything. He just continued to glower out the window. Then, after a minute of quiet, he muttered, "I see your point."

"Good," Dr. Caire said, settling back into his seat. That was easy. "Now I want you to go find Subject Seventeen's body. His DNA is crucial to our next task. He had an ancestor alive during that period, an Edward Kenway. Father of our very own Haytham Kenway, one of the pioneers in Modern Templar leadership. If we can get Seventeen back, we will be able to explore Edward Kenway's life in depth."

"Just how many ancestors does Seventeen have?" Juhani cast Dr. Caire a surprised look. Even he only had a few Assassins in his lineage; Desmond Miles was born and bred from an entire legacy.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Dr. Caire admitted with a shrug. He set his tablet down. "Dozens, it seems, an endless supply of information that would be invaluable to the Templars. So please, go and do your job."

Berg scowled, stalking towards the door. "I don't take orders from you."

Dr. Caire smirked. "That's not up for you to decide.

The door slammed shut behind him.

I don't know a lot about Berg, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with him by the end of this. I'd really hate to have to kill him off, though. He's got potential.