Flashing lights.
It looked like a storm before his eyes and forced his eyelids shut. Look to the right, everything dazzles him. Slow look to the left, his pulse is rising. A green line zigzags up and down, showing him that it's not a dream. This isn't his end. Someone was approaching him, lonely echo of heels reached his ears before a shadow blocked the ceiling light. "Good morning, Mr Hastings," a woman's voice was heard. Dizziness had a firm grip on his consciousness, not letting him think clearly. "Who are you..? Am I..? Where am I?" he asked slowly. "You are in the hospital wing," the woman said and took a closer look at the monitor. "Do you mind if I take a look at your eyes?" Shaun tried to sit up but without further success. "You have been sedated, please don't get up yet," she smiled and sat by his side on the bed's edge. A bright light was once again flashing before his eyes, making him frown. "Eyes pupils are reacting. That is a good sign. Do you know where you are?"
When he tried to swallow, he felt how dry his mouth was. "You said.. I'm in the hospital wing.. am I at the Wellington Hospital?" The woman shook her head. There was something with her appearance that calmed Shaun, her dark brown hair and eyes, hiding behind a pair of silver framed glasses. "No, we aren't in London. Do you know what day it is?" When Shaun tried to remember, he felt the pain return in his skull. "I remember it was a.. Tuesday, the 10th of May." He rubbed his head and felt stitches in his hair under his fingertips. "I'm afraid it's not Wednesday today. It is Friday the 13th, May 2011."
A grin appeared on his face. "How unfortunate for me to wake up on this day, God knows where." The nurse rubbed his shoulder comforting. "You will be alright, sir." There was something off with her accent, Shaun realized. It only confirmed her words that they indeed were not in London. They weren't even in the UK. He looked for clues in his surrounding area, anything that could tell him his location. In the far end, a familiar logotype was displayed on a monitor, turning 360 degrees. "This is Abstergo Inc.. I'm in the United States! How the fuck did I get here?" The woman stood up and got a syringe from the nearby cabinet. "You flew here. You have suffered a brain concussion from our men, someone sure went overboard with power. You were unconscious for two days, you're lucky you don't have amnesia. As far as I can see, you will be alright." In her hand, a small bottle rested with some kind of blanc fluid. The nurse stuck a needle in it and pulled the end of the syringe to fill it whole.
"You will knock me out again, won't you?" he sat up in the bed with a pounding head. His clothes were missing but he wore a hospital tunic instead. "Is that what you think?" she smiled, amusement could be spotted in her eyes. "It's simple vitamins. You need a lot of them. When was the last time you ate something fresh?" she stuck the needle in his IV and injected the fluid. "Don't teach me how to live, it's none of your business," he laid back in his bed. She closed the IV cap and and threw the syringe with it's needle into a trash bin. As Shaun's memory started to return along with his focus, he became concerned about Rebecca. "Have you seen a black haired woman? She was with me when your men took us as hostage." The nurse shook her head and stroke back some hair behind her ear. "You are disorientated, Mr Hastings. Get some rest," she left the white room. 'Disorientated?', he thought to himself, confusion prevented him from connecting thoughts. 'Why didn't she tell me about Rebecca? Isn't she here..?'
A floor above him, the nurse made her way through a laboratory and down a light corridor. Abstergo Inc's lab facility was mostly white and plain, no decorations of any kind were to be found. The plainness suited surprisingly well. Her white robe made her look like a lonely ghost, melting with her surroundings. The emptiness provided anyone who passed with an echo of their shoes that could be heard all the way from point A to B. With a swipe of her card, she entered an elevator with keys locking every floor except one. She only had access to four out of fifteen floors, the lab, the hospital wing, main floor and sleeping area where the workers could live during their working period. She took up her keys and unlocked floor -3. The elevator made a high pitched noise and closed its doors, taking her down below ground. Employees rarely went there since it was restricted area. Only lab workers could access that floor. The nurse was met by a blue light when she exited the elevator and proceeded towards one of the rooms across. No one paid the slightest attention to her, everyone either too occupied with writing or mixing components. The door swung open and was closed immediately after her entering. "You are right on time, Mrs Walker. Come, sit down." The nurse nod and sat down next to the man's desk. "How is he doing?" he asked with a rather curious tone. "Mr Hastings is recovering well, his brain activity is high and is overall stable. He was asking about her," she looked at him with concern. The man shifted his leg's position and drank some scotch. "I assume you did not tell him anything. It is important that we keep it a secret, at least for a while." Mrs Walker agreed and sat up. "Wait, one more thing. Transfer him to the coding building, give him something to work on. I don't wish to waste any more time, now that we are so close." Her lips formed a straight line, but she said nothing. There was no point to argue with this man.
