The man calls himself Juhani Osto Berg, but Desmond calls him creepy and slightly insane. He summons Desmond to his office while he's still struggling to come to grips with Shay's sudden swan dive off a cliff, which possibly explains why Desmond is so shaken during their conversation. Or maybe it's because of the man's words- he has a particular way of speaking, slow and absolutely certain, like he believes completely in every word that comes out of his mouth. It's unsettling to hear someone that is so blatantly and obviously a templar. Even without eagle vision, the way he talks would have given the man's allegiance away.
Whatever the reason for Desmond's unease, at least Berg's lecture is over quickly. Desmond barely has time to brace himself for the possibility that Berg might recognize him (he pretends to have a headache again, rubbing his hand over his face, and half seriously considers investing in a fake mustache) when the man is dismissing him and sending him on his way.
Outside, Violet is waiting with the news that the elevator is working again.
"So I'm allowed to leave?" Desmond asks.
"Not until all this is fixed," Violet says. "You break it you bought it."
"What did I buy?"
She sighs like he's the stupidest person in the world. "It's a metaphor, numbskull. You're sticking around until all this is fixed."
"Lucky me," Desmond says, and Violet laughs at him.
"Listen," she says. "Take a few minutes, go out and stretch your legs, then get back in your animus."
Desmond nods, and when Violet has turned away to focus on other work, he heads for the elevator. His first stop is the lobby, on the off chance that he'll be able to sneak out of the building, but the whole area is filled with repair crews and maintenance workers- and very obvious security guards, standing around and looking menacing- so he gives up on that option.
Back on the elevator, he pauses with his finger over the button for the second floor. Whatever piece of Eden Shay had used to accidentally destroy Lisbon had allowed him to join with Shay as if he had an apple. And, as Rebecca had pointed out when Desmond first suggested going undercover, there's a whole floor full of animi with his genetic information on them. With Violet temporarily distracted, this is a perfect opportunity for Desmond to try reconnecting with his missing ancestors.
He hits the button for the seventeenth floor instead.
The elevator ride upward is long enough for Desmond to start worrying about what will be waiting for him on the other side. There might be security, ready and waiting to attack as soon as the doors open. There might be anything at all. Or-
There might be nothing. Desmond steps off the elevator into an empty room feeling more than a little ridiculous. He's a fully trained assassin, after all. There's literally no reason to be worried about a couple of quasi trained apes with guns, but this whole day just has him completely on edge.
Quickly, as quickly as possible, Desmond finds the nearest animus and boots up the program. Luckily, whomever had been working at this station before the building evacuation hadn't bothered to log out during the alarm, so there's a chance that this won't be tracked back to him. He opens the list of ancestors and curses quietly, because the setup here is less well organized than the one he's been using to look at Shay's memories. Instead of the single option he's used to, there's a list of several ancestors to choose from. They're labelled with file numbers instead of names, so Desmond picks one at random and slips the headset on, praying that somehow this is going to be a good idea.
For a second, all he sees is the blackness of the headset pressing against his eyes, and then the darkness explodes into colors and motion and memory, flooding through Desmond's mind with a speed unlike anything he's ever experienced before. He's already been through these memories, and the machine is struggling to keep up with his high synch rate- still, Desmond catches enough bits and pieces to recognize Altair's memories before slamming with excessive but satisfying force into his ancestor's mind.
Altair is on a horse, but Desmond doesn't have the context to understand where he's going or why. He doesn't much care at the moment, either because this feels exactly right. Altair is the first ancestor Desmond had ever met. The two of them had struggled through the complexities of time travel and mind sharing together, and of all his ancestors, Altair is the one Desmond still feels closest to. This is exactly what he needs after everything he's seen with Shay.
The man is clearly not expecting his sudden reappearance, and the force of Desmond's arrival sends is enough to physically send him tumbling off his horse. He rolls several feet along the dusty ground before coming to a stop, facedown in the dirt. Desmond can feel Altair prodding cautiously at him, almost like he's not completely sure this is real, and then an uncharacteristically wide grin breaks his face in two.
