I own nothing. Least of all this.
1:13
The Sergeant came out first, his H&K G36 ready, but not yet aimed in any particular direction.
I tapped him on the shoulder. "We're heading to the right. Just watch our left, and follow where my hand steers you."
I left my hand on his shoulder, and began to walk towards where I knew the body lay. Now, you may be wondering exactly why I wanted the body found, and even more so why I spun that whole cockamamie story for the Sergeant's benefit. I hate to sound cliche, but all I can say is "That's for me to know, and for you to find out.'' Rest assured, I had a reason, and that reason was currently resting in a famous tomb near the city of Seville, Spain.
We continued on, and came to the body. "Now son, you know there are certain things you just aren't cleared to know. So I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to keep your eyes on our surroundings, just until I make sure there isn't any sensitive material lying around."
"Understood, sir."
I knelt. There wasn't very much blood, if any. I had made sure of that last night. A little regeneration energy went a long way towards burning any stains. And eyeballs, for that matter. After ensuring that everything looked as it was meant to, I stood and turned back to the Sergeant.
"Your turn. I need another pair of eyes. Literally. I'll take watch. Just tell me if you recognize the name on the ID, and if anything seems off to you, aside from the obvious."
He swiveled, and handed me his rifle. Then he took his turn with the corpse.
I could tell when he spotted the body's clear lack of vision (see what I did there). There was a distinct retching sound that could only mean he was doing his best to hold it together.
"..It seems, sir...that, aside from.. the obvious, there appears to be a … slit, in his throat."
"Describe it."
"I would say, sir, that it appears that he was stabbed, died, and only afterwards did...the obvious occur."
I did my best to convey a feeling of confusion. "That doesn't add up. How high was the man's clearance?"
"One second, sir. I don't recognize his name, but his ID could have gotten him down here, no problem, but not any further."
"...I need another look. Take the watch."
Once again, we swapped places.
"It just doesn't make sense. Why would an archangel smite a man, after he was already dead? It… Oh. Oh no. Bollocks."
"What is, it sir?"
"I completely forgot the only other way an angel can burn a man's eyes out: if his body fails as a vessel."
"A vessel?"
"Yes. An angel can possess a human, but unlike demons, it can do so only if the human agrees to it. But if the human were dead...there wouldn't be anyone home to say no. The vessel wouldn't last nearly as long as an alive one, but it would last long enough."
"Long enough for what, sir?"
"Long enough to get somewhere it could find a willing host. And I can think of at least one person downstairs who would more than willingly say 'yes'. We need to get back down. Now. You lead the way back, I'll cover us. Guns are no more use here."
I didn't need to tell him twice. We headed back to the elevator with all possible haste.
"When's that bloody thing getting here?"
"Just a moment sir."
"We may not have a moment."
"I know, I know!"
A *Ding* heralded the arrival of our ride (try saying that three times fast). We practically threw ourselves forward into it.
"Down! Now!"
He slammed the button.
"Now, here's what's going to happen. I can tell if someone is currently being possessed. We're going to play it cool at first, as if we still don't have any clue what happened. If I see that anyone has said yes, I'll ask them down to level five. I can deal with them the best there. Your job will be to back me up on that, and help all the other people get the hell out of Dodge. Cause even if everything goes perfectly for me, then I'm not coming back up."
"But sir!..."
"No, don't argue. Just get the people to the ground floor. Tell whoever tries to question you or stop you that its a Code Samael, and tell them exactly who's the person in question. Whatever you do, you can't let them out. If I fail, then it's gonna go looking for another vessel. And we absolutely cannot let it out into London. If I succeed, then there's gonna be one almighty explosion that should collapse just the underground. Only then can you start letting people out. Understood?"
He hesitated.
"Am I understood, Sergeant!"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Good. It was a pleasure to meet you, son." I held out my hand. "Catch you on the flip side."
He took my hand, and shook it. "Same to you, sir. It was an honor."
The elevator shuddered to a halt.
The doors slid open.
I strode out, the Sergeant hot on my heels. There they were, just ahead, the doctor and the PM both. I had been tempted at first to use the doc, but I just had too many questions about the other one. And I don't like having things I know nothing about where I can't see them.
The PM greeted us first. "Were you able to ascertain what happened, Commander?"
I shook my head. "It's the strangest thing. I'm still no closer to an explanation, and that makes me nervous. Very nervous indeed."
It was here the doctor interjected his opinion. "I don't care how nervous ya are, there's still far too much ta do! We just cannot evacuate! It can't be done!"
