~CHAPTER 2~
As Aiden was reading through the files, he realized it was basically an extended version of the events Desmond had already told him. But earlier on in the file, Desmond was referred to as Subject 17. He would have to ask Desmond about that later, Aiden thought. As he put that file aside, he looked at the others he had taken from the data center. Ge grabbed the one at the top, marked 'Edward Kenway Project' and opened it up. It was full of information about pirates, a new Animus to support the genetic memories of others, something about a new office opening up in Montreal being the lead developers for the project, and also working on bug fixes for something called the bleeding effect. It didn't take long before Aiden realized that this was some insanely complicated stuff that was being dealt with over at Abstergo. He closed the folder, set it on his desk, and went back into his kitchen to get a snack.
As he did, he noticed his phone sitting on the table, and the ping from earlier. He picked it up and went to his inbox. The new message was just 'Thanks! :) - Matt' It took Aiden a minute to realize what had happened. Someone had hacked into his phone's microphone and heard everything he and Desmond had said. But how could anyone have hacked his phone? It was probably the most secure device in Chicago. Then he remembered when Desmond had said, about how he didn't know how far Abstergo's reach could extend. If that was the case, then Aiden would need to seriously improve his security before he visited Desmond again, in case someone tried to listen in again.
Aiden decided he might as well do it now instead of later, so he headed downstairs to the parking garage underneath his apartment, looking out the window Desmond climbed out of as he went. As Aiden got in his car, he called Clara, the tech-wizard who had gotten him into the CtOS in the first place. " Hey Aiden, you need something?" Clara said.
"Yeah… I think my phone was hacked earlier and I need you to check it out and maybe improve the security." Aiden told her, driving out of the garage.
"You know the security system you've got on that thing is basically like a digital version of the Pentagon, right?"
"Yeah, but I can hack into the Pentagon. And if I can, someone else can too. Which I think may be the case here."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Meet me by the pawn shop in the Wards, the one we met at a few weeks back. You remember it, right?"
"Yeah, I remember it. Can you be there in half an hour?"
"Done."
And with that, the call ended.
When Aiden got to the pawn shop, he found Clara already there, leaning against a wall. "Hey." He said as he walked up to her. "Hey, yourself. Now, if I could have your phone, I'll try giving your security software some updates." He handed his phone over to her, and she began to open files and dig into the code of it. "So, what makes you think it's been hacked?" Clara asked Aiden.
"I was having this conversation with-" he hesitated. Clara looked up at him, an eyebrow raised.
"With a what?" She asked him.
"With a friend. Anyway, I was talking with him about the city's CtOS, and after he had left I got a message saying thanks and a smiley face from someone named Matt."
"Matt… Can't say that I know any Matts." Clara said. "But, what I can tell you, is that your phone was definitely hacked, the microphone was being used remotely."
"Can you trace it?"
"No, whoever did this was good. On the bright side, though. Nothing was taken, and I've updated your security so that this kind of thing shouldn't happen again."
"Shouldn't?"
"No promises. Anything else?"
"No, that's about it."
"Alright then." Clara said, handing Aiden his phone back. She then turned around and walked off.
Aiden turned to go, then said to her "Hey, wait." Clara turned back around, an eyebrow raised. "Yeeees?" she asked. "What do you know about Abstergo?" Aiden asked her. Clara hesitated. "Don't get yourself into trouble, Aiden. I don't know what you're up to, but if that's who you think has hacked you, then you could be in some very serious trouble." She left without saying another word. Aiden thought about what she said for a moment before leaving, himself.