Chapter 2: Escape from Abstergo/Meeting the Team

As Yang selects 'New Game', Team RWBY gets another note from Tython.

'Subtitles are recommended as characters tend to speak words in their native language. Turn them on to know what those words mean.'

Yang goes to 'Options' and turns on the subtitles. After that, she goes back and selects 'New Game'.

The story begins with a recap so that the girls know what's going on. The music gives off a mysterious vibe once more with percussion instruments being played. They see a visor-like screen, bearing the logo of a pharmaceutical company. Flashes of different scenes show knights bearing crosses colored red, black, or white. Then it cuts to a young Caucasian male in his twenties with a noticeable scar on the right side of his lip and is wearing a white hoodie jacket. He seems to be locked in some technological room.

'My name is Desmond Miles. I'm a prisoner of war.'

The scene then glitches and moves on to another showing that he's being monitored on camera. The scene then transitions to the Third Crusade in the Levant region (otherwise known as the Holy Land or the Middle East).

'A war I never knew existed. Waged by two groups I never thought were real: Templars and Assassins.'

The camera zooms away from Desmond as the scene glitches to show a certain hooded Assassin protagonist from the first game (Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad) killing a Templar knight. It then shows Desmond lying down on a machine as it takes him to explore the lives of one of his ancestors. The girls now see a time period of three different cities (and a huge fortress) in the desert.

"Hey, doesn't those cities remind you of Vacuo?" Weiss recalls to her friends as she - being an heiress - had to study a lot of things, including history and geography.

"Yeah." Blake nods. "Sun mentioned that he was originally from there before living in Mistral. Says that it use to be an Oasis before becoming a wasteland and nearly a lawless kingdom. Shade Academy is the only law enforcement that does things by the book. Plus, Vacuo is known be less discriminating against the Faunus."

"Still, I wonder what kind of machine that is. And if this Desmond says that he's a prisoner of war, then what is he being used for?" Wonders a certain red/black haired scythe wielder.

'The Animus showed me the truth. The things I've seen, the things I've been. A thousand years of history flowing through my veins, brought to life by this machine.'

The girls see Altaïr in the desert running in white-blue simulation background with fog clouds everywhere and computer texts floating in the air. More images of the Assassin is shown walking on down the streets before transitioning back to Desmond being observed by men in black business suits with red neck ties. Another scene shows the girls the Ark of the Covenant and on small container reveals a silver spherical ball with patterned light lines on it. It looks to be technologically advanced in its design.

"A machine to relive the lives of our ancestors? That's-." Weiss comments but is interrupted by Ruby.

"Awesome! Has Atlas ever built something like that before?" The scythe-wielder ask her partner also wanting to relive her ancestors' memories. After all, who doesn't want to see how their ancestors lived?

"Not likely. I don't think that our technology is advanced enough to build a machine reliving our ancestor's memories." The heiress shakes her head, much to Ruby's disappointment.

'There go all my dreams' Thinks Ruby.

A note appears and Yang reads it aloud.

'The Animus. It's a machine that renders genetic memories in three dimensions. This means that in this reality, the human body (possibly Faunus) houses these memories in our DNA besides the individual's own memories. Think of it as an archive. It not only houses instructions passed down from previous generations, but genetic memories as well. Thus, anyone can relive the lives of any ancestor they are descended from.'

"That's incredible!" Blake says in awe. Her friends have the same reaction as well. If Remnant had a machine like that, they could unlock the secrets of their world's history, maybe about the origins of the Grimm.

'They're using me. Using me to search for something. They call it the Apple. It's an artifact, one of many so-called "Pieces of Eden."'

The scene transitions to Altaïr's former Mentor and traitor to the Assassin Brotherhood, Al Mualim, using the Apple to create multiple duplicates as he faces off his former student. Before showing scenes of different Templar targets Altair himself killed.

'Templars collected them; it's how they stay in power. And if the Templars get their hands on another one, everything will change.'

Another scene shows a Templar knight killing an Assassin hostage through the chest from behind, causing the girls to flinch again. Another scene shows innocent people in cages or are about to be executed in public.

'They want to make us all their slaves. When they first brought me here, I was afraid of what will happen if I try to fight back.'

Desmond is seen putting his ears on the wall in his room to eavesdrop on what the Templars are going to do with him in their search for more artifacts through the memories of Altaïr.