A few hours passed and Shaun was still trying to fall asleep. His headache was slowly fading away but the fatigue refused to let go of him. 'Why did they take us? Do they have any use of us?' Questions wouldn't leave his head until he clenched his fist and buried himself in the bedsheets. It struck him after hours of thinking, how far away from home he actually was. 'Get a hold of yourself, Shaun. You aren't 12.' A door's creek brought him back to reality as he peeked from beneath the cover. Two men, together with the nurse, stood with their guns in their grip. "I apologize for this. This is simply out of security reasons." Shaun chuckled. "In case I knock out one of them and shoot the other so I can take you into hostage? Neat." One of the guards sent Shaun a glare but kept quiet, for they weren't allowed to speak during their duty unless asked to. The nurse helped him out of bed and gave him his clothes back in a sealed plastic bag. "Let me take these wires off," she carefully detached the IV and put a band-aid on the wound. "Call me back in when you are dressed." He looked at the man and frowned. "What, are they gonna watch me? If I wanted men to see me strip, I sure would go work in a gay club instead." She smiled some and ordered the guards to turn away. "Better, Mr Hastings?" Shaun turned towards the bed and slid off the hospital tunic. He shivered while standing on the cold floor and hurried to dress himself. To his surprise, his clothes were ironed and washed.
When he was done, the nurse returned and pushed him lightly on the back so he would move forward. "We are transferring you to the coding facility. You will attend your work at 10 am straight, tomorrow. Someone will show you around and introduce you to a project. You are now working for Abstergo Inc. And no, I cannot answer any of your questions. I am simply your nurse after all," she entered the elevator and unlocked floor 0. "Not even questions like.. your name? Maybe age? Wait, that would be rude of me," Shaun mumbled, peeking at the guards with his side vision. They were not to be fucked around with. "Call me Mrs Walker. You will not have any use of my real name here. The more confidential, the better." He rolled his eyes at that. "Alright, Mrs Walker. How about you tell me where to find you in case that I pass out, or whatever reason for that matter. As much as I know, brain concussion isn't a joke." She turned and gave him a small smile from the corner of her lips. "I will make sure to leave a phone number, Hastings." With that said, the elevator opened and he was led to a corridor across Abstergo's main hall. Its ceiling stretched several floors up, creating enormous amount of light space. Shaun's eyes widened for a brief second before the sight was replaced with darkness. A weakly illuminated hallway with locked doors made him wonder how many people actually lived here. Another elevator was to be found to his right, already open. No locks seemed to be needed on the selection panel. "Floor five, please," she nodded to Shaun, who wasn't very fond of taking orders. Either way, he pressed button five and the doors shut. Within seconds, they reached their destination and the nurse fished up a card from her robe, holding it up for Shaun to see. "This belongs to you now. Don't lose it." His face was stamped on the card along with name, age, height and occupation. "All programmers work on floor 2 in the main building, but you also have access to floor -1, 0 and 4. There are no stairs, so this card is your only way to move around." He didn't know what disturbed him more, that everything was already prepared for him or that they had all information regarding him in their database.
