and here we go, with part 2 of desmond's story.
i rather imagine it's gonna be a different important altair memory per sequence... as well as everything else that they are planning. so far it's been 1 chap=1 day, but we'll start going faster and faster... and then altair and desmond get to see what the apple wants to show them, which will definitely be... an experience
also, hi henry! i love you, and so does evie.
and mentions of who desmond knows in new york. they're either OCs or expies of other characters from other series, but i dunno when we'll properly meet them, if we ever will. got to get to the end of the world first
desmond and the others are trying to get lucy on their side, but she will definitely throw them some curveballs in the meantime lol. gotta meet rebecca and shaun after all
Desmond woke up early the next morning rested. Any time they all slept together and set off a cozy contact loop was generally the best medicine they could ask for. Which, considering where Desmond found himself, was the best thing he could be doing right now.
He took a quick shower to get rid of the sweat, and put on his old clothes; he'd have to ask if they could at least provide spares, if only to spare them from smelling him. At the very least, the shower was hot, and the soap and shampoo decent, if not the best quality. It was all generic but nothing here was strictly uncomfortable. It was likely a way to keep their subjects as compliant as possible.
"Right," Desmond said, climbing back into bed and staring up at the ceiling.
No need for his wardens to know that they were studying the wall. The cameras were well hidden, but they glowed red under Eagle Vision, and Jun had said that their area of effect was literally the entire room.
Anyways, with the door locked, he was stuck in the room. He could do his morning stretches, but until Desmond figured out how to deal with Lucy, and what they expected of him, it would do no good to give any true hint of his abilities and skill set. Though he could probably get his jog in later. Maybe he could even annoy Vidic in the process.
Evie and Jun appeared. Evie had a clipboard and a pen in her hand, ready to write everything down. Jun was there to provide translation; sharing language was easy after spending more than two-thirds of their lives together, but it was always the easiest when the person who grew up speaking and reading the language did the translation.
"Good morning," Evie said cheerfully. She already started sketching the symbols themselves, and writing down everything that wasn't in Chinese.
"Good morning," Jun repeated.
Shifting, and leaving his body in the bed, Desmond stood next to them. "Morning. Ready for this? I don't know when they're going to come and grab me."
Evie glanced at her clipboard and the wall. "Hm. Yes, I've got everything but the words themselves. Already have a few ideas with some of them, too. Jun, you good?"
Jun nodded, and turned to the wall. She made a face at the reference to Emperor Jiajing, but spoke regardless.
"Hearing is better than not hearing, observing is better than hearing, knowing is better than observing, and doing is better than knowing."
"You reap what you sow."
"One who wants to read into his future simply needs to write his own present."
"A man without far considerations, must have near worries."
"As a human being, if you want to know the spiritual realm of Buddha, you have to observe, you have to know that everything you see in the world comes from your own mind."
"One who does not forget what was before is the master of what comes after."
"Well, that is a lot of heavy words," Desmond said, frowning thoughtfully at it all.
"I have everything," Evie said, finishing with a flourish. "At least the shorthand. I'll write everything out with a cleaner touch later."
"I've entered the Abyss and never returned," Desmond read. The words had that golden glow of importance, which matched the bloody handprints. "That's from the one before."
"They learned something through the Animus," Evie said thoughtfully, "And it was important enough to them that they risked actually writing all of this down. They likely didn't have that much time, between injuring themself to get the blood to bleeding out. Not with them being watched constantly."
Desmond glanced around the room again. Everything was bolted to the floor, or too heavy to move regardless. It was impersonal with smooth edges everywhere, and the vents were very firmly screwed in place. The mirror in the bathroom was metal instead of glass, and placed into the wall instead of on top of it. Even the screwheads were sanded down to provide as little chance of hurting himself with them.
"This is a room you give a suicidal person," Desmond said. "It probably wasn't so barren or carefully made before."
Jun frowned and folded her arms. "So they expect you to go the same way, eventually."
"I don't know, but they're at least prepared for it," Desmond said. "That's more information than we had just last night."
Evie looked to her clipboard again. "These are- I recognize some of it. There's a reference to a bible verse, if I'm not mistaken."
"The symbols outside will likely be important, too," Desmond said.
"They'll have to feed you before you head into the Animus, if only to keep you stable," Evie said, "I'll put it all down then."
"Right," Desmond nodded.
