Altair's warned him this would probably start happening, but it's still a shock for Edward the first time he wakes up in someone else's head. More than a shock, actually. He panics, gets to his feet- not his feet, someone else's feet, someone else's everything- and right away falls over. It's almost like being drunk- all the physical signs are there- but sober at the same time, because he's completely aware of everything that's going on.

There's a bed nearby and Edward sits down on it, legs shaking. Alright. So he's in someone's body, like Altair is sometimes in his. The place he's in- Edward glances around the room- looks nothing like any place he's ever been before. Then again, Altair did warn him that he'd probably find himself in the future at some point. Of course the future would like strange.

He goes through the list of names he's been given- Altair, Ezio, Haytham, Connor, and Desmond, the dead one. So whose body is he in, and where's the original owner? Every time Altair's been in his body, Edward's had complete control. So if he's in one of theirs, he shouldn't be able to do anything. But he can't even feel anyone else in this head (some… thing, maybe, in the back of the head, but he can't figure out what it is). It's like he's alone.

He can figure that out later. For now, he wants to know whose head he's in. He assumes it's not Desmond's, since the man's dead. And he's seen Haytham, so he can rule him out too. So- Altair, Ezio, or Connor.

Someone knocks on the door, and a voice Edward doesn't know says, "Ezio?"

Alright then. There's that question answered. The knocker doesn't wait for an answer, just opens the door and comes through. Edwards looks up to see a man, a few years older than he is but a lot younger than the guy whose body he's accidentally stolen. For a second the world shifts into something like eagle vision, but subtly different from the kind he's used to. He has to shake his head to clear it- being in someone else's head apparently means stealing their eagle vision too, and Ezio's activates more easily than his does.

"You've been in here a while," he says. "How's the apple?"

Edward doesn't answer- he doesn't want to open his mouth and hear someone else's voice come out.

"Look," the man says, dropping his voice a little. "I know you want to find out what's going on, but it's not good for you, alright? You shut yourself in here all day and you don't talk to any of us. I think my dad's even worried." He hesitates, then corrects himself. "Not, you know, really worried. But slightly concerned." Edward still says nothing, so the man sighs and goes on. "Just let it go, alright? I've never seen you this quiet before, and-" he stops abruptly, and his stance suddenly changes. It's almost impressive how quickly he changes from relaxed and slightly concerned to threatening. A hidden blade slides out from his wrist and before Edward can react at all, the man's holding it against his throat. "You're not Ezio."

"No," Edward agrees, and winces. Hearing someone else's voice when he speaks is incredibly jarring.

The man studies him for a long minute, then asks- "Edward?"

"Yea."

"Oh." The man nods- Edward can see the golden flash of eagle vision in his eyes- and steps back. Edward sits up, glaring at him, and resists the urge to rub his neck at the place where the blade was.

"Is that what you normally do when you meet new people?" he demands.

"When they're stealing my friends I do," the man says. "Do you know what you're doing here?"

"I had a really weird talk with a man in my head the other day," Edward says. "He said his name was Altair."

"Good." He relaxes a little. "That must have been today then."

"It was a couple weeks ago," Edward tells him.

"Time doesn't move the same on different sides of the animus," the man says. Then he holds a hand out, a little stiffly. "I'm Connor."

"Hi." Edward grins at him. "I heard you're my grandson."

"Right."

"I think you're older than I am," Edward says cheerfully. Now that it's actually happening, he's more curious about what's going to happen next than anything else. "So this body sharing thing- it doesn't last, right?"

"Not long," says Connor. "But… Ezio should be the one in control. If he's not, that means there's something wrong. Usually that means coma, or something."

"I can't feel anyone else in here at all," Edward says. "Is that bad?"

"It's… not good," Connor admits.

"Connor, are you in there?" Another person comes through the door, and this time it's someone Edward does know.

"Edward," Connor says. "This is-"

"Haytham," Edward finishes for him. "We've met. Kind of."

"Well…" Connor beats a hasty retreat. "I'm going to go out and wait for Altair. I'm sure you two have things to say."

They watch him go, and Edward says, "He doesn't like family reunions?"

"They don't tend to go well in this family." Haytham leans against the doorframe, and Edward can't stop himself from noticing that he's fidgeting slightly.

"The two of you don't get along?"

Haytham frowns at him- or not so much at him as in his general direction. He's looking everywhere but directly at Edward, and he wonders what happened (is going to happen?) between the two of them. "You seem a lot more interested in the two of us than you are in being stuck in someone else's body."

"I'm trying not to think about being in someone else's body," Edward says, and of course as soon as he says it, the feelings of Ezio comes crawling all over him, and he shudders. "So come on. Tell me about you and Connor."

Haytham sighs. He's still not looking right at Edward, which sort of bothers him. Was he really that bad of a father that his son can't even look at him now? He decides that he probably was- it's not like there's much in his life that could suggest a stable family life.

He feels his own eyes drop from Haytham's face as the older man starts talking. "Connor and I never got along. He's an assassin, I'm a templar." He stops, like he's waiting for a reaction, but Edward doesn't have one.

"So?" he asks.

"It doesn't bother you?" Haytham asks.

"Assassins, templars…" Edward shrugs. "Technically I think I'm a templar. I don't know, it probably doesn't count. It was pretty much the first time I'd ever heard of either of them, and I was impersonating this other guy at the time…"

Haytham's face twists into something that could almost be a smile. It looks like he doesn't practice the expression much. "Someday I want to hear this story," he says. "But you asked about me and Connor. We fought for a while. Then we worked together. Then we fought again, and tried to kill each other."

"Tried?" Edward eyes Haytham, picking out half a dozen weapons concealed on his body. He remembers seeing as many on Connor when he came in earlier. And this is in a place they both think is safe.

"It's complicated," Haytham says. "Desmond decided to intervene and we ended up body swapped for a few-" he frowns at Edward. "What?"

Edward keeps laughing. "It's funny."

Haytham sighs again. "I'm going to wait outside with Connor," he says, and leaves Edward alone in the room.