'Now… now I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't. But I can't do it alone, and maybe I don't have to. I met someone; her name is Lucy.'

The girls then see a young woman around Desmond's age and seems to be secretly helping him from the prying eyes of the Templars.

'I think she's on my side. She's gone now, taken away by that bastard Warren Vidic and his Templar masters.'

A scene shows an elderly man in a lab coat, revealing to the girls that he's a bad guy. The scene changes to Altaïr looking up at a holographic image of the planet Earth, projected by the Apple itself as it shows specific locations of where more Pieces of Eden are exactly at.

"So that's what Tython's world looks like." Yang realizes seeing the big yellow glowing sphere. "And those continents are unknown to us."

"Whoa! Earth seems to be a lot bigger than Remnant." Ruby exclaims in shock "It has to be at least 4 times bigger!"

"I'll admit, it does seem to be huge." Weiss agrees with her, Not expecting Earth to be THAT big.

"Same for me." Blake agrees as well. "Just how many locations does Earth have?"

'I don't know what will happen to her, or what will happen to me. All I know is I need to get out of here. And I need to do it soon. My name is Desmond Miles, and this is my story…'

The scene then flashes to a wall with multiple symbols on it, glowing in red. Looks like the recap is over and it's time for some gameplay.

"What in the-?" Blake says aloud not sure if she is seeing it what she thinks she is seeing. "It looks like… Is that blood?"

Her friends pale when they saw all the words and symbols on the wall.

"Oh my Oum..." Yang mutters in shock as her lilac eyes widen. Ruby and Weiss had to hold down their stomachs from losing their dinner they had.

"I don't think it was Desmond." Blake theorizes seeing that there is much blood on the wall. "It could've been someone else."

"No point in finding out like this. Let's see what happens next." Weiss suggests not wanting to look at it anymore as Yang follows the command of pressing any button to continue.

The door to Desmond's room slides open, revealing to be Lucy out of her work attire and has a little bit on blood on her shirt.

"We have to go." She says to Desmond.

"Lucy, where have you been? Why did they-?"

"Now."

She then makes her way to the Animus with Desmond following from behind. She then begins to start up the machine.

"Get in."

"What's with the blood? Are you okay?" Desmond asks, concerned if she's hurt or not.

Lucy gets straight to the point. "Look, we have maybe ten minutes – maybe – before they figure out what I've done. If we're not out of here and on the road before then..."

"Wait, we're leaving?" He asks in confusion, but Lucy silences him.

"Desmond, I promise I'll answer ALL of your questions. Later. But right now, I need you to just shut up and do what I say. So please – get in the Animus." Her voice showing that she's serious, convincing Desmond that they really are leaving. But first, they need to transfer genetic memory data from the Animus as it's very important.

"Alright." He says before lying down on the Animus as the visor slides over his face.

Now inside the Animus, it shows Desmond's DNA strand while revealing another one:

'Subject 17 – Desmond Miles

Subject 16 – Confidential

Searching for Relevant Memory Data…

Memory Match Found.

Accessing Memory…'

With a positive match founded, the Animus goes through different images and shows the girls the birth of a child.

24 June, 1459

A woman screams in pain. She is slowly breathing as it hurts so much. Two nurses are helping her with the delivery.

The girls were caught off guard at this.

"Seriously?" Blake flinches as her ears hurt a little. "They had to start it off by showing a woman in pain?"

"That was unexpected." Yang comments at the suddenness.

"Spingi! Spingi! (Push! Push!)" One of the nurses spoke to the woman with an Italian accent.

"Hold on, why are they speaking in both native tongue and English?" Ruby asks in confusion "I mean it doesn't make sense just use one"

Another note appears and she reads aloud.

'The Animus is far from perfect. There are minor bugs in the translation software, so you might hear some Italian phrases. Plus, it's pretty cool that it mixes two languages together.'

"Oh. Well, I guess it does sound cool as well." Commented the blond brawler.

"That explains a lot." Wiess shrugs. "Though I agree with him, too. Mixing two languages sounds pretty cool."

"Di nuovo! (Again!)" She says.

With one final push, the woman screams again before becoming exhausted.

"Si! Si! Brava! (Yes! Yes! Good!)"

The nurses then delivery the newborn baby out of her, cradling the child.

"It is a boy!" She tells the mother the gender of her child.

The girls realized that they just witnessed the birth of a baby boy. Ruby and Weiss gush over how cute he is. Yang and Blake only smile when the child has been born.

