Assassin's Creed: The Bleeding Identities

by DJJD2184

Katja Winter is a modern day Norse Isu reincarnation who has DID and C-PTSD due to being held captive for most of her life by Abstergo, and after being put through the Animus and being augmented with a lot of triple-helix DNA, she develops several identities of the iconic Assassins and proto-Assassins from the main series' games and gets to fight "alongside" them.

5. The Revelations of the Conspiracy Part 1

Chapter 5— "The Revelations of the Two Conspiracies, Part 1: Scheduled for Deletion"

Katja Winter/ Ezio Auditore/ Altair Ibn-La'Ahad (Old Versions)

Flash Forward to the Present, After the Mission in Masyaf

As Katja woke up, she found herself shocked by the memories she began to finally remember while she was asleep.

I lost my memory again, she thought, but after gaining it back… My perception of time is becoming distorted due to my alters appearing in non-linear order.

Thinking about what she remembered, her eyes went wide as she started to realize something.

"Damn it!" yelled Katja as she looked out the window.

They were in a safe house of some kind again, a high-rise apartment.

Elijah came into her room.

"Katja, hurry up and get dressed. We need to go, there's not much time before they test Lucas's ctOS apparatus—"

Katja said to Elijah, "Where are we?"

"Istanbul," said Elijah. "You don't remember?"

Katja frowned.

"You must've dissociated again," said Elijah.

"What did you to me?" yelled Katja.

"What do you mean?" said Elijah.

"I have memories of Lucas kidnapping me, killing my parents…" said Katja. "But that was years before I actually met Lucas!"

"Your parents?" said Elijah.

"Don't play games with me!" said Katja.

"Listen, Katja," said Elijah, "I don't exactly know what happened to you when you dissociated this time… but we don't have time to figure out what's wrong. The world is on the verge of war, and Lucas's mass genocide plot is about to come to a head. In addition to that… while we know he's planning to detonate Red Mercury suitcase bombs in Washington, Moscow, and Beijing… we don't know where his other two Red Mercury bombs are going to be deployed to."

"What?" said Katja.

"There's no time to explain further," said Elijah. "Are you coming with me or not?"

Katja frowned.

"I'll get dressed, prep my gear."

Elijah nodded, smiling slightly, but was unable to conceal the worriedness in his gaze.

I can't tell if he's genuinely worried about me, merely pities me, or just sees me as a means to an end, Katja thought to herself as she started to realize that she couldn't trust the Assassins.

They did something to me; they must've done something to me!

Elsewhere in the safe house, Katja put on and prepped her new armor and gear underneath her white Assassin hoodie that Rebecca stole from DARPA and assembled via 3D printer.

"This gear isn't Splinter Cell gear," said Katja amidst getting dressed in said armor. "What kind of gear is this?"

"DedSec's," said Elijah. "The Assassins have a mutual friend, Darcy, positioned as a high-ranking member of the British branch of DedSec. We've got access to some of their best tech."

Katja said, "DedSec consists mostly of civilians turned rebels to Abstergo and their Blume subsidiary… Isn't it anathema for the Assassins to put civilians in harm's way to carry out their work?"

"It is… but after Abstergo brainwashed Daniel Cross and had him purge most of the modern Assassin Brotherhood, we're in desperate need of new recruits," Elijah said. "Back in his time, Ezio was responsible for rebuilding the Brotherhood after the Siege of Monteriggioni in order to fight back against the forces of the Borgia. You must've seen some of that in his memories… We need to do the same thing now, and as it turns out, DedSec was already doing it for us."

"I see," said Katja, concealing her motives from him while retracting her Hidden Blade from its bracer concealment and running her other hand over its metal surfaces.

If I can't trust the Assassins, then I likely can't trust DedSec either… Will I have to go back to Lucas in order to figure out the truth about my real parents?

Testing the waters, Katja said to Elijah as she strapped a belt full of explosives and gadgets to her waist, and strapped a handgun and non-lethal crossbow to her thighs, "Do the Assassins know who my real parents are?"

"That's unlikely, Katja," said Elijah, "given you didn't tell us much about them, and what little we were able to dig up about them on the Net doesn't make much sense."

"What do you mean?"

"According to their files in Abstergo's databases, they died in a house fire at their home in rural Sweden back in early 2013. You would've been five around then."

That adds up with the first timeline, Katja said, but as for the second…

"Did Abstergo kidnap me then? Did Lucas kidnap me then?"

"…no, I doubt that," said Elijah. "Lucas wouldn't have had enough accrued enough power among either the Templar Order and Abstergo or the Instruments of the First Will and their respective corporate front yet."

"You mean the Well of Mirrors?"

"Yes," said Elijah. "He likely didn't begin his search for you—or rather, for Baldr—until he was in charge of the Well of Mirrors, and had managed to infiltrate Abstergo's board of directors. That would've been closer to 2021…"

"Around the time I would've been thirteen," Katja said while rubbing her chin.

Elijah tossed her a strange-looking assault rifle. "What is this about, Katja?"

"Tell me what's with that kit next to the rifle you gave to me and then I'll explain."

Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "It's DedSec's equivalent of the Splinter Cell 20K rifle's set of attachments. Complete with a hybrid scope- a sniper scope that can toggle between 2, 4, and 6X magnification, and a canted reflex sight that's locked at 2X magnification, a laser sight, sound suppressor, different types of ammunition magazines for different purposes, and a set of interchangeable underbarrel attachments, including a grip to improve recoil and weapon sway, an underbarrel shotgun, an underbarrel sniper rifle, and an underbarrel grenade launcher. All of said underbarrel weapon attachments have different types of ammunition as well. Is that good enough for you?"

As Katja applied the attachments she preferred to her rifle and stashed the rest of the kit in her backpack, she said to Elijah, "It's hard to explain what happened very clearly… All I know is that when we were in the safe house in Nazareth, I had a dream—or maybe it was a memory—of my parents' deaths resurface. In it, Lucas was responsible for burning their house down after killing them and abducting me."

