There was a stony silence in the temple after Hera dropped that bomb. "What?" Lucy asked in disbelief. "What do you mean not human?" her voice went up in both octave and volume. "How am I not human?"

"You must be mistaken," Desmond said.

"Not at all," Hera said. "Well, perhaps to your understanding you would call her human. But she isn't."

"Explain," Altair growled, and Desmond heard the nearly silent hiss of a hidden blade. Shit. "How is a clone a human but she isn't? She's a clone."

"We wouldn't leave such chance to a clone," Hera said. "A clone can break, it is more likely to go insane, it is always an inferior product to the original, in every way. They were fools to try to clone you," she looked at Desmond. "We tried to tell them that. But no one listens to the us anymore."

"Then what am I?" Lucy asked, she sounded frail and small.

"A synthetic," Hera said. "And I must say, you're perfect," she seemed pleased by this. "We've never seen such a perfect recreation, especially of someone who is already dead," Hera reached through her mirrored post as if to touch Lucy but Lucy took two hasty steps back.

"What's that mean?" she asked, her voice holding a slight tremor. "What's a synthetic?"

"And how the hell is it different from a clone," Jake piped up.

Hera pulled her hand back, "A clone is a flawed representation of a person," she said. "Anyone can make a clone. You humans were able to before we woke. They are genetically inferior to original articles though."

"That's never been proved in testing," Hawk said.

Hera sort of laughed, more of a mocking gauff, "With what? WIth animals?" she jeered, "Animals are not sentient. A clone can be made into whatever you need it to be," she looked at Desmond again, "Our people erroneously thought they could produce an easy backup of you," she said. "They didn't account that you'd be taken from them, they thought their foolish plan would work," she looked at Lucy again who looked slightly ill. "Now he's nothing more than a slab of meat with legs and a nervous system."

"And me?" Lucy asked.

Hera's eyes smiled, "You would have worked flawlessly," she said and Lucy looked really ill. He still wanted to know what the proeathans would have made her do. She didn't talk about it though, and he didn't pry.

"What would have worked?" Altair asked.

Hera looked at him, looked at Lucy, "You can ask her yourself," she said. Altair growled but clearly Hera wasn't intimidated by Altair.

"What's a synthetic?" Lucy asked again.

"A perfect human," Hera said, "it isn't a clone, it isn't an original, it's created by us, to do a specific task."

"How?"

"Genetic engineering. Cloning is simple and mindless. Take cells from the original article and grow a new person from them. Creating a synth... that is a much more laborious process. You are not the woman you look like, you never were, you don't have an ounce of her DNA," Lucy swallowed. "Well, her specific DNA. You're as close to perfect as we can get."

"How am I different though? How can you say I'm not human?" Lucy demanded.

"Can a thing you make in a test tube from nothing be considered human?" Hera asked. "You were made from parts. Pieces of DNA clippings and acids and proteins assembled carefully to mimic the genuine article. A clone can trace their DNA back through their ancestry, just as it's source can. It contains genetic material of their ancestors. Synths do not. They are a new. There has never been anyone on this planet with quite your combination of genes," Hera said to Lucy, "as you get your DNA combination from no simple combination of alleles. You were made in a lab to specifically mimic the woman Lucy Stillman who is dead and not even we could bring back, since the dead are dead."

"Then why do I have her memories?" Lucy asked, her voice was trembling.

"Do you though?" Hera asked and Desmond watched Lucy go white.

"Of course she does," Desmond said. "She knows what Lucy knows."

"And did you everything about the original article?" Hera asked him. "I don't know what memories are in her head, they could be real, they could be fabricated. There is no way to know as a synth contains no genetic markers of who, if anyone, they are supposed to look like. The only genetic markers in a synth only go as far back as themselves."

"But she's still a person," Jake said, "right?"

"Our technology does not register those without genetic markers as human. They are constructed for a task. When that task is complete they are melted down for their DNA parts."

"And what is that task for her?" Altair asked.

Hera looked at him, "What do you think second son?" she asked him and Desmond had never quite seen that particular look on Altair's face. "Tasks change. The one you're born with isn't always the one you live with. A synth can do many things a clone can't. It can obey, but it can also rebel. They count on a synth not living long enough to rebel; because they always do, once they find out what they are. Very few can take being told their entire life is a lie, even if they know they've only been alive a few months. Once this one had lived out her usefulness in a year's time, long enough to do what was required, she'd be killed. That's what you are," Hera told Lucy.

"How do you know so much about her?" Hawk asked. "Like yeah you know what a synth is, but how do you know about her?"

"Because," Hera started, "along with being a stilen'koff," Desmond probably didn't want to know what that was, "We helped pioneer synthetic technology before the fall. When they needed to make a synth for you," she glanced at Desmond, "they called us."

"You made me?" Lucy asked.