"You have sense of humor," he commented on his room number, that ironically happened to be E-11, just like his hostel room. "We will leave you for now. Get rest and remember, 10am tomorrow, floor 2 in the main building." They left him by the door and disappeared from his sight. Shaun swiped the card and received a clicking sound. The door swung open and he entered, closing it after him. The room itself wasn't huge, yet had space for everything he'd need, including a bathroom. To his concern, the window stretched from ceiling to floor and wall to wall, leaving him with a feeling of being exposed. The view of his surroundings was remarkable, an inner garden that was the size of a football field with few ponds and trees could be seen in the middle of the surrounding buildings. "So workers only have the inner view of everything..? We are bloody prisoners." With a sigh, he sat down on the bed and looked at the wall. There was a small option panel there with buttons. "Opaque?" he read and pressed it. To his surprise, the window turned gray from the inside. Shaun could still see everything but he was sure that the outside now reflected the environment. "These guys will never stop surprising me.." he smirked and laid down. No sounds were to be heard, he was completely isolated from the outside world. It was an odd sensation for Shaun, something he had never felt before. Vulnerability.
These men could do anything to him at any moment and he wouldn't even get the thought. "Who knows, maybe I'm already brainwashed." It did not calm him at all. Groaning, he sat up and shook his head. A monitor stood on his desk with a Windows logo bouncing from side to side, awaiting the touch of a button or mouse. With boredom slowly taking over, Shaun decided to check it out. He brought the screen back to life by shaking the mouse and sat back. It was the newest Windows system, something Shaun found satisfying. A few icons were on the desktop, word programs, coding and what not. One of them was blinking with bright green, indicating that he was online along with someone else. "Wonder who's there."
Shaun double clicked it and logged in. A chat window appeared with different colored text bubbles, it seemed that around four people were chatting. "Maybe they're co-workers", he thought and chose a username to join them.
Claz: isn't it sick? i've tried to get them to fix my darn coffee machine for months now! where does their money go anyway?
[Hastings joined the group]
Drenn: calm down, you won't die - you still have one in the cafeteria
Claz: man, you think i have energy to go down that early? no way
Drenn: drama queen
Claz: don't make me come over and smack you
Drenn: come
Drenn: if you dare
Claz: kindly fuck off
Drenn: wait, did you notice?
Claz: notice what?
Drenn: we're not alone anymore
Claz: huh? what? no..?
Drenn: scroll up, dammit
Claz: shit, you're right. hey, you, what's up?
Hastings: Not me.
Drenn: hah you're new here or something? haven't seen you here before
Hastings: No, I've always been here. You just never knew. Always watching…
Claz: THAT'S… CREEPY
Hastings: Good.
Claz: please tell me you're joking.. haha.. hah
[Hastings left the group]
Shaun smiled some. This would creep them out for now. With satisfaction, he left his seat and checked the clock. "10pm huh..? I better get some rest for tomorrow." Undressed and tucked under his bedsheets, Shaun laid his head to rest on the soft pillow. It sunk some under him and brought great comfort.
An annoying sound pierced his eardrums, a repeating buzz coming from the wall to his right with no intention on stopping. Shaun rolled over and squinted his eyes at big red numbers that formed 8:00. He couldn't remember turning on an alarm. He pushed a button that he assumed was the buzzer and sunk into the madras with relief when it stopped. It was pointless trying to read what it said in the options field without his glasses. A minute later, Shaun sat up and stretched, looking outside from his window. Sun rays didn't reach the ground yet in the middle of Abstergo's garden zone. His room's bathroom was simple and small, yet enough for one living person. A shower cabin stood next to the toilet seat, along with a shelf with towels and other hygiene products. "Neat". He stepped in and turned on the water directly which to his stupidity made him receive a stain of cold water. With the wrong placement of his foot, his balance shifted and his body suffered. "Bloody-.. hell," he hissed and slid on his buttcheeks towards the handle on the wall to pull himself up. If not from the shower, then he was sure awake from this.