Elijah looked at Katja as she continued to explain, "But, up until the point I cut ties with him in Rome, all of the memories I have of Lucas were good. This one was terrifying, though."

"You suspect it's not real then?"

"Given what you just told me… yes," said Katja. "That along with the fact that I suspect that I developed temporary amnesia about what happened in Rome, Monteriggioni, Tuscany, and Venice that same night."

"Wait, what?" said Elijah.

"I just figured it out now," said Katja. "That's why I started to trust the Assassins more after the mission in Nazareth and Masyaf was over!"

Elijah's eyes went wide. He then frowned, and looked around. "How did your parents die in the memory, Katja?"

"They were shot by Lucas's Abstergo thugs while I was hiding and watching from my childhood bedroom. Why?"

"Damn it," said Elijah. "I think I have an idea why you developed amnesia at the very least. The rest is somewhat confusing though… I need to talk with my grandfather about this... Stay here, Katja; I'll be back soon and we'll head with the other Assassins to the rendezvous with DedSec together."

"Am I not allowed to hear this talk?"

"I don't know yet…" said Elijah, "but I do know William didn't trust you from the get-go."

"All right," Katja said, and embraced Elijah in a drawn-out hug. Kissing Elijah, she said, "Thank you for believing me."

"Of course, Katja," said Elijah, who then quickly headed to talk with William Miles and the other Assassins.

As far as Katja could tell, he was too distracted from the kiss to be made aware of the fact that she managed to slip her cross necklace into a pocket of his hoodie, which she managed to conceal a bug inside in a manner similar to how she used said necklace to store a flash drive for hacking Lucas's computer back in Tuscany.

Katja was about to listen in to what the Assassins had to say about her.

An older variant of her Altair alter, much like the one she saw briefly in Masyaf, along with an older variant of her Ezio alter, appeared next to her as they listened in.

"Ah, eavesdropping…" said Altair. "I did a lot of this in my heyday."

"Altair?" said Ezio.

Altair looked at Ezio. "Who are you?" Altair said.

Katja was surprised by this.

"You two have been inside my head, but you've never met this whole time?"

"To be fair to him, he existed back during the time of the Third Crusades…" said Ezio, "…and I during the Italian Renaisssance, Katja."

Altair became silent for a moment upon hearing this revelation about what was happening to him.

"I know you don't trust the Assassins, Katja…" said Ezio, "but at the very least, it sounds like what they're trying to prevent takes precedence."

"I know, now stop talking inside my head so I can listen to them!" said Katja.

She recognized Elijah's voice as he spoke to who she assumed was William.

"I told you not to mess with Katja's mind, William!" said Elijah.

"What's this about, grandson?"

"Katja's memories of her parents' death… from how she described them, it sounds like they're conflicting with my memories of my mother's death!" yelled Elijah. "Did you add my consciousness to her mind as an alter via the Animus?"

"One could say that," said William. "The genetic memories Lucas put her through in the Animus were seemingly those of your father's, hence why her Ezio alter manifested back in Rome… and we found those alone to be insufficient, so we added your memories since you managed to acquire the genetic memories of Abstergo Entertainment's employee Shaun and Rebecca recruited, the memories of the Initiates, Callum Lynch, and Layla Hassan. You already knew that much."

"So why doesn't it make sense to you that she developed an alter of you through the Bleeding Effect as well? That's how her mind works," William continued.

"That doesn't explain why my memories are mixing with hers!" said Elijah. "Did you do that to trick her into working with us?"

"Of course not!" said William.

"The boss's right," said Galina Voronina, a Russian Assassin. "You're out of line, Elijah. Why are you taking her side?"

"We know you slept with her back in Venice," said a Japanese Assassin named Kiyoshi Takakura. "Admit it. You've fallen for her."

Elijah said, "No. The mission comes first. I still believe that if we push her too far, then she'll destroy us, go back to Lucas. That's the last thing we need."

Callum Lynch, a Spanish-American Assassin, said, "So… what are you suggesting by all this, Boss's Grandson? That we brainwashed her?"

"I suppose," said Elijah. "I suspected that much after she explained what she remembered to me… and now… she's starting to wake up. It's likely she doesn't trust us as much now."

"Then that means she could be a threat to our operation," said William, "right at the very moment we can't afford any more threats. Not your best suggestion, Elijah."

"Damn straight," said Elijah. "Then are you suggesting we get rid of her?"

After hearing this, Katja's breathing became heavy, and that familiar lightheaded, dizzy feeling returned, along with the terrifying bloodshot look in her eyes.

She ran to a nearby trash can next to the balcony doors in the apartment penthouse, and puked up her guts.

"Gross," said Altair.

"I may have never trusted the Assassins," said Katja, "but I trusted him. That was a mistake."

"So, what are you going to do now, Katja?" said Ezio with a frown. "Run away from them? Or try to take them out right in the middle of Lucas's mass genocide plot when they're trying to stop them?"

"Both," said Katja angrily. "I'm developing this plan on the fly, but if I do it right, it might work. I just need you and Altair to cooperate with me."

Altair looked at Katja worriedly.

"Whether we like it or not," said Ezio with a frown, "the only reason we exist right now, is to keep you safe."

"I assume it's time for a brawl," said Altair. "Another one of my pasttimes, as well as pickpocketing… only I took secrets from my enemies' pockets rather than planting them there. Are we going to subdue the Assassins until they are ready tell us the truth?"

Katja nodded.

"Fair enough," said Altair.

"Before we fight them, and escape from them," said Ezio, "perhaps we should write a letter to them."

"Why?" said Katja.

"I suspect that the reason you puked had less to do with your mental issues than you realize, Katja," said Ezio.

Altair looked at Ezio, then Katja and her belly.

"What do you mean?" said Katja.

"I will explain later," said Ezio.

"Claudia, my dearest sister…" said Ezio as he was kicked awake by a mercenary hired by the Templars as the mercenaries grabbed him and yanked him to his feet.

William kicked Katja in the stomach, awakening her.

"I have been in Acre a week now, safe and in high spirits, but prepared for the worst. The men and women who have fed and sheltered me here also give me warning that the road to Masyaf is overrun by mercenaries and bandits not native to this land. What this could mean, I dread to guess."

