Chapter 4: Haunted

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"I know you've probably seen a couple things that probably didn't make sense to you, I want to assure there is a logical explanation." Otso Berg gives my pat on my shoulder and continued his stalk around my chair.

After I had been "convinced" to go to his office and talk about Giovanni's memories. By talk I mean he want on a 5 minute speech about how since Giovanni was a child we couldn't expect to have the memories make sense.

I was going to respond everything made sense till that apple scene. The way Otso was ranting I decided it would probably be best to keep that to myself. I just kept nodding and agreeing with him. Obviously whatever the apple did Abstergo wanted to keep hidden.

Fine by me. This was getting into conspiracy theorist levels of crazy. Otso finally realizing that I either drank his Kool Aid, or I really didn't care what I had to say. He waved me off and I got out of there as quickly as humanly possible. Walking out I saw his two dogs watching me. Violet da Costa and the newbie who worked under them.

I waved brightly and jogged to the elevator. The farther away from them I was the better I felt. Getting in and finally going down a floor. I finally sighed and relaxed.

Safe at last. Until I walked into my office space. There was someone under the DDS humming away like there wasn't a care in the world. I knocked on my door leaning against it.

The techy who showed herself was not one of the ones I knew. She was around my age. I guess… 19 or 20? Dark brown hair, green eyes, and she wasn't as pale as most Tech personnel. She had a tan. Maybe she was sports buff. Whatever. She noticed me and froze.

So you're the one who recalibrated my DDS huh? I walked up and helped her back onto her feet. She shook her head and sighed, "I was hoping I could get this done and get out before you got back. I'm real shitty at conversations." "Well I think you're doing swimmingly, so what were you doing down there?"

Suddenly she brightened up. "Well the DDS is an older piece of tech, so it doesn't automatically download new memories from the HELIX servers. So I have the great pleasure of coming here every couple weeks to add new ones." She pulled a flash drive out of her pocket and flipped it in the air smirking.

I nodded and returned to my seat. "Thanks! I'll guess I'll see you around then miss…?" "Gavina. Gavina Tonnels" I waved her off and pulled the headpiece back over my eyes.

Let's see how far the rabbit hole goes.

-DDS LOADING-

I wasn't Giovanni anymore. I was a grown man in white hooded clothes. Extremely elaborate clothes. These would've cost a fortune. Was this Giovanni as an adult? That wouldn't make sense would it? I would have been told I was experiencing a new subject's memories. Then I noticed a series of words float by.

Pack 2: Haunted

I tried to rotate the headpiece to try and see the person's face. When I did I saw no features. Just a blank face. The DDS couldn't find it? Wow. Then Giovanni started to speak.

In my dreams I am older. I speak words I do not understand in my waking life, yet in this phantom life, they are clear. I do not know who I am but I have flashes of what I have done. I have travelled far and I have taken lives. I am a messenger and a deceiver.

How is Giovanni reliving memories back in the 16th century?

The world wasn't fully rendered. I seemed behind me was the blue white void. In front of me was the void. A small area around me was rendered. I was surrounded by other men garbed in white robes. They seemed so focused on me. This was disorienting for me. Then I realized Giovanni experienced the same thing.

This kid could never catch a break.

What did the Shroud do to this poor kid? He should be dreaming about the Renaissance equivalent of sunshine and lollipops, not murder and politics! I've never seen anything like this! –Erudito

The voice echoed through the world. So your back huh? Whatever nice to have company when you're having a trip. Let's synchronize to this memory.

The Brothers stand before me. I am not one of them yet, but I soon will be. Tonight, I ascend.

Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember ... nothing is true.

Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember ... everything is permitted.

Who were these people? A cult? What were they doing? The biggest question was who Erudito was, and what the hell the shroud was.

The man whose memory Giovanni and I were experiencing put his arm in front of his as the hooded man directly in front of him approached. He pulled a hot iron tong around his finger and the world turned white from the pain.

They leave their mark upon me. A symbolic sacrifice. Searing iron burns the flesh of my hand!

All that is left — the leap of faith.

Leap of what? I see the other hooded men approach the ledge and dived into the void below. I have never been so freaked out in my life. Did they all commit suicide? I should have played Liberation. I thought that was just a glossed up history game. Not reality!

They lead, each Brother plummeting from the tower and landing safely below in a bale of hay. They are like eagles. Truly free. I do not hesitate

The man takes a running leap off the edge. The next moment everything is rendered clearly. It looked like I was still in Italy, but I was plummeting so fast I couldn't figure out where.

The world was beautiful.

The fall feels like a flight. Exhilarating!

No mystery man. Terrifying.

His name is Perotto. Giovanni dreamed as Perotto! That means he must have had Lucrezia memories in there that would make Oedipus blush! This is bad, bad stuff, but you need to dig deeper. I will work on preventing this from reaching any Abstergo reports. –Erudito

I stared at the message floating in front of me. I hadn't even realized I'd need to prevent this from reaching the top brass. Whoever Erudito was, he or she was 2 steps ahead of me.

-DDS IN SYNC. 100% SYNCHRONIZATION-

-EXITING DDS-

I was becoming too accustomed to experiencing mind fucks. This was way becoming way too commonplace in my life. Kinda wish I was back on the other floors. Shoveling shit to get 100% synchronization was seeming pretty awesome at the moment.

Erudito said Giovanni was experiencing the memories Perotto, and he might get Lucrezia's too. That confirms it me. Giovanni was the kid of Lucrezia and Perotto.

Whoever that guy was.

That information would be good enough to keep Abstergo off my back for a couple weeks. That would be enough time to go through the rest of the memory pack.

I hopped out of my chair and grabbed a bag of chips to munch. I should also start typing a progress report to send up to Melanie before she starts checking in.

This is probably the most fun I've had here.