"Aww! So Cute!" Ruby gushes with stars in her eyes to her the cutest things in the world are baby's and baby animals.

"He's so adorable!" The heiress has the same reaction as the scythe wielder.

However, the baby wasn't moving. And this made the girls feel a little bit nervous.

Just then, the door opens as a man in maroon colored nobleman attire enters the room.

"Oh, my love!" He says to his exhausted wife on the bed. "Mi dispiace (I'm sorry), I was at the bank when they told me! Did I miss it? Am I too late?"

He notices his newborn son.

"Give him here." He says to the nurse, to which she complied.

"Giovanni-." His wife, Maria, starts to speak.

"Shh, my love. It will be alright." The man known as Giovanni assures his wife as he then whispers to their newborn infant son he's holding in his arms. "Tu sei un Auditore. Sei un combattente. Percho, combatti! (You are an Auditore. You are a fighter. Then, fight!)"

The baby begins to move and starts crying for the first time (relieving the girls that he's okay).

"Listen to him!" He exclaims in joy. "A fine set of lungs!"

Maria tiredly smiles at her husband, enjoying how happy he is. "And what shall we call him, my love?"

Giovanni then raises their son in the air as he has decided a name for him. "Ezio… Ezio Auditore da Firenze!"

The baby cries as he likes the name his parents gave him before the screen goes white.

Another note appears as Weiss reads it aloud.

'And thus, a legend is born.'

"Legend huh?" Yang grins in excitement. "Looking forward to that."

"Ezio Auditore da Firenze…" Ruby repeats the words Giovanni said. "Sounds catchy."

"I like it." Blake says. "I don't know why, but I do."

"Yeah. I think so, too." Weiss agrees with the cat Faunus.

Another note appears as Ruby reads it aloud.

'His name, 'Ezio,' means 'Eagle.'

"That's a really badass name." Yang admits as she is being the self-proclaimed queen of bad badassery knows what is badass and what is not. Her teammates agree with her. His name does sound cool after all.

"Looks like we have the name of the Assassin in the trailer." Weiss deduces.

Now returning to the present, Desmond exits the Animus.

"Get up." Lucy says. "Let's go."

"Yeah well, uh, I'm gonna need a second." He says, already tired out from using the Animus.

"There isn't time, Desmond. We have to leave." She briefly argues before grabbing the memory core out of the Animus and puts it in her pocket.

Desmond gets off of the Animus and follows Lucy out of the large room they were in.

"We're really gettin out of here, huh?" He questions himself aloud before taking a look at his surroundings. "Abstergo's got some fucked up interior decorators."

"Abstergo?" Weiss wonders out loud. "Another name for the Templars, then."

"Seems that way." Blake comments. "It looks to be a corporation, considering the people having labs and offices."

Lucy shushes him. "Quiet. Stay close."

Suddenly, two guards notice them.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be up here!" Guard 1 exclaims.

Luckily, Lucy typed in a code and locked a door, preventing the guards from following them.

"Open this door!" Guard 2 orders but to no avail.

The two escapees make a run for it as the guards call for backup.

"I'm calling it in! We have a breach in the research wing. I repeat, there's been a breach in the research wing. Requesting backup from all available security personnel. Subjects appear to be armed."

"Glass walls. Fancy. Boy these must be a bitch to clean." He comments as they run down the corridor that leads to the elevator.

Two more guards block their way as they attempt to subdue them.

"There they are! Don't let them get away."

Thanks to her Assassin training, she easily takes down the guards before running down the hallway.

"Holy shit!" He curses in shock that she took them down so easily as he continues to follow her. Looking from a large window above, he sees a large room, still awed at how advanced Abstergo's facility is. "Look at this place."

The two then enter an elevator, travelling downward to one the main floor.

"What about the cameras?" Desmond asks, concerned.

"I rigged them to loop old footage. How do you think I managed to hide all your nighttime snooping from Abstergo?"

"Your good."

She chuckles at the compliment. "So I've been told. But they're onto us now. We need to hurry."

They exit the elevator and stop at the corner of a wall, looking over the other side of the room where another elevator will take them to the underground parking lot.

"We need to get to that elevator on the other side of the room. Follow my lead. But keep an eye out for security. I'd rather avoid a fight." She warns him.

As they carefully make sure they aren't spotted as they run through a maze full of offices, Desmond notices an Animus.