The Assassins, men and women who she had allied with, were in the room where they talked about Katja, attending a debriefing being held by William on the present threat of Lucas's Piece of Eden-powered central OS's created by the Blume corporation.

William said, "The Pieces of Eden are being shipped from a warehouse to Istanbul run by Lucas's shipping subsidiary, McKay Global. They are headed to Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina. If said Pieces are successfully shipped there, integrated with the ctOS systems local to said cities, and activated, the entirety of the three holy cities' populations will be brainwashed into killing each other. 90 percent of them will die, and the aftermath will likely mean war for the entirety of the Middle East. With that said, we believe that this is merely a test for a larger, global OS apparatus…"

"When I first set out from Roma ten months ago, I did so with a single purpose: to discover what our father did not," Ezio said while sailing toward Masyaf.

Katja had a brief flashback of when she joined the Assassins on the boat out of Italy and toward the Altair II before they headed to Monteriggioni, then eventually Lucas's Tuscan estate, and then Venice, before she stormed into the room the Assassins were in.

"In a letter written the year before my birth, he makes mention of a library hidden beneath the stones of Masyaf castle. A sanctum full of invaluable wisdom."

Katja had a flashback of her time with Elijah in Nazareth, and eventually Masyaf, as Elijah said to Katja, "Katja, what are you doing in here?"

Ezio's shoulder was hit with an arrow by a Templar mercenary hiding in the distance.

Katja punched Elijah in the throat, causing him to collapse to his knees, and the brawl between her and the Assassins began.

"So what will I find when I arrive there? Who will greet me? A host of eager Templars, as I fear most strongly? Or nothing but the whistling of a cold and lonely wind?" said Ezio as he ripped the arrow out of his armor and engaged in a swordfight with the dozens of mercenaries that charged towards him.

As Elijah collapsed to his knees and grabbed his throat, Ezio and Altair reluctantly assisted Katja in fighting off the group of Assassins, tearing up the penthouse apartment in a brutal fistfight.

"Masyaf has not been home to the Assassins for almost 300 years now. Can we still claim it for our own? Are we welcome there?" said Ezio as he stabbed his way through several Templars with his sword like a sickle cutting through foliage.

Katja, Ezio, and Altair ducked and dodged their way through the horde of Assassins, beating several of them up, including Galina, Kiyoshi, and Callum.

"Ah, I am weary of this fight, Claudia. Not because I am tired, but because our struggle seems to move in one direction only… towards chaos. Today, I have more questions than answers," said Ezio as he readied his Hidden Blade.

Katja was about to strike down William Miles when Shaun and Rebecca managed to slam into her with their bodies from both sides at the same time. Katja managed to knock them both down with Altair and Ezio's help.

"This is why I have come so far: to find clarity. To find wisdom left behind by the great Altair, so that I may better understand the purpose of our fight, and my place in it," said Ezio as he was knocked down and his Hidden Blade cut from his bracer by the mercenary leader's sword. The Templars surrounded him with their swords, clubs, daggers, and spears.

Katja got up, and was this close to hitting William hard across the jaw when she hesitated, and looked towards Altair and Ezio. They were shaking their heads no.

She resisted them, and swung at William, only for Elijah to grab and block her at the last moment.

"KATJA!" Elijah cried.

Katja tried to break free of Elijah, only for him to knock her off her feet with a sweeping kick, and for the other Assassins to surround her.

Ezio was dragged towards the Templar mercenary leader standing at the edge of the Masyaf castle's tower. He broke free of the two Templars grabbing him.

Shaun spat blood and part of a tooth out, and Rebecca wiped off the blood running down her nose as they grabbed her by the arms.

As the Templars drew their swords, the leader held up a hand to signal for them to holster them.

As Katja broke free of Shaun and Rebecca's hold on her, they braced themselves for another fight, only for William to hold up his hand in their direction.

"Thank you for preventing me from being forced to retire early, Elijah," said William as the other Assassins, save for Elijah, stared at Katja with angry glares.

"Should anything happen to me, Claudia… should my skills fail me, or my ambition lead me astray…" Ezio narrated as he looked at the Templar leader as he grimaced at Ezio and approached him.

"Damn it… can't believe she got the drop on us…" said Callum as he snapped one of his fingers back into place.

"I've never seen someone fight like that, let alone somewhat new to combat… Even someone who's been in an Animus for a prolonged amount of time…" said Kiyoshi as he clutched his gut where Katja slugged him.

"It was like we were fighting two different people at once…" said Galina as she rubbed the bruises on her face.

"No… more like… three…" said Elijah.

"…do not seek retribution or revenge in my memory, but fight to continue the search for truth, so that all may benefit." As Ezio was pushed toward the ledge of the tower by the Templar leader, where leaps of faith were originally conducted, he saw a glimpse of Altair's ghost on another board extending from the ledge next to the one he was standing on.

Katja looked at Ezio and Altair as Shaun and Rebecca stood next to them and her.

"You've got some bloody explaining to do!" yelled Shaun.

Rebecca said nothing, but continued to grimace at Katja.

"I agree with Shaun," said William. "What was the meaning of this little tantrum of yours, Katja?"

"My story is one of many thousands, and the world will not suffer if it ends too soon." An eagle flew by Ezio in the distance as the Templar leader took off Ezio's hood and tied a noose around his neck.

"If you're not going to explain, then we'll cut ties with you," said William. "Elijah, you brought her into our fold, now you'll remove her from it… as well as the world."

"But William—"

"Do it, Elijah!"

Then Ezio socked the leader in the face, wrapped the rope around his neck, and used him as a counterweight to jump off the board and escape the Templars…

As Elijah reluctantly pointed his Hidden Blade at Katja's throat while Shaun and Rebecca restrained her by her arms, he said, "I'm so sorry, Katja…"

Katja yelled, "I heard everything!"

The others looked at her in confusion.

"You gave me Elijah's memories… and his consciousness. That's how I'm seeing Altair and Ezio, and taking on their skills… because Elijah was in the Animus, reliving their memories before I did. That's why my own memories are scrambled; they're starting to combine with his!"