Whatever else he could have said was interrupted when the door beeped gently. It opened with a gentle swoosh, and Warren Vidic stood there in all his lab-coat, old man, self-righteous glory. He made this glorious face when he saw that Desmond was already awake.
Desmond returned to his actual position on the bed, and sat up. "Morning, Doc."
"Get up, Mister Miles," Vidic said, annoyed. Evie grinned in triumph next to Desmond. "We've got a lot of work to do. More, considering your failures yesterday."
Desmond scowled at him. So that's how they were going to play it, huh? Vidic to be the nasty, over controlling warden and Lucy to be the sympathetic half-prisoner. They really were trying to get him to be as compliant as possible, weren't they? Well, lucky for Vidic, Desmond hated him plenty enough without the help.
He climbed out of bed, stretched until his spine popped, and followed after Vidic. Ah, at least there was a tray of food ready for him. It was cereal, yogurt, a couple pieces of toast, and some plastic cups of juice and water. Nothing bad. Actually, it might be something Desmond would eat when he woke up and was running late.
Evie nodded to him as she went around the room, making sketches of all the symbols that were painted on the floor.
"I wonder who I get to not kill today?" Desmond asked, eyeing the plastic spoon and wondering if it'd be worth the effort to start making even rudimentary weapons. Hm. Not yet, he needed to work on getting Vidic complacent.
Vidic made a face at him, and Desmond smirked. Ha.
Apparently, he had been expecting Altair to be a trigger-happy murderous fiend who went around killing everyone in sight. So, when the Animus revealed that Altair was most decidedly not someone who killed randomly, some presumptions had to be knocked down. Sure, Altair still killed people in the memories they had seen. But they were all done in very clear self-defense, and in the defense of others. Mostly, Altair just knocked them unconscious in a fight. Which was actually harder to do safely, but Desmond didn't feel like explaining that.
"Don't be so cavalier," Vidic snapped. Desmond raised an eyebrow. Vidic sighed disappointedly at him, and said, "You know, Mister Miles. Your ancestors almost had the right idea."
"Almost?" Desmond asked curiously. He wondered where Vidic was going with this.
"They didn't go far enough," Vidic said simply. "It's rather like cancer, really, and Assassins treated the symptoms instead of the cause. There is no true change without comprehensive and systematic intervention."
"Well, we can add God complex to his rather extensive list of faults," Evie said dryly.
"And how would that happen?" Desmond asked. It sounded like Vidic was advocating mass murder. He wouldn't put it past this man.
"Education. Or, re-education in this matter. But it's not easy and it doesn't always take," Vidic said. He sounded so disappointed about it too.
"So, brainwashing instead of mass murder," Jun said, and made a disgusted face.
"Well, at least we know he wants the Apple," Evie said, "Not that we didn't already know that."
Desmond rolled his eyes and said as sarcastically as he could, "Let me guess. You have a better solution. What is it then?"
Vidic chuckled lowly, amused that Desmond even bothered to ask. "Now that would be telling."
Desmond frowned at him, and then rolled his eyes. He ate his breakfast slowly, and kept an eye on Evie, who was still sketching. He really wasn't looking forward to getting into the Animus.
"Hurry up, Mister Miles," Vidic said, "We don't have all day."
"What an asshole," Jun said, miming cutting a throat.
"I'm good, Desmond," Evie said, finishing her current sketch. "I have everything. I'll start looking into what they mean."
Desmond looked Vidic in the eye, and took a bite out of his last piece of toast. Still, he didn't push further, and finished eating. He wiped his hands on a napkin and then threw everything that could be thrown away.
"If you're done eating, let's get started," Lucy said, smiling sympathetically at him.
"Fine, fine," Desmond said, sighing as theatrically as he could. Very slowly and reluctantly, he got back onto the Animus.
There was a slight shift in the air as Altair appeared. He gripped Desmond's hand, and eyed the Animus and Vidic distastefully. "Right, this again," he said. He sat on the Animus next to Desmond. "Might as well figure this out. We have a week before I need to move."
"Yeah, yeah," Desmond said privately.
And with that, Desmond felt something poke the back of his head, and he faded-
Malik woke slowly, but at least he woke up. And if anything told Altair how injured Malik was, it was that he woke like a child, blinking sleep from his eyes.
"Malik," Altair said, and pressed closer.
Altair carefully kept from touching Malik until he knew how Malik felt. Across the other side of the sleeping cot, Elise kept watch over them all. On the other side of the room, Desmond sat at Kadar's bed. And spread out around the room, appearing as they realized Malik was waking, the others came.
