Epilogue
The animus headset powered down and I had to blink a few times to get my vision back. There was a moment of terror when I returned to my sense but found my vision blurry. Luckily, after blinking a few times, my sight returned to normal and I sat upright, groaning. I must have been in the animus for some time. The other two participants of this program were already out of their animuses (or is it animi?) and were stretching. I can't recall their names, but like me they had been selected by Abstergo for some big research project. I heard one say "Damn. That was some deep shit!"
There was a third man in the room, a well-built man with a dark, yet fair skin tone, that looked strangely familiar. He wore a long white lab coat and glasses. His hair was long, but not too long. Currently, he was writing something down on a clipboard and typing something into a nearby laptop. When he turned and saw me back on my feet, he smiled and, passing the clipboard to his other hand, he shook my hand.
"Very well done. We've got all the information we need. I've just got to ask you a few questions. It's just a precaution. Are you ready?"
I nodded.
"Right," he said, "What's the date, today?"
"Erm…" I thought, "Monday, the… 17th? Of October, 2016."
"Good. Next question: What is your name?"
"Tom."
"Tom…?"
"Oh, Tom Grummett." I said, slightly embarrassed.
"Okay, and where are you?"
"Abstergo, Montreal, Quebec."
"Good, final question: do you have any headaches, nausea, anything like that?"
"I don't think so."
"Good. That's everything."
Again, he reached to shake my hand. Again, I shook it, only this time, I noticed something on his arm. A jet black tattoo. I couldn't make out the detail, but it looked like it went all the way up his arm it wrapped around his wrist and into the palm of his hand. From what I could see, it appeared to be scales of some kind. It was so familiar it was nagging me. And his face. His face was just teasing me like it was someone I should know, but I couldn't place it. Mentally, I shrugged as me and the other two participants headed to the elevator to go back to our hotel.