I sighed dramatically. "I completely understand sir, which is why we are now pursuing an alternate course of action. Sergeant, get everyone you can out up to the ground floor. I intend to do a sweep of the rest of the area, as insurance. Once I send the all clear, then you may return to your workstations. I don't anticipate that I shall be any longer than a half-hour, but just to make sure you can return in plenty of time, I must ask you, ma'am," here I turned to PM, "to assist in my inspection. We'll start from the bottom, and work our way up. And when we're done, I will have to use the secure line to report to Mr. Rikkin." I was betting rather heavily here that there was, in fact, a secure line. It was the one thing I hadn't been able to confirm.
"Of course, Commander. Mr. Rikkin must be informed." Seems my bluff had held.
I turned back to the Sergeant. "You know what to do."
He nodded. "Come on, doctor. Everyone out, as soon as possible."
He grabbed the doctor's arm and began hauling him towards the nearest group of people, Scottish swearing following the whole way.
I gestured in the direction of the "downwards" elevator. "Ladies first."
"How chivalrous of you, Commander."
"I try."
One elevator ride later, and we were standing where I had been aiming the whole time: level five. I knew what I was looking for was somewhere near the back, so I didn't need to bother with searching the rest of the place. It did, however, give me an excellent excuse to have PM do so.
As she began looking for anything out of place near the front, I made my way through rows upon rows of what I can only describe as junk. Deadly junk, but junk nonetheless. I was just beginning to wonder exactly what made this place so worth hiding, when I rounded a corner, and found my answer.
Welp, looks like it was definitely clones. At least, that's what the pods with things growing inside them seemed to suggest. That was bad. Worse than resurrection, in fact. Implanting information in a new brain was a heck of a lot easier than retrieving an old brain intact. And there was no telling how many pods like these were scattered around the globe. Looks like every single building Abstergo owned had to go. Shame. I had really liked the Sergeant. And I was sure there were a good deal more people like him in Abstergo's employ. He may be safe, but the others weren't. At least they would die in ignorance. Less black on their souls.
If the pods were here, that could only mean that my target was just…
Beyond.
"Oh, they didn't."
But they had.
I had already been beyond disgusted with what I had pulled from the Leader's mind, but this…
This just made me mad. And they weren't gonna like me when I was mad.
A cryo-freeze chamber stood in front of me. Barbaric to begin with, but this version took things to an entirely new level of cruel. The occupant was meant to experience every single moment in absolute cold, with absolutely no sleep or unconsciousness as a relief. And suspended within one of the two chambers, was the person whose justice I was now in pursuit of:
Rose Tyler.
Or, more accurately, the Bad Wolf.
Whatever had been left of Rose Tyler had died long ago. This was merely the shell, filled with nothing now but rage and hatred.
A far cry from the woman who had taught mercy to a Dalek.
And this was merely the tip of what had been done to her. Yet another stone on the Templars' grave. I would make sure of that.
My plan now needed some major modifications. It wasn't enough to go through with what I had originally wanted. There needed to be more. Good thing I still had ten hours to work with.
I strode off back towards the front of the room, my coat flapping behind me. The gears in my mind whirred, piecing together new means of destruction for Abstergo worldwide. As the main exit came into view, I noticed PM waiting for me beside the doors. Now that I knew what she was, she would be the first to go.
I clamped down the rage that threatened to show on my face. "Find anything?"
She shook her head. "Of course not, Commander. There's no way anything or anyone could get to level four without the proper clearance, much less level five."
"You're entitled to your opinion. But as a matter of fact, I found several things that have the potential to change your mind."
She stiffened. "No…"
"Yes. Things that lead me to believe the secure line may not, in fact, be enough."
"Please say you didn't find any…
"Listening devices? No. But what makes you think that if anything as real as what's down here can be found, that anything else virtual is any safer? Just in case, I'm only going to tell what I found exactly once, and only then when I'm absolutely sure only the intended ears are listening."
I pointed to the nearest, and also the largest of the consoles located near the door. "You start preparing the line, but don't activate the call just yet. I'm going to try and add a few security measures of my own in the hard-wiring."
She nodded, and immediately sat and began typing away. I slid under the desk next to her (and before you ask, yes she was wearing pants). I needed an excuse to activate my visor out of her line of sight. This got me that, plus the chance to add a little more to the surprises I had arranged. Wires were yanked from their housings, connectors strung together, my visor whirring away the entire time. That little circle on my screen got connected to a bunch more little circles, all gradually filling up. Perfect. That ought to work just fine. Now all I had to do was play for time. Bantering ought to cover that quite nicely.
I slid out from under the console. "Done. Wish I could do more, but it should work for now. You got the call pulled up?"
"All ready for you, Commander."
"Excellent. Make the call."