William looked at Katja.

"Did you do that on purpose? Did you brainwash me into believing Lucas was the one who kidnapped me when I was a child?"

"If you were truly listening to us, Katja," said William, "then you'd know the answer to your question."

"Tell me the truth, damn it!"

"I am!" snapped William. "And let's be clear, Katja… if you want to stay on our side a second longer, then Lucas is your enemy, regardless of whether he ruined your life or not."

Katja said to William, "Say you're telling the truth. How did my memories combine with Elijah's like that? I've never heard of the Animus causing such an effect on someone's psyche before."

"Perhaps," said William, "but keep in mind your psyche is more irregular than anyone else's on Earth. And that isn't our fault."

"Enough, grandfather!" screamed Elijah. "We're running out of time! Lucas is about to ship out the Pieces of Eden; if he succeeds, millions of people will die in a matter of days, and billions will in a matter of weeks due to World War Three! We have to move out, now!"

"He does have a point, boss," said Rebecca, "as much as I hate to admit it."

"All right," said William. "Last question, Katja. This is the important one. Are you going to help us stop Lucas's genocidal plot or not?"

Katja frowned.

"I'll work with you. For now. But after we stop the Pieces of Eden from being shipped, I'm done working for the Assassins."

"You've bought yourself some time," grunted William.

As William extended his hand, Katja hesitated before shaking it…

…and Ezio landed safely below as a spear landed next to him. Ezio got up, and pulled his hood back over his head.

"We're wasting daylight," said William. "We need to move out. Everyone brush off your wounds Katja inflicted on you, put your differences aside for now, and prepare for battle."

As the Assassins boarded the vans they were using to reach the shipping center in Istanbul, Katja briefly looked at Elijah, then Ezio and Altair before boarding one of the vans herself.

The vans stopped at Galata Tower, not far from where the Assassins' safe house was… according to Ezio, it was located within the old Ottoman Assassin Brotherhood's bureau where Ezio worked with Yusuf Tazim.

"All right," said William as Katja the Assassins exited the vehicle. "Istanbul is crawling with Engineers, Abstergo agents, corrupt local authorities, and Blume surveillance systems… DedSec is working on disabling the surveillance systems and causing distractions across the city to cover our infiltration… The plan is to scale Galata Tower and zipline to an outpost set up by the Engineers. There, we'll steal one of their boats as well as Engineer uniforms. For that reason, we'll need to do some clean kills… either snap their necks or stick to less-than-lethal weapons. From there, we'll cross the Bosphorus river and infiltrate McKay Global's shipping facility in downtown Istanbul. The shipping center will be heavily guarded, but DedSec should be able to help us pass the security checkpoint. From there, we'll bluff our way in."

"Are we using hook blades to scale Galata Tower and zipline across Istanbul?" said Ezio as he scratched his head.

"No, Katja…or am I talking to Ezio?" said William before he shook his head out of frustration. "Never mind that; we're using grappling lines we can fire out of our Hidden Blades."

"Oh," said Ezio.

As Katja shook her head and Ezio disappeared, she said, "We can do that with our Hidden Blades? That's pretty impressive technology even for Abstergo, let alone the Assassins."

"Technically an older version was developed in London during the Industrial Revolution, in 1868," said Elijah to Katja. "These ones work even better though."

"All right everyone," said William as they approached Galata Tower's rear. "Time to climb. Shaun will cover extraction detail, while Rebecca and I will communicate with you from here. She'll be contacting DedSec and hacking into Blume's local ctOS systems in coordination with them."

"Sounds like a plan, boss," said Callum as the Assassins aimed their Hidden Blades at the top of Galata Tower and fired their grappling lines out of them.

Elijah said to Katja, "You go first. I've been tasked with keeping an eye on you."

"All right," said Katja as she fired her grappling line and zipped up to the top of Galata Tower behind Galina, Kiyoshi, Callum, and the other Assassins; Elijah followed suit not long after.

As the other Assassins were using their sniper rifles and binocular-camera devices to spy on the Engineers' outpost in the distance, Katja saw Ezio looking at another ledge of Galata Tower.

He was breathing heavily for a moment.

"Ezio, what is it?" said Katja.

"Sofia…" said Ezio.

Katja saw a memory of Ezio trying to save his love interest, Sofia Sartor, on the top of Galata Tower, only to find out that it was an impostor being held. She was being hanged nearby.

"Did Sofia survive, Ezio?"

Calming down, Ezio said, "Yes… I saved her. After leaving the Piece of Eden in Altair's vault in Masyaf, I lived the rest of my life with her and our children in Tuscany… Perhaps my memory is not entirely reliable right now either. It might be due to my age."

"My vault…" said Altair. "Masyaf… The library…" Altair's gaze was distant.

"Katja?" said Elijah.

Katja snapped back to reality.

"Our window of opportunity is closing. Time to hook up."

Katja looked over as the other Assassins were hooking up their grappling lines to the ledge of Galata Tower facing the Bosphorus river and greater Istanbul.

"All right," said Katja as she hooked up her grappling line from her Hidden Blade to the side of the ledge as well.

The other Assassins began to zipline across the skyline of the Galata district toward the Engineers' outpost.

"You're not still afraid of heights, are you?" said Elijah.

"After all I've been through since Rome?" said Katja. "Not a chance."

Elijah smirked as he and Katja followed the Assassins, ziplining after them through the night.

They crept toward the Engineers' outpost along some scaffolding on the rooftops.

Katja made note of the locations of the Engineers guarding the outpost using her Eagle Vision, as well as their patrol patterns.

Elijah said to Katja, "Looks like their lieutenant is your height, Katja… You'll have to steal his uniform."

Katja looked in the direction Elijah was pointing at for the lieutenant, until she located him and his aura turned from red to gold. He was talking to several other Engineers.

"He may be my height, but… um… how do I put this…" said Katja.

"What?" said Elijah.

"…he's a man."

Looking at the lieutenant, Elijah's face went red. "Oh… You think the disguise won't fit your bust."

