Chapter 4- Introducing The A.N.I.M.U.S
'THINKING'
"HUMAN TALKING"
"ANIMAL TALKING"
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Later That Night (Desmond's POV)
The Min Pin puppy, Desmond Miles, has been pacing a hole in the floor ever since this morning. The incident that had took place isn't something that can be easily forgotten nor easily ignored. I mean, they took his one and only friend for fuck's sake! Snagged him up like a fat pig in a pig pin, ready to be turned into bacon, and drag him out like he wasn't even worth the dirt under their shoes.
'And I couldn't do a damn thing to stop them!' Desmond thought angrily as the scene from this morning replayed in his mind for the forty-third or is it forty-fourth time? It doesn't even matter, the fact still remains that he has no idea what the humans plan on doing to his friend.
'What else could they possibly do to the poor dog?' Desmond wondered, the frown on his face deepening. 'They already chopped his leg off! What else could they do?! What else would they do?!'
The Min Pin's pace quickened as many images of what the humans could do to his larger companion flashed through his mind. His legs and paws were crying out in protest to his constant tread but he didn't care. He had to keep himself busy, had to keep moving, had to keep wondering why he hasn't drilled a hole in the floor yet. He had to do anything that insured he wouldn't be still or his mind wouldn't go silent. For if either one was to happen: the fear, the dread, the hopelessness, and guilt that he was suppressing within the back of his conscience, would hit him at full force.
'It's OK Desmond. Everything is going to be just fine. Clay will come back in the morning with that creepy smile on his face and call you Runt as his way of saying hello. Just you wait! Everything is going to be FINE!' the puppy mentally tried to reassure itself but was failing miserably. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible has happened to the Anatolian Shepherd.
Desmond's feeling only intensified when the door to the now vacant room of Subject 16 opened and two humans who were dressed in those white suits, a boy human with brown hair and a girl human with black hair and slit eyes, came in and began taking Clay's things out of the room.
"W-what are you doing?!" Desmond asked the humans panicky as he stopped his pacing to jog up to the transparent wall and watch the humans closely. They didn't even take a one second to glance at him as they continued their task of cleaning out the room. Desmond watched in horror, the fear he felt stunning him silent, as the room became empty (well, emptier than it already was). As the girl human grabbed the last of the Anatolian Shepherd's belongings, his doggy bed, Desmond seemed to be able to find his voice at last.
"NO! What the hell is going on?! What happened to Clay?!" He yipped at the girl human. She stopped and turned to look at him but said nothing. She wore the same sad expression of pity on her face that Lucy wore whenever she looked at him. But he didn't need pity right now. He needed answers! "TELL ME!" He cried out a bark that sounded like a blend of a bark and a whine.
"Poor puppy" the girl human sighed. The pity in her eyes was shining brighter than it had before. "He must miss his friend. Too bad he won't be coming back." She said the last sentence softly while casting her head down took look at the doggy bed in her arms. Desmond's blood ran cold after hearing that. It wasn't hard to figure out what she meant when she said, "he won't be coming back".
'It can't be true! Clay...Clay can't be...can't be-'. Desmond felt nauseous at the unfinished thought. The Min Pin wasn't good at playing dumb or fooling himself. But he would damn sure try if it meant the ugly truth would stay nothing but an unwelcome thought.
"You're in the wrong line of work if you're feeling sorry for the subjects." the boy human said as he stood in the doorway of the room. "I know you don't want to be like Ms. Lucy Stillman, who I don't really trust. She ends up looking guilty after every experiment. Why the hell is she Warren's second in command?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." the girl human said with a sigh and a shrug.
"Of course I'm right! Now let's go take this shit to storage before Warren gets on our asses for slacking off." He scoffed before turning out of the door and into the hallway. Not even giving the chance for the other to reply.
The girl human just nodded, even though she knew that the other wasn't looking, and proceeded out of the room. Not sparing a second glance at Desmond through the transparent wall.
The door to the now empty room, shut close with a faint click that sound a lot louder to Desmond than he believed it should've. Desmond's senses seemed to heighten as he tried to figure out what just happened. His breath was harsh yet almost silent. He felt his heart thumping against his chest as if it was trying to break out. His eyes were wide open, looking but not seeing as he took in his surroundings. He flattened his ears against his head to block out the ringing that was coming from the deafening silence.
Nipping at his paw to make sure this wasn't just some fucked up twisted nightmare; the Min Pin accepted his reality. Desmond looked up at the bright florescent lights beaming down on him and squinted his eyes.
'Is this how it's going to be for the rest of my life?' He felt his eyes prickle with tears that threatened to spill over at any second. "Clay. What did they do to you?" The puppy whispered, already knowing the horrible truth. Clay Kaczmarek, the Anatolian Shepherd with three legs, his only friend was...dead. The tears flowed freely now.