"Is that an Animus?"

"Another one?" Ruby curiously comments, confused. "I thought they had only built one."

"What the? How many of them are there?" He asks himself as he sees more of them.

"A lot, probably." The white haired heiress guesses. "But what do they need all of them for?"

"Hey, what's the plural for Animus? Is it Animus-es? Or Animi? What do you think, Lucy? Lucy? What do they need with all of them?" He asks Lucy so many questions, which starts to annoy her as they are in the middle of an escape.

"Desmond!" She angrily shushes him. "Shut. The fuck. Up. Please."

"Language!" The scythe wielder points her finger judgingly at the screen.

"Well I don't blame her, Ruby. He should hold onto his questions until AFTER they escape." Yang admits to her half-sister, with Weiss and Blake agreeing as well. "Besides, there's no time for questions while escaping from an evil corporation."

When they made it to the other side, Lucy swipes a card into a keypad and entered a code, which fails. She then attempted another time but was given the same result.

"Fuck." She curses quietly as there are still guards patrolling the area. "I thought this card would work. It must be on separate system and I don't have the code."

"Well that's just great!" Yang sarcastically says while waving her hands around. "No way to escape now!"

"Wait…" Desmond says to Lucy.

He then switches to Eagle Vision (where the girls playing the game sees everything black and white with the fingerprints highlighted red) to see the fingerprints on the keypad. He inputs a code with the highlighted numbers, getting an error.

"Shit!" He quietly curses. He inputs a different combination but gets the same result. "Oh come on!"

Trying one more combination he inputs and enters '2374', opening the elevator door.

"How did you do that?" Lucy asks, even though she knows how.

"I don't know." He shrugs.

"Let's go."

The two enter the elevator and it takes them down to the parking lot.

"Was that his Semblance?" Ruby asks her other teammates.

"I don't think so, Ruby." Blake answers. "Remember, Tython says that his universe has no Grimm, Dust, and Aura. No Aura means no Semblance."

"If not a Semblance, then what is it?" Weiss wonders, curious about this ability Desmond has. Just what is that they saw?

"That's what were gonna find out, guys." Yang simply says as she and the others look back at the screen.

"It's always something…"

"What was that in the Animus? Subject Sixteen? Ezio... Audi... Audisomething?"

"I think we've been wrong all along. That's why we need to get out of here. Vidic and the Templars - they're only part of the problem..."

"What do you mean?" Desmond (and the girls) asks in confusion.

"I'll explain when we get there." She simply answers.

"Get where?" He asks, still confused as he is being kept in the dark.

Desmond and Lucy exit the elevator and heads for the parking lot where a squad of guards attack them. While Lucy knocked them out easily, Desmond barely held his own against the trained Templar agents before he knocked them out as well. Afterwards, they ran towards a car and Lucy opens the trunk.

"Get in." She gestures.

"You're joking?" He says, not liking where she is going with this idea.

"She's got to be kidding us." Blake shakes her head, even though it's the only way to smuggle him out of Abstergo.

"It's for your own protection." She convinces him.

"Ah man." He grumbles that he has to hide in the trunk as he gets inside it.

"We're almost there." Lucy assures him as he shot a dirty look up at her, who then slams the trunk door shut.

"Damn. I feel sorry for that guy." The blond brawler comments. "I mean, just imagine how uncomfortable that must be."

"I wouldn't want to be stuffed in a trunk if we end up in a situation like that one." The heiress says, feeling the same way, feeling a bit sorry for the guy.

"Is your ice cold heart melting for the poor guy, Weiss Queen?" Yang teases her.

Weiss stutters angrily at the infamous pun maker. "Q-Quiet, you!"

A few hours later, they arrived at a warehouse. Lucy then opens the trunk, allowing Desmond to get out.

"Thanks for that. It was great...being shoved in the trunk, bouncing around. Loved it." He sarcastically remarks.

Lucy raises her eyebrow in amusement before taking him upstairs. "This way."

Desmond follows her as they walk up to the main floor. "So... gonna tell me what's going on now?"

"There was a reason for the escape, Desmond."

"Figures." He scoffs, knowing that his misadventures isn't over.

"We need your help."

"For what? Another treasure hunt through time?" He makes another sarcastic and smartass remark.

"Abstergo's gonna replace their Apple of Eden." She continues to explain. "The map your ancestor found guarantees it. The other Assassins... They'll do what they can, where they can. But..."