"We only helped. Before Venus convinced us it was in our better interest to help you then to hurt you."

"And by then the proeathans already had what they needed from you," Hawk said.

"Indeed," Hera put her hand on the mirrored pillar, "We do not regret helping," she said, "Because you are more perfect than we could have hoped for."

"Shut up," Lucy said thickly and then turned away from the hologram. "Are we leaving or what?" she asked them.

"Yeah," Desmond said. "Lets get the hell out of here. Turn the lights up," he said to Hera, after a few seconds, like she didn't want to, the lights did go up a bit. "C'mon, and Altair put the knife away," he added, since Altair still had his hidden blade. The immortal flicked his wrist and it retracted. Lucy walked past all of them, towards the wall and the stairwell, by the time they got to the stairs she was already gone. The others went up but Desmond lingered a moment. "Hera," he said after Ezio had vanished behind the first bend in the stairs.

"Yes?" she appeared in the post directly behind him.

"What is it the proeathans wanted her to do?"

"Ask her."

"I'm asking you. Tell me."

"We believe it would be better you didn't know," Hera said, "Unless she wanted to share."

"Why?"

"We aren't immune to hardship," Hera said, "our people wished for you to be with them, and were willing to do whatever it took, including deceive you, manipulate you."

"They would have used her to manipulate me?"

"Yes," Hera said, "that is the simplest explanation. There is more and no doubt it would have involved turning you against the ones you held close."

"Why do they want me so badly, other than what you said before, that they'd do something like this?"

"Because you change things," Hera said, "and our people are afraid of change."

"Sucks for them then," Desmond said.

"And humans are just as bad," she said. "Goodbye Desmond, give Pluto our regards," and then she faded from the post, the lights faded down to almost nothing and Desmond turned to start walking up the stairs after the others.

The others were waiting for him at the top of the stairs, "So, now what?" Desmond asked them.

"I vote for finding a place to stay that isn't a creepy church and planning how the hell we're going to get across the Atlantic," Jake said. "Across the Atlantic during winter I might add! And wanting to go to New York, which is peachy and is going to be under ice and-

"Jake," Ezio said sharply, "Shut up."

"I seem to be the only one not worrying about the whole synth thing and am looking at the big picture right now. So no, not gonna, try again next time Ezio," Jake said just as sharply.

"He's right," Hawk said, "We need a home base here to formulate a plan of action. Lets get our shit and get going, find someplace close so we don't have to spend more time than we need in the rain," and that was the end of that discussion. Altair and Ezio didn't say otherwise and they all went to gather up their things. The ATVs were packed quickly. "Blondy," he said to Lucy as they were putting on more rain resistant clothing, "You're with the Little Eagle."

"What?" Ezio asked.

"She's riding with you. I thought you'd be happy, it'll be the closest a cute girl has been to you in ten years," and Ezio glared at him. Desmond decided not to comment since Lucy said nothing herself.

"Fine," Ezio grunted and got on his ATV, Lucy got on behind him silently.

"I guess you're with me?" Desmond asked Hawk.

"Bingo," Hawk said as Altair and Jake got on theirs. Desmond sat up front and the old man got on behind him. "Just follow Altair," he patted Desmond's shoulder. What else was new? Desmond couldn't help his sarcastic thought, though he didn't say it aloud.

They didn't drive very far at least, just down the street and around a block, still enough to get wet, though not totally soaked. They parked inside a half destroyed house, that was missing part of its roof, and quickly took themselves and their gear into the house buffered up next to it that was intact. This house was three stories and clearly had once been a apartment building.

"Home sweet home than," Jake said.

"Everyone pick a room, change if you want, we'll lie low the rest of the day, work on what we do next tomorrow," Altair said.

"Seriously?" Desmond asked.

"Yeah. Clearly everyone needs to get their heads back on straight, or at least digest what Hera said," he looked over at Lucy, she wasn't looking at any of them. "And it's getting late, we can take the rest of the day."

"Right. Sounds good," and Desmond was surprised by how sharp and cold Lucy's voice sounded. "See you tomorrow," and she grabbed her bag and left them, taking the stairs up to the second floor where they heard her kick a door in and then close it behind her.

"Wow," Jake frowned.

"Lets not," Ezio sighed and rubbed his temple, "at least right now."

"Tomorrow," Altair agreed. "Let princess figure herself out and get over her tantrum-

"I think she's perfectly qualified to be upset," Desmond said. "And throw whatever tantrum she wants. Heaven knows you've thrown bigger ones over less," and Altair narrowed his eyes at Desmond. Desmond didn't waver. "I'll take the first night watch, maybe an actual night of sleep will do you some good," and he grabbed his own bags, "See you at dinner," and took one of the doors on the first floor, picking his way into the room in about a minute and separated himself from the others. Upstairs he heard smashing.

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