"Mmf?" Malik groaned, eyes unfocused. He turned his head and looked to Altair.
"It is good to see you awake, Brother," Altair said, relieved. He recognized that look; if Malik felt well enough to be irritated at him, then there was little to worry about.
"Kadar?" Malik asked, voice hoarse.
"He sleeps still," Altair assured him. "He is doing well. You should rest more."
Malik glared at him, irritated that Altair presumed to give him an order. Altair smiled, glad to see that Malik still had his spirit. That was good, and would help him heal. Still, Malik closed his eyes and fell asleep, trusting Altair to guard him.
"Al Mualim has been keeping secrets," Ratonhnhaké:ton said grimly as they watched Malik settle into a deep sleep. "Robert de Sable has set his sights of Masyaf as a threat. The personal kind, in which one knows exactly what he is up against."
"And he wants the Apple," Elise said.
Altair glanced to where he had hidden it. It was in a small cloth bag to hide it from sight, and then placed in a carrying pouch. He placed it in a locked chest where they kept valuables. If anyone went snooping, they would see and take the money before digging any deeper. Hopefully.
They were in Jerusalem, where Altair had taken his apprenticeship, and it was with the Rafiq's help that both Malik and Kadar were tended to. The Jerusalem Bureau was the most well hidden of all of them in the Holy Land, and it offered them protection they wouldn't have had otherwise. They needed it, especially after that disastrous mission in Solomon's Temple.
"The Apple is virtually unknown to the Brotherhood as it stands now," Altair said, "At least, not outside of some rather obscure texts. Al Mualim may have read about the Apple."
It went unsaid that that didn't explain why Robert de Sable knew of Masyaf, and what they did, so intimately. Masyaf was a small city-state that stood independent of all of the others in the Holy Land. Yes, they were known as Assassins, but what they did wasn't well spread beyond their walls.
Robert de Sable, as the Grandmaster to the Templars in King Richard's army would likely know of them. But not as well as he acted. There had to be an information leak somewhere, for this Templar to know of Assassins as more than just the name implied.
"I will bring the Apple to Al Mualim," Altair said. "We know what it is, and what it does. If we see him doing anything with it, then we will act."
"Innocent until proven guilty," Desmond said.
"Yes," Altair agreed. "We can leave Malik and Kadar here until they are well enough to travel. But I will not leave until they are both awake."
Desmond blinked, and found himself staring through the visor of the Animus. His back was warm from where it pressed against the table.
"Much better than yesterday, Mister Miles," Vidic said approvingly.
"We had some troubles in the beginning, but it seemed they smoothed out," Lucy said, smiling at Desmond from her screen. "You're doing much better with synchronizing, Desmond."
With that, the visor itself moved back, and Desmond sat up, rubbing at his eyes. Altair appeared next to him, and they pressed their shoulders together. As they did, the others all appeared one by one. They all were tired, still, but they were not exhausted like they were yesterday.
"We've figured out a way to keep it going," Altair said tiredly. Like Desmond, he still felt the worst of the aftereffects of their introduction to the Animus yesterday. "It's tiring, and I won't be able to do it for the rest of the week since I'm busy. But you can all do it."
"That's good," Evie said. "We can take shifts."
"How are you feeling, Desmond?" Lucy asked. She had stepped away for a moment to grab lunch.
Desmond took it gratefully, feeling starved. A large sandwich, some chips, and juice. Food easy to eat, but somewhat filling. "Tired, but much better than yesterday," he told her. "I think I found a way that can keep me from being shoved out of the memory every half hour."
"That's good," Lucy said, smiling sympathetically. "I know it can be difficult, doing this."
"Yeah," Desmond said. He shivered lightly, and looked to the server banks on the side of the room. The air conditioning kept the room frigid, if only so that the servers didn't overheat. He looked at Lucy, who still wore her blouse, pencil skirt, and heels. "How are you not freezing?"
"Practice," Lucy said, "And I am not standing still when you're under. It's not so bad, if you're moving."
"Speaking of moving," Desmond said, "You think you can let me out of my room earlier? I want to keep jogging every morning if possible."
Lucy hesitated, and then looked to Vidic. He was at his desk, doing who knows what. Desmond would like to believe that he wasn't paying attention to them, but that was incredibly unlikely at this point. Even if Vidic was underestimating him.