"What? What is it?"

She hesitates at first but sighs in defeat. "We're losing this war, Desmond. The Templars are too powerful. And every day more of us die..."

"Losing?" Blake interrupts the gameplay. "How is Abstergo – Templars in the present day – able to wipe most of the Assassins out?"

Tython's note appears in front of her and she reads it aloud.

'Three words: World War II. That's all I'm gonna say for now.'

"Just what exactly is World War II?" Weiss asks.

"No idea. But whatever war his world had, must be important." The cat Faunus shrugs.

"I still don't see how I fit into things." Desmond says, still confused.

"We're going to train you - turn you into one of us." Lucy answers, shocking him.

"What?! No, no, you've seen me in action - I'm no good at this. And even if I was... It would take months – years, even." He argues.

"No. Not with the Animus. Not with the bleeding effect."

"But I'm just one guy."

"Sometimes that's all you need." She says as they are already upstairs.

Desmond then realizes what she means when she mentioned the Animus. "So that's why you found him... My ancestor. What was his name? Ezio?"

"If you can follow in his footsteps, you'll learn everything he did – just like he did. Years of training absorbed in a matter of days."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. This 'bleeding effect' in the Animus allows Desmond to pick up the skills of his ancestor in a span of a few days? And anyone can do that as well?" Yang's eyes widen at this. "Damn, that makes training the regular way become pointless."

"That's amazing!" Weiss exclaims, still impressed by how a simple machine could grant them the skills of their ancestors in a very short amount of time. "Imagine if the Animus exists in our universe. Sure it will take years to figure out, but at least Hunstmen or anyone won't have to go through training the old-fashioned way."

"You broke me out of Abstergo and brought me here just to make me an Assassin?" He asks, as he's still not seeing the bigger picture.

Lucy stops and turns around, looking at Desmond in the eye.

"Look, there's more to it than that, but it'll have to wait. Trust me, okay?"

Desmond thinks for a second and decides to rejoin the Brotherhood he left behind ten years prior.

"Alright. I'm in. Tell me what you need."

Lucy's eyes lit up with excitement at how fast he responded. "Really? You're sure?"

"I thought you'd be happy about this."

She stammers a little as she starts to slightly blush in embarrassment.

"Oho, she likes him." Yang teases.

"Yang, she's probably embarrassed with herself about whether or not she should be happy that Desmond is willing to help her and the Assassins." Ruby points out to her half-sister.

"Meh. I still think she likes him." The blond brawler shrugs.

Meanwhile on Earth…

A young teenage boy – a year older than the older members of Team RWBY – watches from behind the scenes on how they are enjoying the game they barely started.

"They clearly have no idea that Lucy's using him and the Assassins to benefit her Templar colleagues." The boy known as Tython says, shaking his head in amusement. Truth be told, Team RWBY will face the biggest betrayal in the franchise. Hopefully, this will be one step for them to not trust Emerald, Mercury, and their boss Cinder so easily, and possibly prevent Yang from being disqualified from the tournament along with it being ruined.

Back on Remnant…

The girls continue the story as they focus back towards the screen.

"Sorry... I'm just a little surprised. I spent the whole ride over here figuring out how I was going to convince you to do this-."

Desmond stops her from explaining, clearly understanding her.

"Save it. After what those Templar bastards put me through, I'm ready, willing, and able."

Lucy then hugs him warmly, glad that he's now helping her and the Assassin's after a week he was imprisoned by Abstergo.

"Thank you." She says.

The two continue walking inside the hideout, and a woman jumps up when she saw Lucy. The two embraces in a hug, knowing that it has been a long time since they last saws each other.

"Lucy! You made it! God! It's been so long! Seven years! Can you believe it?!"

By her side is a man with glasses and speaks with a British accent.

"Indeed. Welcome back." He says before noticing Desmond. "Ah, so this must be the infamous Subject Seventeen. Desmond Miles, was it?"

"Who're you?" Desmond asks the man.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Shaun Hastings - this is Rebecca Crane." The man named Shaun introduces himself and the woman named Rebecca.

Rebecca greets Desmond and shakes hands with him.

"Nice to meet you, Desmond."

"Right, well it's been lovely chatting, but if you don't mind, Desmond, it's best we get straight to work. Time is precious. Doubly so these days." He suggests before walking back to his workplace.