"Desmond," he says. "Welcome back."
"Glad to be back," Desmond says. "Only- listen, I don't know if this is permanent or not, I'm pretty much making this up as I go along-"
"So nothing new."
"Nothing new, right," Desmond agrees. "And I'm undercover in Abstergo, in an area where I'm not really supposed to be. I don't have much time-"
"Why are you-" Altair interrupts his own question, choosing to dig through Desmond's memories instead. Desmond winces at the expected feeling of exasperated disapproval, but before Altair can tell him he's taking too many risks, he changes the subject.
"I need to get out before anyone realizes where I am. And you should probably get off the ground before-"
"Altair?"
It's a woman's voice that asks the question, teasing and very vaguely familiar. When Altair regains his feet and looks around, Desmond is surprised to recognize Maria Thorpe, the woman that had impersonated Robert before Altair found the apple.
"What is…" Desmond trails off as several of Altair's more recent and private memories float to the surface. "Oh. So she's your-"
"Yes."
"And my ancestor?"
"Apparently so."
Desmond gives a mental huff, momentarily annoyed that while he was doing everything he could to reunite with his missing ancestors, Altair has been getting married and doing several things with his new wife that Desmond has absolutely no interest in learning more about. It's like walking in on his parents, only he has direct access to Altair's memories of events.
Before he can make any sort of comment on this- as though there could possibly be any sort of comment that would make things less awkward instead of more- the animus session cuts out abruptly and Desmond is dragged out of the animus. Literally dragged- he can feel a fist grabbing his hair, pulling him away from the desk and yanking the headset off his face.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Violet snarls, and for a second Desmond completely blanks out, terrified by the possibility that he's been caught.
"I- I don't-"
"There's absolutely no reason you should be up here," Violet says.
"Bleeding effect," Altair snaps, and at the sound of his voice Desmond feels all the tension drain out of him. It worked. Finally, something has gone right in his life. Also it's a better lie than anything he can come up with.
"I saw something," he says, putting just the right mix of confusion and fear into his voice. "I saw- I don't know, I thought it was a person but… I followed them up here but they were gone."
Violet lets go of Desmond's hair, and he can't stop himself from reaching up to rub at his scalp. That had actually hurt. "That sounds like the bleeding effect," she says, with considerably less anger than before. "You said you just started?"
Desmond nods, and lets Violet start on an explanation that he doesn't bother listening to. Apparently, Abstergo has seen enough stupid and crazy things thanks to the bleeding effect that this doesn't even register. "So what happens now?" Altair asks, while Violet prattles on and on. "Are you staying undercover?"
"No choice," Desmond says. "I don't have a way out, and I still need to find out more about the people that drained the apples, the Instruments of the First Will."
"Juno's minions."
"Yea. And… honestly, I feel bad about Shay. I need to see this through."
"I assume you already know this is stupid and dangerous," Altair says, as Violet shows signs of wrapping up.
"Of course."
"But you're going to do it anyway." Altair says. "Good."
"Good?"
"Whatever Shay found in Lisbon is our only way of getting the others back right now," Altair says. "The two of you were right there when the thing disintegrated. The energy from the artifact must have gone somewhere, and I feel pretty safe assuming it went into you and him. He's not around to use an animus, and something tells me he wouldn't be very interested in getting anyone else shoved inside his head anyway."
"So it's all up to me," Desmond says. "I can use the animi up here to get to the others, once Violet stops shouting at me." The idea of having everyone back together is an attractive one.
They turn their attention back to the woman in question, just in time to hear her closing remarks. "I understand that the bleeding effect can be disorienting," she says. "But if I ever catch you up here, or in any other area where you're not supposed to be again…"
"I understand," Desmond says, because it's obviously expected of him. "And I'll stay where I'm supposed to be."
"Good," Violet says, and Desmond's almost sure she has no idea he's lying. "Just do what you're supposed to, and ends happily for everyone."