(Events take place around the time of the Firestorm crisis of Tiberian Sun, simultaneously with the events of Syndicate in the Assassins Creed timeline. Desmond: Desmond Files (f-list))

Desmond was nervous about this guy. He was a copycat and a good one at that. He had to get what he needed and get out, crash the system to cover his tracks and maybe off this guy in the process. He'd also have to make sure this guy didn't copy him anymore; it would be annoying enough giving the guy this much.

He sent a command to his birds to hurry up and replicate if needed, but also to keep an eye out for Cain. Soon, as they had what they needed, he could then leave. While the birds were busy, he'd go into the animus core and destroy his body. As much as he didn't want to destroy it, and a possibility of coming back, it was better that the templars didn't have it. He got to work, taking a leap of faith off his perch and diving into the deeper data pits where he wouldn't be detected.

Cabal had already grown well-connected with the space around him. Rooted to several blocks of data in the device, he could already tell what was going on outside with Abstergo's Labs and he was very pleased. The programming of this device was very similar to his own AI. Assimilating it came natural to him. He could already sense every remote device in the vicinity of the place, right outside his digital presence. Every phone, every mainframe, every security camera.

"They've already begun harvesting the dead for memories. Impressive," Kane commented.

He didn't mind giving Desmond the space he needed to finish what he came for. In fact, he welcomed his attempted escape - it would lead him where he'd need to go later. But for now, it was important to look for a suitable pod to use on the outside for the connection he was going to attempt. After all, even if he'd familiarized himself with this space, he'd still need a way to access a body in the real world.

Desmond was sure that Cain wasn't following him, which was a good sign. But the system was starting to feel oppressive. A quick look with Eagle Vision confirmed that this guy was infecting the Templar systems. The whole place was unclean now. He'd have to make sure every shred of data he grabbed was clean; there was no way he'd risk the assassins with this thing. With the way he talked... maybe he was ISU? He hadn't met many, and the ones he had were all annoying as hell. This deep in the system, he could see the infection spreading, but it was slower here. He started to grab the data he needed: ancestry, subject information, locations, personel files, project files and most importantly, pieces of Clay. He wanted to put the other back together again, he already had Becca's help with it, but they didn't have a lot to work with.

Once he had everything he could find he sent the birds out. They reported that Cain was connecting to the system both inside and out. It was frightening how quickly he could do that. Desmond made another set of birds, this time with the data associated with Ezio's bomb-making days. Once the birds were in position, he could detonate them and crash the system. If he timed it with an external explosion, the Templars would be reeling from the damage for a very long time.

Now, to find his body and set the charges. Thankfully, Abstergo had cameras everywhere; their own paranoia working in Desmond's favor. It didn't take long to find his body and get to that system. Once the room was empty and he was certain he wasn't being watched by Cain, he materialized in the room and messed with the camera to show some looped footage. He couldn't help but be sad at the state of his dead body: cut up, bled out and burnt. He could feel the phantom pain echoing in his digital body, especially the burnt arm. Being a digital entity meant that he had full use of said arm, but for some reason the skin was black. Shaun thought it was from the trauma; that it might fade with time - but the memory of the pain was different. He wasn't sure if it would ever fade. He shook his head - he had a job to do, and he couldn't get sad over this now.

He started to set charges, all hidden in the room so people wouldn't find them - not till they blew up, anyway. The downside was that he had to stay somewhat close by to detonate them. Right outside the building, to be precise. It was a risk, but he could handle it. A quick thought changed his clothes to that of a janitor, hat and all. He'd sweep a few important places and set more bombs. Then get the fuck out of here.

Cabal could see what was going on. He couldn't tell why. This was still new to him - Desmond's behavior, the information he was learning at a rapid pace about Abstergo, the wars between the Assassins and the Templa-

"Wait."

The... The Templars. Something wasn't right. Was this the Black Hand? The Marked? Kane had to make sure. He needed to verify what he'd just found hidden in Abstergo's servers, and he needed to do it fast - it seemed Desmond was serious about his mission.

Cabal had to move fast. This place wasn't going to last, and there was little he could do about it.

"Let's see... ah yes. A suitable pod."

He found an arbitrary subject number to infiltrate via an occupied Animus. Kane began to download his consciousness into them - a live Abstergo patient.

"This one isn't dead, luckily..."

Keeping an eye out through one of the cameras Desmond missed, he let him proceed with his plan to blow up this joint, without interfering. "Not my fight just yet," Kane thought to himself. As soon as a functioning copy of his consciousness finished downloading, he began to delete himself from this space, to finally assume his long-lost connection with the real world.

The subject's eyes opened from beneath the Animus headgear.

"Kane... lives," he whispered as he began to push off the pod's cover. It was time to find out who he finally returned as... for now.

We made it to Chapter II! YOU made it to Chapter II. Thank you so, so much for continuing this with us! Sorry for the smaller chapter this time - I promise the next one will be much longer than that.

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