Dropping his gaze to the floor underneath his paws, Desmond ran over his reality one more time through his mind. After a minute or two, the Min Pin threw his head back and let out a loud, sorrow filled howl. Letting anyone who could hear it, know the pain and sorrow he was feeling at the moment.
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Lucy's POV
My heart shattered at the sound Desmond emitted. I was walking towards Subject 16's room...or what used to be Subject 16's room, in order to collect the video footage from the camera hidden in the wall, when the saddest wail I have ever heard rang out from Desmond's room next door. I froze in my stride and turned my body and attention towards the sound. It sounded so mournful, so distressed, and so...so pitiful.
"I'm so sorry Desmond." I whispered, walking up to his closed door. The wail had died down to an almost silent whimper by now. I put my hand on the door and stood there just staring at it, wondering how the puppy Min Pin inside would react if I walked in.
'Will he be angry at me and try to attack even though he only comes up to my calf? Or is he so broken from Clay's death that he won't even look at me?' I thought of the worst case scenarios, before pacing left and right of the door a little.
'Wait...how would he even know that Clay died?' The thought made me cease my pacing and stare at Desmond's door once more. 'He has to know...right? Isn't that the reason behind his wailing? But...how would he know?! Who told him?! What if he doesn't know and his wailing for a totally different reason? What if he's hurt and crying out for help?! Oh my gosh! What am I still standing here for?' I stopped mentally questioning of everything besides life itself and reached for the knob of Desmond's door when...
*Ms. Stillman! Forget about Subject Sixteen's footage for now. I require your assistance in the Common Room at once!* I jumped violently as Vidic's voice rang over the intercom, traveling down the empty hall I was in. I looked up at the speaker box hanging from the ceiling a few feet away from me as if it were Vidic himself I was staring at.
'Damn it! I just need a little bit of time. Just to make sure Desmond is OK.' Without a second thought, I grabbed the doorknob and began to turn it but Vidic's voice hindered my movements once again.
*Do hurry Ms. Stillman! I don't have all day to wait for you and your incompetence!* His voice boomed out of the speaker as if he knew exactly where I was and what I was doing...or planning on doing. I gripped the doorknob harder, so hard that my knuckles turned white and bit my lip until I tasted the coppery taste of blood on my tongue. But I gave in and let go. There was a red half-moon mark on my palm from my death grip on the doorknob. I took a deep breath and let it out as a heavy sigh before turning away from Desmond's door. I didn't stop or look back at his door because I knew I wouldn't be able to leave if I did.
The Common Room
The Common Room is a room that is located on the top floor of Abstergo. Floor eighteen, where all major experiments take place. In the middle of the room, there is a large examination/experimenting table and lab bench with a computer located right next to it. Here, the less "messy", more "cleaner" experiments take place. The room also has stark white walls and a high ceiling.
The wall on the right when you come in has a door that can only be open with a card key and a fingerprint scan. The door slides open to a room where current subjects are held, for easy access of course. No one has time to run all the way down to floor 6 to get a current subject every time it's needed.
Abstergo works like this, the higher up you go, the better the floors become. Starting at the bottom floor or parking lot is the worst floor of them all. It's never looked nice in all my years I worked here. Almost all the lights are busted and the pavement is beyond damaged. For a high paying company like Abstergo, you'd expect better but I guess all the wealth shows at the higher levels.
Floors one through five are all storage. Then floors six through eight are where the 'subjects' are held. Those floors aren't so bad, just not up-to-date with technology is all. Then the floors in between eight and seventeen are where experiments and research is done. The higher the floor, the cleaner the experiments and the higher tech the rooms become. Then there is floor eighteen, strictly created for a purposeful, expensive, best-technology-known-to-man filled room...The Common Room, where the major projects take place.
Back to describing the room in question, the wall just opposite of the current subject's room are four giant windows that have one single desk in front of them which allows whoever sits at it to turn around and have basically a bird's eye view over the city. You'd think as an animal testing facility, Abstergo would be a little less "in plain sight" and more hidden from the world. But I guess the government doesn't care as long as they get their money's worth, pathetic.
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Lucy's POV
I walked through the automatic sliding door of the Common Room to see Vidic standing over a weird looking machine that was set on the examination table. The machine was relatively small in size, as if it were shaped for a tiny head and had about six thin cords coming from it.
I walk up to the table to get a better look at the weird looking machine, wondering where it came from and what it could possibly be used for. Upon closer examination, I see that the cords are wires that have sensory pads attached to the ends of them and one thick black cord connecting to the computer. I've never seen anything like this before. I tilt my head in confusion before looking up at Vidic for answers.
The man hasn't looked up once since I walked into the room. I lean a bit on the table, standing on my tippy toes in order to get a look at what he was studying so intently. Looking down, once in the right position, I see a booklet open to a diagram of the machine I'm hovering over. A manual, I deduce simply. At the top of the page, I make out the letters that were separated by periods upside down. A...N...I...M...U...S is what the word spelled out.