Sighing, Katja said, "Forget it… He'll have to do."

"We're in position," said Kiyoshi.

"Everyone shoot in sync…" said Galina. "We're pretty far away from them right now. Wind's picking up, so keep in mind wind speed and direction, as well as recoil and distance. Line up your shots and adjust for range by moving the crosshairs on your scopes up one to three notches, depending on the total distance."

Fortunately, Katja knew how to fire a gun at long range due to going hunting with Lucas in the past, because Altair and Ezio didn't have experience using modern guns, let alone at this range.

Still, this was going to be a challenge.

"Pick off the targets guarding the front of the outpost, along with the snipers on the rooftops and the guards wearing heavy armor below," said Kiyoshi. "Aim for their helmets. Armor-piercing rounds should do the trick."

"You sure you've got this, Katja?" said Callum.

"I think so," said Katja, as she held her breath and trained her scope on the first guard's head.

"Good," said Callum. "You better."

"On three…" said Galina. "One… two…"

The Assassins fired several shots in synchronization, taking out half a dozen Engineers at once.

Katja managed to kill her target.

"Snipers down. Now for the heavy gunners…" said Galina. "Marking our individual targets using my binocular-camera. We'll shoot on three."

Katja trained her scope on her next target, aiming her crosshairs up one-and-a-half notches to adjust for distance.

"One… two…"

The next half dozen Engineers fell.

"Shit… We've got a problem…" said Kiyoshi.

"What now?" said Callum.

"Wait… I see it," said Galina. "Looks like there are two heavy gunners that found a body."

Katja saw them approaching a body of the heavy gunner she just shot. They were talking to each other before they turned around to head for a nearby alarm panel.

"Damn it, this is bad…" said Kiyoshi.

"Whoever shot that grunt with the machine gun was careless… They should've noticed the nearby grunts and waited for them to move away!"

"Pretty sure that was Katja's mark," said Galina.

"Goddamn it, Katja!" said Callum. "You're going to compromise us!"

Katja frowned.

"I can't get a clear shot at them…" said Galina. "They're moving too fast, and we won't be able to get to them on foot."

"Anyone got a clear shot?" said Callum.

"Negative," said Kiyoshi.

"Negative," said Elijah.

"What do we do now?"

"Wait…" said Katja. "I think I can hit at least one of them."

"But they're too close together; we need to hit both at once!"

"We're running out of time…" said Galina.

"Hang on," said Katja. "What if I line up my shot once they reach the alarm panel, shoot through both of their helmets at once? Can these armor-piercing rounds do that?"

"Yeah…" said Galina.

"But the real question is can you hit them like that, and from that distance?" said Kiyoshi.

"I don't know…" said Katja.

"Forget it, we need to abort!" said Callum.

Trying to focus, Katja aimed at the guards, and adjusted her scope.

Three and a half notches… Can I do this?

The wind was picking up. Katja saw a flag above the alarm panel that the Engineer heavy gunners were approaching; it was flapping around like crazy.

Damn it…

"Elijah, call your granddad and tell him we need to abort," said Galina.

"But we're so close!" said Elijah. "This is our only chance to stop Lucas's plot!"

"Well, we blew our chance!" shouted Galina. "Do it!"

"Fine!"

As Elijah contacted William, Katja saw the flag stop flapping as the wind died down.

The heavy gunners were lined up in a row, albeit barely. One was about to hit the alarm panel's button.

Katja remembered what Lucas taught her while they hunted together.

"You're a natural hunter, Katja," said Lucas. "You've got this."

Katja took a breath, and fired.

The bullet pierced through the Engineers' heavy gunners and skulls less than a second before one of them sounded the alarm.

Elijah said over comms, "William, we need to…" Looking at the guards, Elijah's eyes went wide. "…abort."

"What was that, Elijah?" said William. "It's hard to hear you over the wind."

"Never mind," said Elijah. "It's not important."

"Copy that."

"That was an impressive shot, Katja…" said Galina.

"It's too bad you're not planning to stay with us," said Kiyoshi. "You'd be a valuable member of the Brotherhood."

"Good work, Katja," said Elijah.

"No time to celebrate," said Callum. "Time to descend!"

Katja did a controlled climbing descent down the wall's scaffolding of the building she and Elijah were perched on until she was on the ground.

"The lieutenant's approaching the bodies," said Elijah. "We need to distract them."

"Would a smoke bomb work?" said Katja.

"Elijah said distract, not obscure," said Kiyoshi. "Use a noisemaker bomb."

Katja looked at Ezio.

"Yusuf said something similar when introducing me to new bomb types in Constantinople," Ezio said with a shrug.

Quickly switching out her underbarrel sniper rifle attachment for the grenade launcher attachment in her kit, Katja loaded a cherry bomb into the grenade launcher and fired it away at a building in the opposite direction of her target and the bodies of the Engineers they shot.

The lieutenant turned around and went over to investigate, muttering something in Arabic.

"Time to steal some uniforms," said Galina. "Go."

The Assassins crept toward their respective targets, using nearby walls and passages for cover.

Katja hid in a nearby set of ficuses, aimed her crossbow at the lieutenant's head, and fired a shock round at her target to knock them out.

The other Assassins knocked out their targets in sync by shooting at them with LTL rounds and assassinations with their bare hands.

Katja snapped the neck of the last guard taking a smoke break behind the ficus she was hiding in, then got out of her hiding spot and headed over to the lieutenant's body.

"All right, good job everyone," said Galina. "Let's make ourselves scarce. Steal their uniforms and we'll take one of their boats and travel across the river."

Katja nodded, and quickly changed into the Engineer lieutenant's uniform.

As they rode across the Bosphorus, Katja saw a memory of Ezio's where he met Prince Suleiman upon arriving in Istanbul; he claimed to be a student.

It was there that Ezio first saw Sofia, despite that he did not approach her at the time.

As they reached the harbor of downtown Istanbul, they looked around.