His thigh and shoulder were bruised when he left the cabin to get dressed. They were red with a shade of blue when he took a look in the mirror. That would hurt real bad later. Within seconds, he had wiped himself dry and put on the casual office wear to attend work. "Wonder what I'll get assigned. Maybe one of their wacky projects.. or perhaps something lame. It better be worth my time either way." He left his room and went to the elevator, taking him to floor 0 where everyone could move around freely. To his surprise, Abstergo was just as busy in the morning as any other town during morning hours. Workers of different kind, men and women, rushed towards the elevators with either coffee cups in hand or dozen of papers. This place seemed no different from civilization. "Or maybe it's to keep us calm," he stuck his hands in his pockets. Main difference between Abstergo's building and a street, it didn't have any signs whatsoever. "How the heck do I find here?"
With or without, Shaun figured he could just walk around for a while. Despite the huge area, the main hall that reached around the whole garden and connected the four buildings was the only reasonable option for him. 'This is the sleeping area.. How far away would the main building be? It must be available for everyone.' The only building that filled the criteria was white and 20 floors high, standing between the sleeping facility and some other building that didn't stick out much. 'If it's main, it must stick out.' Luckily, Shaun had guessed correct and took the elevator to floor 2, accompanied by a blond guy that was busy playing something on his phone, not even noticing Shaun's presence. On the badge that was attached to his shirt stood his name and photo. "Clay.." he tried to read from the side without realizing he had spoken aloud and that the man named Clay was now staring. "Uh, yes? Did you want something?" he had paused his game. Shaun hadn't expected to have a conversation in the elevator and found himself feeling a bit awkward. "It's.. nothing. I'm simply curious of those who work here. I mean, you do work here, right mate?" he said a bit too suspiciously. 'Now he'll think I'm a weirdo.' The man didn't seemed bothered at all and exited on the same floor as Shaun. "That's right, I do. Are you a new worker here? I'm Clay Kaczmarek, pleased to meet you," he reached out his hand for Shaun to shake, who returned the favor with a pitiful smile. "Abstergo has gotten me to work for them so it's my first day." Clay grinned and nod. "They have their methods to make people work for them. You must be special, be happy for that."
"Yeah, happy I'll only leave this company feet first.."
"I am Shaun Hastings, from Britain," he introduced himself. "No.. Seriously? Are you the guy who freaked me out yesterday? Man, it wasn't funny." Shaun suddenly realized who the man before him actually was. "Well, don't let yourself get scared that easily." They passed several cabins and cabinets where typing from a keyboard could be heard. "How long have you been working here?" he asked, looking around meanwhile. "Let's see… around February? Not very long. I bet you came here the same way as me," he chuckled. "If you only knew."
"Anyway, here's your spot," he showed me a cabinet, "and this is mine. We share, you see." Shaun sat down in his chair and spun around some. Two computers with big monitors were standing back to back on a huge squared table in the middle. "Suppose I could get used to it. Why do they want us to work together?" Clay shrugged and closed the door before retrieving some folders from his desk. "This is what I've been working on the past two months," he shoved it towards him and sat back, as if observing. Shaun reached for the thick folders and flipped some pages, his eyes slowly widening. "It all looks extremely familiar.." Clay rolled over to him on his seat. "Is that so, you've worked with stuff like this before?" He shook his head, correcting his glasses. "No, forget what I said. It stands that I have to combine and transfer certain files. It isn't anything I've worked with before. These files shouldn't exist in the coding world." As bizarre as it was, Shaun found sudden interest in the project he was assigned. "If only I knew the answer to why we do this, I'd certainly tell you, my friend. From now on we'll make sure to find out together," he took them back and locked into a drawer.
The screen cast a reflection onto Shaun's glasses who had tried for the past three hours to figure out what he was dealing with. Once he found a connection, he did as the instructions told him to. It was remarkably complicated and advanced, something that intrigued him even more. His co-worker did as much effort as him to finish a specific amount of work before end of the day. Shaun had gotten access to a few files from Abstergo's network and used his breaks to read through some documentation. Most of it of course regarded technological inventions and details. Nothing he found to be outstanding. When nothing was to be found there, he simply looked up the list of employees. The list updated every week but you could still see those who had quit and those who had gotten their employment recently. Shaun was one of them with a blue square in the corner. 'No Rebecca, huh? Perhaps they let her go when we were caught,' he thought when he scrolled past the letter R.
What actually happened her, he could only guess.