The distraction works exactly like it's supposed to. Within half an hour, it seems like most of the building is crammed into the sample 17 area, arguing the importance of an eighteenth century pirate rattling off a list of twenty first century terminology. It's not a particularly elegant distraction, but it works. And as long as Edward doesn't do it again, they'll probably let it drop eventually. Besides, the chances of anyone actually figuring out the truth are low.
"Hey, new guy, I need another favor."
It's John from IT, calling over his communicator at the worst possible time. "Not now," Altair says.
"What, you don't have time for me?"
"No."
"So I guess you have time to be fired after your boss finds out you've been hacking computers? Because I still have those records, if you want me to start spreading them around."
Blackmail. Altair curses himself for being fool enough to be put in this situation. "Fine," he says. "What's your favor?" For now, he decides it will be easier to go along with John as quietly as he can rather than cause a scene. Later, though, he's going to have to track John down and have a… conversation.
"I need you to do some more hacking," John says. "Some of the higher ups here are going to a conference in Chicago, and I want to know their exact plans."
"Travel plans," Altair repeats, in a voice utterly devoid of emotion. "You're blackmailing me to find out someone's travel plans."
"Just get up there," John says. "I'll even get you the clearance you need to get past security. Level two access."
"Fine." For now, John has all the power. The man is really not going to enjoy the upcoming conversation, though.
This time, the hack goes a lot more smoothly than the first one. Altair is more familiar with John's program the second time around, and it turns out that Edward's distraction is helpful in this, too. No one is even around to question or stop him, although John's voice is an ever present, grating, distraction in his ear.
He slips back downstairs as quickly as he can, but it's been nearly fifteen minutes, and there's always the chance that someone could have noticed he was gone. He's taken care not to make friends at Abstergo, so it's not likely anyone would have sought him out, but going upstairs to run John's errand was still a risk.
"Don't forget to take the files down to the courier," John prompts, just as Altair is about to step off the elevator.
"You could have mentioned that before," Altair says through gritted teeth.
"More fun this way," John says. "Now turn around and get back on that elevator."
Altair says nothing, because he knows full well that none of the things going through his mind are going to help the situation. So he just does as John tells him and carries the files down to the atrium, where Rebecca is again waiting by Shaun's coffee stand.
"Hey!" she says as soon as she sees him. "What's going on upstairs? The whole building's going nuts."
"Nothing," Altair says. John's gone quiet for now, but this morning's activities have reminded Altair that he could be listening at any time. "Some sort of technology issue, I think."
"Really?" Shaun butts in. "Because from what I heard-"
"Whatever you heard is probably gossip," Altair says, a little more harshly than he'd intended. The whole morning has him close to losing his temper. "There's nothing unusual going on-"
And at that exact moment, a sudden pulse of light radiates up through the floor, leaking up between tiles and spilling through the tiny cracks were the floor meets the wall. "Whoa," Rebecca says. "That was weird."
Altair nods, and turns to watch a group of guards come tearing across the room and down the nearest flight of stairs. "That was a bad sign," he corrects. He recognizes the light- it's the apple. It could be that things are going according to plan- after all, reuniting a man's mind with his body (a technically dead body) isn't going to happen easily.
He wasn't expecting it to draw this much attention, though.
Going back upstairs, leaving this potential crises behind, is the hardest thing he's ever done. But right now, he needs to stick to the plan. He's already been gone too long, running errands for John. Right now, he just needs to trust that the others can handle the unexpected emergency.