"The city's under curfew," said Elijah. "We'll have to approach the Grand Bazaar and then cut across the rooftops to the old Hagia Sophia building, then to the Hagia Eirene. After that, the shipping facility should be near the Topkapi Palace Museum."

"Roger that," said Galina. "William, sitrep?"

"DedSec is causing a distraction at the old Arsenal," said William. "They're instigating a riot among the locals, encouraging them to break curfew due to economic inequality issues plaguing the region."

"The wealth gap is a bitch nowadays…" said Callum.

"When hasn't it been though?" said Kiyoshi.

"I'm coordinating with Darcy right now," said Rebecca. "She's got DedSec agents in place to help hack into the McKay Global facility's security systems, along with Abstergo's drones patrolling the rooftops. She also is preparing for DedSec to do a city-wide mass hack to help cover our exit, and maybe even try to stop the local ctOS as a last resort should we fail to stop the Pieces of Eden from being shipped out."

"I've got the helicopter on standby," said Shaun. "Piloting this thing has been a hell of a learning experience over the past few weeks, but I think I've got the hang of it finally. I'll meet you all at the facility for extraction once the mass hack is underway and the job's done."

"Let's go then," said Elijah. "We're wasting time talking."

They crept through the city and the Grand Bazaar, avoiding the authorities while picking them off with their rifles when needed.

Meanwhile, for Katja, reality was blurring with Ezio's memories. As they snuck through the dark markets of the Grand Bazaar during the curfew, she watched Ezio as he hid in the crowds of Constantinople back in the 16th century, danced with Romani performers, experimented with Piri Reis's various bombs, fought various factions including the Byzantine Templars and the Janissaries, infiltrated and conquered Templar Dens, and assembled the Ottoman Brotherhood and sending its various members on missions across the entirety of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Eventually they made it out of the Grand Bazaar. After that, they used their grappling lines to ascend to the rooftops of Istanbul.

As Katja and the Assassins used parkour to climb and the grappling lines to zipline from building to building, they eventually came across a small garden near the

Hagia Sophia as they ascended it.

Katja saw a memory of Ezio going on a date with Sofia as he offered her flowers.

"Che belli, grazie (these are nice, thank you)," Sofia said to Ezio as she smelled the flowers he picked for her.

As they sat together on the blanket Sofia prepared for the date in the park, Sofia said to Ezio, "I wanted to thank you for letting me play a small role in your adventure."

"A small role is enough for this adventure, believe me," said Ezio.

"You are a mystery, Ezio Auditore."

"Mi dispiace (I'm sorry.) I do not mean to be."

"It is fine. É affascinante (it's attractive)."

Looking at the food Sofia prepared, Ezio said, "Sembra squisito (looks delicious)."

"Why thank you," Sofia said, and smiled at Ezio.

In the present, Ezio looked at Katja as they climbed a wall on the roof, and then hid behind another wall to avoid a set of Abstergo's drones passing above them.

"You're thinking of Elijah, aren't you, Katja?" said Ezio.

"Shh!" Katja said.

"I am talking to you in your head this time, not out loud," said Ezio with a smirk. "If you leave the Assassins, you know you are also leaving him."

"I know," Katja said.

"Do you love him?" said Ezio.

"I- I'm not sure," said Katja. "Maybe I did before. But now it's hard to trust him."

"Katja," said Ezio, "I get that the Assassins wronged you. Your predicament, your life's story, it's unfortunate. But don't you see that their cause is just?"

Katja said nothing in response to this.

"Your father figure, Lucas, is trying to destroy the world, Katja," said Ezio. "Commit genocide of the human race on a scale hard to imagine, let alone stand for, especially for someone as ancient as me. Could you live with the guilt of choosing your own life and comfort, your relationship with Lucas, over the lives of so many innocents?"

Katja looked at Ezio as he said, "Altair and I are powerless to stop you from making your decision. But know that we are against the path you are going down. Despite that our goal is to protect you, we fear you and your misplaced love for Lucas."

"It's not misplaced!" Katja said, before looking away from Ezio. "It's not…"

Katja then sighed. "But you're right. What Lucas is doing is wrong."

"Sooner or later, you will have to make a decision and pick a side of this war that has gone on for centuries, Katja."

"I know."

Before Katja realized it, they had reached the outer perimeter of McKay Global's shipping center near the Topkapi Palace museum.

As they descended from the rooftops, Galina said, "All right everyone. Don your disguises. We're walking through Lucas's front door."

Rebecca said, "Darcy's people are hacking into security as we speak. Wait for the guards at the checkpoint to investigate the glitch in the metal detectors, then walk right through them and the entrance doors."

"Copy that," said Elijah.

They approached the security checkpoint in front of the entrance, where a group of Engineers were posted, disguised as the McKay Global employees they likely had killed.

"Katja," said Elijah, "you might want to channel Altair right now to talk to those Engineers in their native tongue to keep them preoccupied while we wait for DedSec to work their hacking magic."

Katja nodded she walked up to the Engineers.

"I didn't realize we had any female operatives working tonight," said an Engineer in Arabic.

"Well now you do," said Katja back to the Engineer in Arabic, trying to make her voice sound like that of a woman native to the Middle East.

Looking at the parts of Katja's face through her uniforms mask, the said, "Your skin is rather fair for someone who knows Arabic. What nation are you from?"

"…Syria," said Katja.

Frowning, the Engineer said to Katja, "Wait a minute… your eyes…"

Shit, Katja said, my blue eyes are going to give us away!

"I can't see very well in the dark, but I swear you don't actually look like a—"

Then the Engineer got a message on the radio.

"You said security is malfunctioning? All right… We'll go check out the ctOS router and see what's wrong."

"Stay here and we'll come back to check you," said the Engineer.

"This operation is critical," said Katja. "We're running behind schedule as is. We need to go in, now. Need I remind you that I outrank you?"

The two Engineers looked at each other, before saying, "Fine. Go on in."

As they left the security checkpoint open, Katja and the other Assassins entered the shipping facility, using DedSec's hacking malware on their smartphones to open the doors' locks.

As they navigated through the facility, they found the corpses of McKay Global employees everywhere.