"I'll see what I can do," Lucy said.
"Since I'm asking for stuff, might as well ask if you can get me some clean clothes," Desmond added. "I promise, I'm not asking just for my comfort here. You don't want to learn what I smell like after a few days. Showers don't keep my clothes clean."
Lucy smiled amusedly. "I'll try my best, for my own sake."
"Thanks," Desmond said. He focused on his sandwich, and thought.
There were rather large windows all along the back three walls. That meant it was above ground. And in a room built like this, it had to be an office space, and office meant city. And if not city, then someplace populated enough to justify building something that needed windows that large. If he could look outside, he could find out where he was.
He knew he wasn't in New York City because there weren't any skyscrapers visible past the window like they would be otherwise. There were buildings, yes, but nothing that reminded him of the city he had spent the last seven years in.
Lucy looked like she wanted to ask something. Desmond turned to her, and raised an eyebrow in question. "Are you really an Assassin? Like Altair?" Lucy asked.
Desmond blinked at her. Elise appeared, frowning and ready to take his spot, but Desmond shook his head. "Um, no, not really. I'm sure my parents wanted me to be, though."
It was already proven that the Templars manipulated history. Assassins did the same, if not for the same reasons. What records they had of Altair started when he became Mentor, and it was done in a clinical and rather impersonal manner.
Altair had adjusted the hidden blade so that the ring finger wasn't required to be cut off. He introduced several new techniques that were still in use today. He made it so that women could become hooded Assassins, instead of limited to the gardens and the Sisters, like they had been.
It was all things they planned, of course. Desmond didn't think too hard about the cyclical nature of time travel. Altair learned the techniques with all seven of them, who in turned learned those techniques from the records Altair left behind. Altair learned of the new ways to create their hidden blades from the ones the seven of them had access to.
Lucy looked interested. "How so?"
Desmond grimaced, and finished the last bite of his sandwich as he thought. Oh, this absolutely was not a conversation he wanted to have. Right now, or possibly even ever. Desmond left the Farm for a reason, and he never regretted it. Sure, there were times he missed it, or missed his age mates. But he had come too far, and done too much to ever want to go back.
Maybe he could visit, one day, when he was assured that he wouldn't be forced to stay. If only to see what he had forgotten or what he misinterpreted from when he was still a teenager. It had been nearly ten years since Desmond left, and there were things he had learned in his time away.
Still, he needed Lucy on his side, and sharing some secrets was the way to go. "My parents wanted me to become one, but I ran away from the Farm when I was sixteen," Desmond said. He looked off to the side, where Elise was waiting. Depending on how this went, she'd switch with him.
"Farm?" Lucy repeated.
"It's what the place I grew up in was called," Desmond said, shrugging. "Kind of like Masyaf, actually, if a lot smaller and less impressive architecturally. A small community, living off the grid. Not that we were an actual farm, mind you."
Both truth and lie. They weren't an actual farm, and didn't tend to farmlands. They had barns and other similar buildings, and they did have gardens where they planted food. But it was all small stuff, meant to implement a diet that they got from store bought food. And the smaller, guarded plots that were used to teach the children and novices what and what wasn't edible in the wilds.
There was even more heavily guarded gardens where the poisonous plants grew, but that one really was a secret that Desmond shouldn't have known about.
"But why?" Lucy asked, brow furrowed.
"Why what? That we were there at all?" Desmond asked. Lucy nodded slightly. "My father, I guess. He was always going on about our enemies, and the dangers that existed beyond the Farm. I didn't question it until I was older, and I saw that nothing ever happened. All the warnings and the potential threats… no one came."
Because they made it that way, and Assassins with a home territory were intense about it. They likely moved locations, too, after Desmond left. He'd be surprised if they didn't with a potential leak out there, and the aftermath of the Purge still heavy within everyone's thoughts.
"Then why did you run away?" Lucy asked.
Desmond snorted, and looked off to the side where Elise was standing. She smiled amusedly at him. He turned back to Lucy. She'd never, ever believe the truth, even if he told her, no lying or misleading statements about it. But…
"I could never leave. Do you know what it's like to know that you're trapped like that? That there was an entire world out there that I wouldn't be able to see?" Desmond asked, spreading his hands wide in an effort to show what he meant.
"Don't you miss your parents?" Lucy asked after a pause.