Rebecca then turns her attention back to Lucy.

"We've got everything set up and ready, Lucy. Just say the word and we'll get going."

"Here, I brought you something. A parting gift from Abstergo." Lucy smirks as she hand her old friend the memory core.

"Whoa! The memory core!" Rebecca responds excitedly as she and Lucy walk to their workstations. "This is amazing! With their data, things are gonna go a lot faster! I'll get to work on merging the code."

"Shaun and Rebecca…" Ruby comments on the new characters. "They seem to be nice."

"I don't know, Rubes." Yang says. "That Shaun guy acted differently from the others."

"Why don't we talk to them?" Blake suggests. "We can learn a little more about their roles."

"Huh?"

"You have the controller in your hands, Yang!" Weiss helps the cat Faunus clarify for the blonde brawler to understand. "You're the only one who is controlling one of the main protagonists!"

"Oh!" Yang realizes it with a facepalm. "So stupid of me."

Desmond walks over to where Shaun is at his workstation where it's filled with pictures and maps of certain Italian figures, events, and places from the Renaissance.

"What's all this stuff for?" The former bartender asks.

The only response he got from Shaun was a smartass reply as he is busy.

"This stuff, Desmond, oh this stuff is nothing special, really, this stuff is just the stuff that keeps our entire operation from falling apart, really. It requires a great deal of concentration to keep it all moving, so you'll forgive me if I don't have time to play meet and greet."

Yang's eyes turn red at the remark. "Hey! I just asked you a question! That REALLY wasn't necessary. Well, Desmond asked you, but you know what I'm trying to say!"

"Yang, calm down." Ruby calmly says to her half-sister. "This is a video game. Then again, that universe is technically real since the Multiverse Theory is proven true by Tython."

Rebecca speaks up from her workstation to explain what Shaun's role in this.

"Shaun's in charge of maintaining our knowledge archives – it's like a digital library. He'll be riding shotgun with me while you're in the Animus. So if you come across anything of note – people, places, events, etcetera – he'll create database entries you can consult for additional information."

"Really?" Weiss wonders with a raised eyebrow. "I guess that should come in handy while we play through the game, guys."

"Yeah. Very useful." Blake and the two half-sisters agree with the heiress.

Shaun briefly looks back at Desmond to further explain his role. "Y-yeah, it's not just databases, though. I also provide tactical support for the other Assassins. You know, Desmond, the ones who are out there – actually doing stuff. Risking their lives, little things like that."

"Jeez, and here I thought Weiss was bad enough." She mutters under her breath.

"Hey, Shaun and I aren't the same." The heiress argues, slightly offended by her words. "He's clearly a jerk to Desmond since he just escaped from Abstergo."

"On that we can agree on." The blonde brawler agrees as she tries to talk to Shaun again.

"Hello – Desmond. Go away."

Yang tries again and got a different response.

"Please mate, bother someone else, 'kay? I've got stuff to do…"

She does it for a third time.

"What part of I. AM. BUSY, don't you understand? Is it the 'I' bit? That refers to me. Is it the 'am' bit? That's like a 'doing' thing. Is it – is it that I'm busy? I'm busy!"

Ruby and Yang burst out laughing at the comedic moment. Weiss and Blake could barely contain their laughs and resorted to snickering.

"Oh that is so funny!" Yang laughs at the humor in the game. "Let's do it again."

She does it one more time which made them laugh even harder.

"Lucy! What's wrong with this guy? I think he's stalking me." He complains earning an annoyed glare from Desmond.

The girls couldn't help it. Whoever played as Shaun, has done an excellent performance. Luckily, they don't hate him because they like how funny he is.

"Okay, I think we should go talk to the next one." Yang suggests after she and her teammates calmed down from all the laughter.

Desmond then heads over to where Lucy is sitting behind a desk.

"Hey... Listen. I just wanted to say thank you. And that I'm sorry." He thanks and apologizes to her.

"Sorry?" She asks, not getting what he's talking about.

"Ya you know, before. Everything at Abstergo. It was just... I wasn't ready."

"It's okay."

"No. Going through all that. Knowing that the Templars still exist. What they're planning." He says, not sure if it's really okay.

Lucy stops him there.

"What's done is done, Desmond. You're here now and that's what matters." She assures him.

He then changes the topic to something important.

"Lucy, I've been seeing things. Symbols in my bedroom. The code on the keypad. Just like Altaïr."