"Fuck… It's hard for me to believe that Lucas would order the slaughtering of people belonging to his own subsidiary," said Katja.

"Well it's not for us," said Kiyoshi. "To him, they're just tools."

"You sure you're still on our side, Katja?" said Galina.

"I am," said Katja. "For now."

They navigated the hallways, quietly shooting and stabbing their way through patrolling Engineers with their rifles and Hidden Blades, respectively.

"So far we haven't raised the alarm," said Callum.

"Keep moving, and check your corners," said Galina.

They entered the office areas of the shipping facility, which was full of several Engineers.

Katja and the Assassins quickly shot them with their rifles.

Rebecca said over their comms, "Guys, you need to split up. One group of you needs to head to the security center."

"What? Why?" said Elijah.

"Because a technician in there is onto us; they're trying to reboot security," said Rebecca. "You're gonna have to take him out fast before he calls in a status report over the Engineers' comms."

"All right," said Galina. "Kiyoshi, Callum, and I will head to the security center. Everyone else, head to the warehouse and look for the Pieces of Eden."

"Roger," said Elijah. "Katja, you're with me."

As Katja, Elijah, and several other Assassins headed toward the factory assembly line and warehouse areas, they looked around.

"Shit… this place is crawling with Engineers," said Elijah. "Don your disguises, and don't talk to anyone."

They entered the warehouse area and headed through the various aisles full of products that were to be shipped out.

"Galina, this place is massive," said Elijah. "Any chance you can use the security camera feeds to locate where the Pieces of Eden are?"

"We can once we get to them, Elijah," said Galina. "You just keep an eye on your girlfriend and her various alternate identities."

Elijah frowned at this.

"Copy that."

Katja looked around the warehouse's shelves, while checking her corners and avoiding the Engineers and their drones they had deployed.

"All right, we've taken control of security. Technician's dead," said Galina. "We're patching into the camera feeds now."

"Good," said Elijah. "Find the Pieces of Eden."

"I'm seeing a lot of commotion around the area where expensive shipments are stored in a vault," said Galina. "Marking the location on your smartphones' GPS… Oh shit…"

"What is it now?" said Elijah.

"You may want to see this for yourself," said Galina. "Patching you into the feeds."

Katja looked at her smartphone as Elijah did.

Oh no, she thought.

At the vault, Majid Sadiq, leader of the Engineers and Loki's Sage, was talking over the phone to someone.

"Yes, Lucas… We're about to ship out the keys; they're being taken to the shipping dock as we speak to be loaded onto the trucks. Once they arrive at the three cities, I assume you'll activate the Eye and brainwash said cities' residents into slaughtering each other using the Piece of Eden. You're sick, Lucas… No, I know. I'm complying."

"It's Sadiq," Elijah said.

"That bastard who nearly killed me back at Masyaf…" said Katja.

"We need to hurry," said Elijah. "You think the two of us can take on a Sage?"

"We'll see," said Katja.

"All right," said Elijah. "Everyone else go to the shipping dock, prevent the Pieces of Eden from being loaded onto the trucks!"

The other Assassins nodded, and headed to the shipping dock.

Katja and Elijah headed toward the vault.

As they arrived at the vault, Sadiq turned toward them.

"Ah… the Reader's prodigal son and the Mad One's prodigal daughter return," said Sadiq. "I didn't expect you to be here. With that said, even though you are here… I'm afraid you're too late."

"Where are the Pieces of Eden you're taking to the three holy cities, Sadiq!" yelled Katja.

"Pieces of Eden? Pieces in the plural sense?" Sadiq began to laugh.

"You really don't about Lucas's plans at all, do you? Even though you invaded my sleeper cell in Masyaf?" said Sadiq.

"It's the Brotherhood's old headquarters," said Elijah with a frown.

"Semantics," said Sadiq. "Anyway, the only Piece of Eden that was taken from Altair's hidden vault in Masyaf and then taken to here in Istanbul is now uploaded to Abstergo's new Eye satellite… which is obviously owned by Lucas."

"Shit…" said Elijah.

"Said Eye satellite will help activate the entire apparatus of the Blume corporation's global central OS they've installed using the Isu's old energy network running beneath the Earth… Lucas managed to find the Nexus site of it using his mining company in the Middle East."

"Damn it!" yelled Elijah. "So that's why his company was setting up drilling sites across Israel and Syria!"

"Then what are you shipping out from here?" said Katja.

"For now, though… the apparatus isn't quite complete," Sadiq said. "Lucas needs a set of conduits to help power the global OS. For now, he has six. Two for Jerusalem and four for the Mecca and Medina."

"What are they?" said Katja.

"The Masyaf Keys… The ones that helped open the door to Altair's vault."

Katja's eyes went wide.

She had various flashes of memories of Ezio hunting for said keys and reliving Altair's memories with them.

Memories within memories.

"So that's what you're shipping out?" said Katja.

"That's correct, Katja," said Sadiq. "Unfortunately, I doubt your Assassin friends have enough time to locate the correct trucks that they've been loaded onto before they set out for the three holy cities and start a genocide that will fuel the flames of World War Three and Armageddon."

"Damn it, Sadiq, why are you working with Lucas!" yelled Katja. "He's Odin and you're Loki! You hate him!"

Sadiq grimaced. "You're damn right I do. But unlike you, Katja, I don't have a choice."

As several Engineers surrounded them and raised their weapons, Katja pointed her rifle at Sadiq.

"I'm not afraid to become a martyr, Katja," said Sadiq. "And I'm not afraid to take Baldr from Odin once more either."

Katja grimaced, and said, "I'm not trying to martyr you."

She then fired a flashbang grenade at Sadiq, closed her eyes, and covered her ears as it went off.

The resulting bang blinded and deafened the Engineers surrounding them long enough for Katja to gun them down with a barrage of assault rifle, save for Sadiq as she had to reload.

Sadiq then shot at Katja while Elijah was firing his own rifle at the other Engineers.

"Katja!" yelled Elijah.

Katja managed to duck behind an aisle of the warehouse before she took any of Sadiq's bullets.