"Animus...?" I said quietly, trying out the foreign word on my tongue. Vidic's eyes snapped up to meet mine at the sound of my voice. The sudden eye contact startled me into jumping back which in turn caused that odd machine to follow my movements and head towards the floor. I quickly caught it before it had a chance to properly be introduced to the floor. I breathed a deep sigh of relief while placing the thing back on the table carefully. I look up at Vidic who just gave me an exasperated look before turning his attention back to the manual.
After a few minutes of silence, Vidic spoke, using a monotone voice as if he were talking to someone who was incredibly slow, he said without looking up, "Animal, Nerve and Intellect, Memory, Unit, System." catching me off guard.
"Excuse me?" I said, probably with a dumb look in my face.
He sighed and rubbed his temple with two fingers before lifting his head up to stare me in the eye.
"Animal. Nerve and Intellect. Memory. Unit. System. Is what I said Ms. Stillman. Animus for short." He said through gritted teeth. I open my mouth to respond but got cut off before I can even utter a sound.
"Please Ms. Stillman; is it not enough that your single celled brain comes up with statements that could lower a whole nation's IQ level? but do you actually have to voice them too?" He asked in a completely exhausted voice, dropping down into the chair next to him and putting his forehead in his palm.
Now that I have a chance to get a good look at him, Vidic looks completely drained. There are bags under his eyes and his eyes are slightly bloodshot. He massages the wrinkles on his forehead, no doubt from scrunching his eyebrows together in either confusion or irritation. His beard is shaggy and messy looking, I believe that it's from him scratching through it while in thought.
All in all, Vidic looks like shit. And he looks like shit because he's been working on this new project. This means, this new project must be very important.
I swallow down the lump that had risen in my throat. Why exactly is this project so important? And if it really is so important, what does that entitle for Desmond. I have to know.
"I'm sorry, Vidic" I apologize without looking at him, but looking slowly towards the Animus. "Would you care to explain what exactly the Animus' purpose is? Just so I know the basics of this new project." I ask in a small voice, turning my full attention onto him slowly, not wanting to anger Vidic any more than I already have. An angry Vidic won't give me answers.
Vidic sighs once more before speaking. "The Animus is device that, once on the animal's head, allows one to monitor the stability and endurance of said animal."
"What are the sensory pads for?" I ask in order to keep the conversation going.
"They will monitor heart rate, internal temperature and nerve reaction."
"And that the black cord transmits all the information to the computer, where it can be stored on a memory chip." I say, looking at the computer.
"Well aren't you just brilliant, Ms. Stillman." Vidic says, sarcasm dripping with every word.
"Why exactly do we want to observe the internal progression of the subject when doing this project?"
He looked up and stared at me with an unreadable expression. Squinting his eyes a bit, as if he was thinking if he should tell me or not. He closed his eyes and sighed, again. I mean geez; is that the only thing he knows how to do?
After a minute or two, Vidic opened his eyes but didn't look me in the eye. More like past me, staring off into space with a look of defeat.
"There is a drug we are testing that will enhance and perfect the natural ability of a being. Or that's what the drug is hypothesized to do." he paused for a second, eyes glazing over, losing focus completely as he continued. "It could turn an innocent 13-year-old child into a dangerous cold blooded killing machine. With one dose and bit of training, they could take out an entire army fleet in half the time it would normally take." A small smile graced his lip as he said the next part. "Just imagine Ms. Stillman; a world where peace is evident all over the globe. Laws are respected and feared, as they should be. Crime and injustice are extinct. All due to a fear that is enforced by those who, under Abstergo's influence of course have had a dose of the drug."
"What is the name of the drug, if I may ask?"
Vidic's smile drops back into a frown before his eyes refocus and snap to mine. A look of confusion crossed his features for a split second, as if he had forgotten that I was standing in front of him this whole time. He looks at the Animus for a while, eyes scanning over every inch of the device. Silence falls upon us and for a moment I thought he may not have heard what I said. That thought disappeared as fast as it had appeared when Vidic spoke without looking away from the Animus.
"You want to know the name?" he asked me.
"Yes sir." I reply.
He looks me in the eye again, nods, and then utters the name of the drug.
"The Apple of Eden"
TBC
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Author's Notes
I am so terribly sorry for my absence. I have been so busy with life these days. New job, moving, and testing for school, just busy, busy, busy! It would be when I want to start writing stories that all this shit starts happening. -_-
But it's Spring Break now! WOO HOO! I'll try to have the next chapter up by the end of this week. The next chapter is finally going to introduce our German shepherd; Altair, and our Golden retriever, Ezio. Can't wait! ^x^
BTW…I love all of you followers and favorites'. You are the ones who give me motivation to keep writing. Let's thank CutestOfZeus for following the story. That email of them following my story is what pushed me to finish this chapter, even though I still have so many other things to do today.
THNX for reading…Review if you want. \(^.^)/