"That Assassin in the recap?" Blake wonders. "So Altaïr is the protagonist from the first game then."

"It's from the bleeding effect." Lucy answers him as she gives him a short explanation. "You're taking on more than your ancestors' memories. You're taking on their skills too. In this case, Eagle Vision."

"Eagle Vision…" Ruby repeats the words. "That's a cool name for an ability he has."

"Good name they call it." Weiss agrees with her opinion.

Tython communicates with his hand-writing again to the girls as Ruby reads aloud.

'Eagle Vision is basically a sixth sense very few humans – ONLY humans – would use it to see certain people or points of interest in highlighted color. Blue for allies (later green while blue is highlighted for law enforcements for later games), red for enemies, gold for targets or points of interest, and white for hiding places such as haystacks, benches, and wardrobes.

It can evolve into a stronger version like seeing objects or certain people through walls, detecting those that are enemies or allies, sharing Eagle Vision, and even detect and follow a trail to the specific target. Keep in mind that Desmond doesn't have these improvements as he inherited Altaïr's basic version of the ability.'

"Okay, that sounds very, VERY useful." Blake admits along with the others as Eagle Vision is like the trait birds have but more supernatural-like.

"Skills?" Desmond asks.

"You're more receptive now. So if all goes well, everything Ezio learns in the Animus, you'll learn too."

"You really think this will work? That I'll become an Assassin?"

"You already are an Assassin." Lucy reminds him with a smirk. "You'll just be better at it."

"Yeah. No offense Desmond, but you literally suck in a fist fight." Yang comments as they are watching the interactive conversation. "Can't wait to see you inherit those skills, though."

Unfortunately, Shaun had to ruin the moment.

"Yeah, hopefully much better at it. I mean - seriously - I saw the tapes from Abstergo. You didn't even TRY and escape." He comments as they look at him.

"Seriously?" Weiss facepalms at how he insulted Desmond. "Abstergo's a fortress. There was no way for Desmond to escape in the first place."

"Such a dick." Yang comments on how rude Shaun's being.

"What a dick." He mutters under his breath.

"Ha!" Yang shouts with a grin. "I called it!"

Desmond then finally makes his way over to Rebecca, who is currently working on what seems to be an Animus in the form of a relaxation chair. She notices him coming towards her and greets him.

"Hey Desmond! What's up?"

"Just wondering what your role is in all this." He answers.

"I take care of Baby. It's my job to keep her up and running." She says, pointing at the Animus chair.

"Baby?" He asks, confused. "You mean the Animus."

"Actually, I prefer Animus two-point-oh, since Baby's twice as awesome as anything you'll find at Abstergo. The Templars might have deeper pockets than us, but they've got no ambition. No passion! No competitive edge! That's why, even with all their resources, anything they can do, I can do better. Faster, too!" She says with a cocky smirk before going back to working on the machine. "Anyway, take a seat when you're ready, and we can get started. I just need to make a few more adjustments..."

"The Animus 2.0…" Weiss comments. "That's not a bad name for an upgraded machine."

"Baby." Ruby giggles. "Reminds me when I call my Crescent Rose that name.:

"Same for my motorcycle Bumblebee." Yang says, agreeing with her as she uses the control to have Desmond take a seat in the new Animus.

"So how does it work?" He asks her while getting comfortable in the chair.

Rebecca showed him a cord that looks to be like a catheter.

"Of course." He rolls his eyes at the stupid question he asked her.

"Deep breath!" She warns before sticking it into his right arm.

"Ah!" He cries out in slight pain.

"Oh, what are you? A tiny child?" Shaun insults the ex-bartender earning a death glare from Rebecca (and Team RWBY)

"Shaun!" She chastises her best friend and partner.

"Well…" The smartass historian tries to explain but was completely ignored by her as she sits in her own workstation to start up the Animus 2.0.

Desmond closes his eyes, now entering the Animus in a subconscious state.

"Here we go!" Rebecca shouts as the real work begins.

"Finally!" Yang says, her impatience at an end. "Now we get to the good stuff."

"Time to learn about the Italian Renaissance through Ezio." Blake agrees with her partner.

"I wonder what he's gonna look like." Ruby begins to speculate.

"Only one way to find out." Weiss says as she and her teammates see the same white grid-like simulation background from the trailer as the first memory sequence is about to start.

To be continued…