"No," Desmond said simply. Elise placed a hand on his shoulder, and he felt the comfort of his other selves radiating to him. No, he didn't miss Ines and William Miles because he had many parental figures, who knew about him and his other selves. "Far as I was concerned, they weren't my parents. They were more like wardens, and the Farm was the prison they ran."
Lucy glanced off to the side, expression changing slightly in an unfamiliar way. "It sounded like they only wanted to protect you."
"If she was an Assassin given an undercover mission, then she would have been in contact with your father," Elise said softly.
Desmond grimaced lightly. Yeah, his father was the one left in charge after the Great Purge, wasn't he? Not that Desmond was supposed to know about the extent of the Purge either. But Lucy wasn't wrong. His parents absolutely wanted to protect him. Didn't excuse everything that they had done, and did, to children, but Desmond understood why they did it all. Especially after the last Mentor had died, and everything that happened immediately after.
"Well, all that's happened," Desmond started, looking off to the side for a moment. "I guess I should have paid more attention."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to dredge up the past," Lucy said softly.
Ah, there it was. Desmond looked at her with his second sight, and saw her color change. She had changed her thoughts about him. There was still more red than blue, but at least her blue was clearer. It was a start, at least. He'd have to get Altair to look at her properly- he still had the clearest and most nuanced second sight of the seven of them.
"It's fine," Desmond promised, "It gives me something to think about."
Lucy nodded. "Well, if you're done with lunch, we're going to have to continue."
"Can I at least stretch my legs a bit?" Desmond said.
Lucy glanced to side, where Vidic was. "You can have a couple of minutes."
"Thanks," Desmond said, and hopped off the Animus. He stretched his arms above his head and sighed as his spine popped. He set to doing several circuits around the Animus, and sent his mind along the path to where Evie was, bringing Elise with him.
Everyone was already there, watching Evie as she looked over her notes with Henry. "Hello, Desmond," she said.
"Ah, hello Desmond," Henry greeted, looking up in his general vicinity. "Evie has told me what you have been up to. I hope you are feeling well."
Desmond switched with Evie. "I'm doing well, thank you Henry," he said, smiling. "Tired and wanting to leave, but we still need information."
"Evie has given me her notes about what was written in that place," Henry said. "It's actually quite interesting, what I've been able to find so far."
"I'd love to hear it, but unfortunately I've only got a few minutes here," Desmond said. "I'll ask Evie later, yeah?"
"Good luck, Desmond," Henry said.
"Thanks," Desmond said, and switched again with Evie. He turned to Altair. "Can you tell the others what we figured out?"
Altair nodded. "I can. I'm traveling for now, so I can help with the Animus for today, at least, and then explain tonight, when you're done for the day."
"Right, that's good," Desmond said. He shifted again, and brought the group to where he was instead. Vidic was watching him with narrowed, annoyed eyes. He refrained from flipping him off, no matter that he felt like it. "I've got to get back in soon. Why don't we look outside, first?"
There were a lot of windows, actually, and they were rather large. That meant this was a well off building, because windows this large were expensive to put in. Not that Abstergo was hurting for cash, really. Templars tended to group themselves with money, or made money themselves.
Ezio, being a noble, was actually an exception for Assassins.
Ezio hissed as he looked past the windows and to the street below. "The buildings surrounding this place are too tall for me to properly tell in which city we are, but this is definitely Italy."
"Well, fuck," Desmond said.
That explained why he had been unconscious for nearly an entire day before he woke up in the Animus. And why the others were all as worried as they were; even when they were hurt and recovering, they at least had awareness of the other. Being drugged was one of the few ways that they couldn't reach each other.
"This just got more complicated," Desmond said, "Hopefully Ami was able to follow my trail, even if they killed all of her bugs on me."
"I'd be more surprised if she didn't," Elise said.
"It closes options but provides other options as well," Ezio said, looking thoughtful. "Depending on where we are, I can leave bolt holes and equipment for you. There is much that can last the ages, and will be left alone otherwise."
"That leaves a lot on you," Desmond said, and rubbed his arm. "Either way, I know how to act in Italy. The language has changed, but Nonna has taught me enough."
"We've got something, at least," Aveline said. "We can plan a bit better now that we know where we are."
"Mister Miles, if you're done enjoying the scenery, I would appreciate if you went back to work," Vidic called.
Desmond frowned at him, but went back to the Animus. Lucy was standing at her monitor, and smiled at him. "Are you ready, Desmond?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Desmond replied, and got back in. "Which is to say, absolutely not."
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