"Sir, you know I need higher clearance to reach Mr. Rikkin. He sent you, he'll answer for you. Just enter your credentials, and we'll be good to go."
Bollocks. "Ah. About that…"
"If you're fixing to kill me, I completely understand. If I were you, I'd kill me too."
My fingers tightened their grip on my handgun. "How long have you known?"
"Just as you were going up with the Sergeant. I remembered where I'd seen paper like that before. In an old, dusty file from two hundred years ago. Psychic paper. You're him, aren't you? You're the Doctor."
I relaxed. "Close, but not quite. Friend of his. And part-time antagonist as well."
"But you're here to stop it, aren't you?"
I nodded. "All of it. All that I can."
"Good. You already killed one of the things I hated the most."
"You mean Little Miss Snake-face upstairs?"
That's the witch. And Snake-face describes her perfectly. She was the first of us, the first of the clones. And she did everything she could to make sure we were worth it to Abstergo."
"And what about you?"
"What about me? I was the next to last of the ones that lived to adulthood. After Number One got done, I was the last proper. She was my sister. And One killed her. I couldn't disobey her. I can't disobey any of them. But I could do things without them knowing."
"I wondered why security was so terrible around here."
"I waited. For so long I waited, hoping there was at least one more Assassin. That they would find us. Find everything. And burn it all, me along with it. Can you do that? Will you - for me?"
"...As the lady wishes."
"...Thank you. Right then. The Doctor had a tool of some kind, that let him through to whatever he wanted. Do you have one too?"
I tapped twice on behind my ear. "Yes. More efficient, as well."
She stared. "I can see why you avoided using it. Very intimidating."
"Thanks. So, how do you want to do this."
"All it'll take is a little work from you, and the call should go through. It should connect to Rikkin, no matter where he is. But before you call...before he answers...you're going to have to kill me."
"Understood. You don't want to risk him giving you orders."
"...Yes. Please be quick."
"I can do better than quick. I can make it relatively painless. That is, if you don't have any objections to being kissed."
"...No, no I can't think of any."
"Okay then."
Slowly, out came my pistol. Funny, I was only just now realizing it was a Colt. Appropriate. 'I will fear no evil', indeed. "I just have one question left for you…"
She looked up at me, obviously at peace. "Yes?"
"Your name. Do you have one?"
"...No."
"Would you like one?"
"...Yes."
I thought for a minute. There was really only one name I could choose, of course. "The Doctor had a friend, once. She gave her life to destroy the organization she worked for, once she found out what they were. Her name..your name, should be... Astrid."
The word came whispering through her lips. "Astrid. I like it."
"Excellent."
I raised my gun.
"Wait!"
I paused.
"What's your name? Your real one?"
"...Witcher. They call me.. The Witcher."
"...It suits you. Alright. I'm ready."
I nodded. "Catch you on the flip side, Astrid."
"And the same to you, Witcher. The same to you ..."
*BANG*
It was a nice kiss, as far as kisses go. I mean, I only had four to go on so far, but it was by far the best. I hoped it was nice for her.
I sighed.
The world was never fair. And I could do was try to make sure it was only unfair to me.
The little circles on my screen had filled up completely. I was ready.
I activated the call, and jammed the line open.
Back off went the mask. I needed to meet the man face-to-face.
I needed him to see every bit of hatred I held for him and his precious Templars.
The call connected.
And there he was. In all of his cinematic villain glory.
"Mr. Rikkin."
"Who is this?"
"A thousand apologies, my good sir. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth, and taste. I've been around for a long, long time; stole many a man's soul and faith."
If it was possible for holograms to go from blue to white, I believe he came the closest to managing it.
I chuckled. I was going to enjoy every moment of this.
I continued.
"I was around when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and faith. Made damn sure that Pilate washed his hands, and sealed his fate. Pleased to meet you! Hope you guessed my name! But what's puzzling you is the...
I am ashamed to say I did the Rumpelstiltskin hand thing.
"Nature of my game!"
I stood there for a good bit. Waiting. For anything, really. Finally, when it was just beginning to get awkward, I gave up.
"Seriously? I do all that, and I don't even get a 'hello' back? Rude."
He swallowed. A single whispered word came from his lips. "Samael."
"Yes. That is my name. Or rather, it used to be."
"...Lucifer."
"Again, technically correct, so I'll give it to you. But I feel I should tell you I go by another moniker now. Makes things easier when dealing with less-religious types."
Again with the whispering. "...What?"
"They call me," I struck a dramatic pose, "...The Witcher. And I.. am your worst nightmare."
He swallowed again.
And for once, it wasn't me that said it.
"...Bollocks."
