The Beginning of Silence

Chapter 07

"Desmond... Desmond!"

Desmond blinked awake. He was lying on the Animus. Jenifer was standing over him, looking concerned. So was Dr. Vidic, but his look was characterized by annoyance as opposed to anything displaying a semblance of anxiousness.

"Did I… 'he,' I mean—did he black out?" Desmond asked the doctors. There was a crick in the small of his back, and when he sat up it popped loudly and painfully back into rights.

Jenifer took his wrist into one of her tiny hands and began to check his pulse. When she dropped it she removed a pen light from her pocket and shined it into Desmond's eyes. "No sign of trauma," she muttered, and made a mark on her clipboard.

"Is there any reason in particular why we stopped?" Vidic asked caustically. Jenifer turned to him with a sheepish look. "After all, we only just got started. Or were your assertions of superiority over my last bleeding-heart assistant an exaggeration?"

Desmond realized that the "bleeding heart" Vidic spoke of was Lucy, and frowned. Just because she wanted to make sure Desmond survived didn't mean she was a "bleeding heart." She was an assassin, for Chrissake!

"No, sir," said Jenifer. "But when the Ancestor lost consciousness, it appeared as though synchronization was lost, even though Desmond was still rooted firmly inside his Ancestor's memories. I feared that, in such a confused state, the Animus might overload. It wasn't meant to handle that complex of an existence. Nor was I sure of what the effect of such a state would have on Desmond. What would the Animus be without memories to read?"

Smooth, Desmond thought with a smirk. Jenifer, in reality, wasn't that different from Lucy. She had worried about Desmond, but disguised her concern for him as concern for the machine. That was the only way Vidic would commend her for her disruption of the session. The mad doctor felt more for his computers than he did for people.

Vidic nodded sagely. "I see. Good work, Jenifer."

She looked down, demure, but Desmond could see the triumph shining in her eyes when she said: "Thank you." Then she looked at Desmond. Her brisk turnaround to 'all business' mode was striking. "Now, Desmond, I think it might be best for you to get some rest. I'm going to take the time to investigate the state of mind you discovered; see if I can figure out if it's dangerous or not. We'll resume in the morning."

Desmond glanced towards the windows. He'd spent more time in the machine than he'd thought: it was already dark outside. "Sure. I'll be in my room."

Jenifer offered him a small smile, then focused her attention on the petite computer in front of her. Vidic waked from the room without another word, the air locked doors swishing shut firmly behind him.

Desmond wandered around the lab for a few minutes, stretching his legs. He couldn't see anything outside the windows, and there was nothing to do in his room.

"Hey, Jenifer?" he called from his quarter's door.

"Yes?" She sounded like a mother coping with a cranky child while she was trying to get something important done. "What is it?"

"Which bed do I sleep in?" The twin and the bunks were the same size (or maybe the single was a bit bigger; it was hard to say) but still, Desmond felt he had to ask.

"Pick," Jenifer sighed. "It doesn't really matter."

"Okay. Thanks." He thought a moment. "Hey, Jenifer?"

This time the woman's voice was noticeably impatient. She actually looked up from the computer. "Yes, Desmond?"

He smiled. "Nothing. I just like teasing you." Then, smiling at her shocked face, he ducked back into his room. The doors immediately closed, and Desmond heard the unmistakable pop of a lock engaging. He was stuck inside. With not much else to do, he climbed up onto the higher of the two bunks and engaged his Eagle Vision.

The sigils on the wall glowed eerily, and in the throws of the Vision Desmond saw that their light had stained the room red. He held his hands up in front of him, and idly noted how they seemed to be covered in blood. The notion chilled him, so he shut his eyes quickly and willed the Sight away.

Then, with nothing else to do, Desmond took off his shoes and fell asleep. Or tried to. The images of Altaïr being beaten played and replayed with horrifying clarity behind his eyelids. And then they bled over to the sight of the kid killing the horse…

Shit, thought Desmond, staring blankly at the ceiling. That kid had it rough. Oh well, at least he won't remember it when he wakes up. Desmond stifled a yawn, then rolled over and fell asleep.

What seemed like moments later, he was awakened to the vibrations of an earthquake.

He bolted upright, a shout forming on his tongue, but scowled he when realized that the so-called 'earthquake' was really Dr. Vidic's version of a 'good morning.' The man, wolfish grin on full display, had been shaking the bunk bed with all his might.

"Good morning, Mr. Miles," he said, evidently in a good mood. "Sleep well?"

"If you call sleeping on a mattress as thin as a piece of paper good, then yeah, I did, actually," Desmond grunted, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The sarcasm was lost on the doctor, who ignored him as per usual. Not bothering with the cheap steel ladder, Desmond jumped to the floor. "What time is it?" he asked through a yawn. His clothes were rumpled; he'd slept in them.

"The perfect time to begin!" said the doctor. Desmond couldn't decide if he liked the mean Vidic or the nice Vidic better. Jekyll and Hyde were both pretty creepy, as it were… and both were criminally annoying. "Now, come and get on the Animus so we can start the day's work." Behind him the door whooshed open, letting in the morning sunlight.

Desmond followed Vidic from the room. Steaming cup of coffee in one hand, the other typing up a storm, Jenifer stood over the Animus's computer with a look of intense concentration on her face. When the men entered, she looked up and smiled. "Good morning."

Desmond nodded at her and went to the nearest Animus table. "What're we doing today?"

Jenifer paused and typed a sequence into the computer. "We're continuing the viewing of the Ancestor's adolescence, starting from his first days at the Assassin's base in Masyaf."

Desmond thought a moment. "Am I gonna get a look at his training and stuff?"

"Hopefully," Jenifer replied. "To see the way his mind developed is our goal, and since his training is what shaped him it would be ideal to view the step by step way he was raised." Her face melted from informative to concerned. Her deep brown eyes were warm. "Do you think you'll be okay? I know being someone else must be disorienting."

Desmond could have answered her, could have reassured her that yes, he'd be fine, but the truth was that he felt no need to be nice to his captors, even ones as pleasant as Jenifer. So, rather than say anything, Desmond lay back on the machine and let the Animus's fiber optic screen pull him a thousand years into the past, leaving the pretty Jenifer behind to wonder.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So the next chapter is already done... MWA HA HA!!! I ARE EVIL!!!! YES I ARE!!! ([dodges flying produce) Ciao!

So this post signifies the archival of my historic 10.000 word. And that word is...

The.

So unassuming, but where would we be without it? The stoneage, that's where. We graduated from "Where dinosaur, woman?" to "I say, good lady, but where did the dinosuar I've been pursuing run off to?" The word 'the' is vastly overlooked and severely underprivledged, never given the note and honor it deserves. Let's take a moment of silence to honor the word 'the,' our esteemed and beloved literary friend.

Thank you!