They had been sent to this tiny cabin in this forest in the middle of nowhere to analyse the data from a few crucial Animus sessions. The only problem was that there was literally nothing around, the power and satellite link that had been set up for them was more than basic and only worked with a lot of begging and possibly a few sacrifices, or at least that's what Shaun suspected. Rebecca, of course, told him it was just his bad aura around technology. It certainly only worked for one person at a time which was more than inconvenient.
Another part of the problem was that it was just the two of them, which spelled disaster. They didn't do well without some sort of buffer.
And Shaun couldn't even hide in his history books when he needed a break from Rebecca's constant nagging. (Mind you, she said if anyone was constantly nagging it was him, but what did she know?) Because he hadn't been able to bring a lot of material. He mostly had to rely on online archives which he could only access when Rebecca wasn't using the satellite link for her analysis. And of course, she was of the opinion that her work was a lot more vital.
"I'm looking for underlying programming, glitches, glyphs, strange code that could help us find more pieces of Eden. That's something we can only get through the animus. Your boring old history has been there for ages, so shut up and let me work."
"I will have you know that it has not been there for ages, new theories and discoveries are happening all the time. And with the Animus, we can prove what happened. It takes all the guesswork out. It is vital that I get our data bank as accurate as possible, so future animus users have the correct information at the correct time. A wrong date or name can spell disaster and cost us valuable time in the race against the templars."
"But that is both in the past and in the future. Finding more leads for pieces of Eden is right now and is much more important. So shut up and let me work."
"You already said that. And analysing what people say and do and how it differs from recorded history is just as likely to provide us with leads." He sighed and took his glasses off to clean them. "But fine, fine, I am the bigger man as usual, so I will let you work and cook some dinner. But you'll do the dishes after and I get to work then."
Rebecca just shrugged. "Fine, but you're not the bigger man and not the bigger person either."
"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled and went over to the tiny kitchen area of their one-room cabin to see what he could manage to make for dinner.
"We have a choice of baked beans on toast, canned pasta or an omelet with the last of our cheese. We need to make a supply run in the next two days."
Supply runs were always risky, they needed to stay hidden and as of the radar as possible. According to their contacts, Abstergo had been sighted to nose around this area.
Which meant he would probably have to wear that horrible fake beard again and Rebecca would be complaining about the too-tight wig she wore as a disguise. At least it was sunny so the base caps and sunglasses wouldn't be too strange.
"We had baked beans for breakfast. So make the pasta and we'll eat the omelet tomorrow morning. I'll check with the others if it's safe enough to go out tomorrow."
Shaun nodded and searched for the can opener, of course, it wasn't where it was supposed to be.
"Can you not just put the can opener back where it belongs, it's really not that hard, it's not like we have that much space."
"Sorry, look near the bread."
"Found it." He poured the contents into their pot and started heating it over the camping stove.
"At least it's not Ramen. If I never eat another packet of cheap Ramen it will be too soon."
"Don't be such a baby Shaun, Ramen is the stuff we survive on and you know it. College students, minimum wage workers and undercover people everywhere swear by it. Don't look down on them, you fancy-schmancy." She laughed and Shaun couldn't help but join.
"Fancy-schmancy am I? What an insult Rebecca, what an insult."
He gave the pasta a stir and grabbed the two bowls and spoons from beside the tiny sink, the only one in the entire cabin. Privacy was a foreign concept by now and so was showering.
"Food's almost done, so finish up what you're doing."
Rebecca nodded. "Alright. I'm just gonna let this handy little program search for abnormalities while we eat."
"As long as it's done so I can work after dinner."
As an answer, Rebecca just shrugged and Shaun sighed. He highly doubted he would get to work today. Well, maybe he could argue that it would be safer if only one of them went out tomorrow and use the time she was away to work.
Oh, who was he kidding, if he did that he would worry about her the whole time until she got back and barely get any work done. He would just have to get to the computer before her tomorrow. She wasn't a morning person anyway.
The sauce started to bubble and he gave it another stir before filing it into the bowls.
"Here you go Beccs, gourmet canned pasta with no cheese because we're saving that for the omelet. Enjoy."
Rebecca grinned and took the bowl. "Always impressive that they can make tomato sauce taste like nothing, but at least it's somewhat filling."
Shaun just sighed full of resignation. "How much longer do we have to stay here?"
Rebecca shrugged. "Who knows. Two more weeks at least, but maybe longer. I guess it depends on Abstergo's activity and what we find."
Shaun nodded. "I guess. Any new leads worth mentioning?"
"I don't know, there is something strange that I picked up on. But it's very different from all the first civilisation things we've found so far, so it might be unrelated. Maybe just a bug in the programming of the animus. Of course, fixing that would be a good thing, but that wouldn't be a lead. You?"
"Oh you mean did I find any leads twiddling my thumbs and flipping through old notes and the few things I was able to bring? No, not really. But I did work on editing a few minor database entries. Nothing big though. I really need access to our archive."
"Yeah, yeah my program will be done in 15 to 20 minutes tops and then I can print the results and you can use the computer. Stop whining."
"Whining, Rebecca? I never whine."
As a response, she just shoved him and nearly made him spill his pasta.
"Careful, I want to savour every bite of this tasteless sludge with vaguely noodle-like bits in it."
After they finished eating, Shaun, of course, ended up doing the dishes so Rebecca could finish up her work. But after, she did let him use the computer and started pouring over her printouts with a pen and a notepad.
Shaun plugged in his headphones and went through some of the recordings they took during the Animus sessions.
"It is truly fascinating to witness history like this. I wish my ancestors had led more exciting lives. But at least I get to meet some amazing historical figures this way. Too bad I'm not allowed to publish any of this. It would change so much. But the only people benefitting from my work are the Assassins and Abstergo when they once again somehow manage to get our data."
"Yeah, but we get their data even more often than they get ours. So who cares. As for publishing your work, I have helped design and update a machine that lets you relive memories from people that lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and I'm not allowed to tell anyone. Do you know how much that sucks? How much I wanna rub some assholes from college faces in it sometimes? But no, instead I eat canned pasta and baked beans in a tiny freezing cabin when I should be winning a Nobel prize or any number of prizes and grants for my work."
Shaun looked up at her. "I'm sorry. You are right. We both deserve more recognition and money. But we're saving the world, right?"
Rebecca sighed. "Right. Let's not forget that. But a thank you would be nice from time to time wouldn't it?"
"100 percent it would. But hey at least our lives aren't boring."
"No, but this cabin is."
Shaun chuckled at that and Rebecca joined him. After that, they worked in silence until it got too dark for them to work with the little light they dared to use. Both for stealth and power saving reasons.
Rebecca yawned. "Time for bed. Mind if I use the bathroom first?"
Shaun shook his head. Bathroom was a very generous term anyway, it was just an outhouse with no running water and almost no light. But at least it was better than a bucket in the corner, it wasn't as if they hadn't had to make do with that on other missions as well.
He used the time Rebecca was outside to wash himself as well as he could in the tiny sink. No pyjamas, in case they had to flee in the middle of the night and he couldn't exactly take his shoes off before he went outside.
Once Rebecca returned it was his turn in the 'bathroom' and her turn at the sink.
She was already in her sleeping bag when he came back inside and he climbed into his one next to her. They slept pretty close together because it could get pretty cold at night.
"Night, Beccs."
"Night, Shaun."