"You're not the only one who uses grenades, Baldr!" yelled Sadiq as he chucked a white phosphorus grenade in Katja's direction.

"SHIT!" yelled Katja as she dove out of the way to avoid the resulting fiery explosion.

She then rolled out of the way as Sadiq tried to stab her to death with a sword while she was down.

As Elijah tried to stab Sadiq with his Hidden Blades, Sadiq then blocked him and butted his head into Elijah's, then nearly sliced through Elijah before he barely managed to block his sword with his bracers.

Sadiq kicked Elijah to the ground, and tried to slice Katja as she approached him.

Katja feinted left, then rolled over Sadiq's back and stabbed him from behind.

Sadiq groaned, and tried to slice Katja with his sword, only for Katja to block it.

She managed to fight off Sadiq in a melee battle, with the help of Altair and Ezio, knocking the sword out of his hand. As Elijah got up, Sadiq managed to punch Katja in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her, and forcing her to fall to her knees. He then kicked her in the face, knocking her to the floor.

Katja clutched her chest and head in pain as Elijah angrily tackled Sadiq and tried to stab him in the throat after slicing through part of his arm. Sadiq managed to wrestle his way on top of Elijah, dislocating Elijah's arm that had his Hidden Blade on it, and proceeded to try and beat him to death.

Katja managed to get up as Ezio and Altair hoisted her to her feet.

Sadiq saw her get up, and then got off of Elijah and tried to hit her.

Only for her to duck under his fist and crush one of Sadiq's prosthetic legs by slicing through a weak spot in it. She then broke the prosthetic at his knee with a powerful kick.

Sadiq screamed in pain, and tried to limp toward Katja, only for Altair and Ezio to grab his hands as he tried to defend himself.

Katja then kicked him in the gut, knocking him to the floor.

Furious, Katja started to choke Sadiq to death.

Sadiq made choking noises and desperately tried to break free of Katja's grip.

But she had him now.

She had almost succeeded in killing him when she heard Sadiq's cell phone ring in his pocket.

"It's… Lucas…" said Sadiq.

"Damn it!" yelled Katja as she knocked Sadiq out with an elbow to the skull.

Katja fished the phone out of Sadiq's pocket, and answered it.

Lucas was calling via FaceTime.

"Lucas…" said Katja.

"Katja..." said Lucas. "What are you doing in Istanbul?"

"Trying to stop your mad genocidal plot," said Katja with a frown.

"As extreme as it seems, Katja, it's the only way we'll survive the coming catastrophe… Survive Ragnarok," said Lucas. "I don't want history to repeat itself and have Loki take you away from me."

Katja's frown deepened as she said, "You're going to start World War Three!"

"If things go according to plan, Katja, I'm not," said Lucas. "My plan was to frame the Engineers and the Assassins for all the killing. After that, the world would have a common enemy to go after rather than make enemies of each other."

Katja's eyes went wide.

"You can't create a peaceful new world order without forging it from the ashes of the old one," said Lucas. "It's unfortunate, but that's how the world works. Both the Templars and the Instruments know this… unlike the Assassins."

Struggling for words, Katja said, "It's not right!"

"You were always a shining light in the darkness of my world," Lucas said. "You're a good person, Katja. You're the Ljosalfar to my Dokkalfar."

Crying, Katja said, "Did you kill my real parents?"

Lucas said, "You don't remember?"

Katja shook her head.

Lucas said, "Meet me in Cappadocia and I'll explain everything, Katja."

Elijah woke up with bruises from his fight with Sadiq all over, and spat out blood.

Clutching his head and grunting as he snapped his dislocated arm back into place, he said, "Katja?"

Lucas said, "Even if the Assassins manage to stop this little test of my global OS apparatus, I promise I won't be mad at you, Katja. If anything, I'm mad at them for taking you from me."

Looking at Sadiq's unconscious body, Elijah said to Katja, "Why didn't you kill him?"

Looking up at Elijah, then back at Lucas on the phone, she said to him, "Bye for now, Lucas," she said before she hung up.

Elijah said, "That was Lucas, wasn't it?"

Katja looked at Elijah, then looked down at the floor. "I may love you, and I may want to stop Lucas… but I also love him too."

Elijah frowned.

"Well then help us stop his test," said Elijah.

As they heard more Engineers coming, Elijah looked at Sadiq again before saying, "Looks like they're finally onto us. We'll put Loki back in the ground for good later. Right now, we need to intercept those Masyaf Keys," said Elijah.

"Right," said Katja as the two of them headed to the shipping dock to rendezvous with the other Assassins.

They arrived at the shipping dock in the middle of a bloodbath.

"Well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes!" yelled Galina as she stabbed two Engineers to death with her Hidden Blade while engaging in fisticuffs with them, then pulling out her rifle and firing a fragmentation grenade at the assembly line to blow it up and kill several guards.

"Did you get Sadiq?" said Kiyoshi.

"No," said Elijah, who frowned at Katja as he said, "Long story."

"I see," said Kiyoshi, who frowned as well.

"We need to push through to the trucks before they leave with the Masyaf Keys!" said Katja.

"Right. Katja, on me," said Elijah.

Katja and Elijah started moving across the sabotaged assembly lines, firing at the Engineers with their assault rifles and underbarrel shotguns in all directions with their backs to each other, switching places when needed to let each other reload and defend each other.

"Callum!" Elijah yelled as Katja went on a melee killstreak with her knife and Hidden Blade against the guards with Ezio and Altair's help as her assault rifle ran out of ammo. "Which trucks have the Masyaf Keys on them!"

"The what?" yelled Callum.

"The Masyaf Keys!"

"I thought we were looking for Pieces of Eden!"

"Well, if Sadiq's word can be trusted, you thought wrong!"

"Why on Earth would you trust Sadiq's word? He's Loki reincarnated!"

"Just fucking look for them!"

"WAIT!" yelled Katja as she sliced through a heavy gunner's hand that he was holding his light machine gun's trigger with and then threw him over her shoulder, then stabbed him in the throat. "I might be able to use Altair and Ezio to locate the Masyaf Keys!"

"If you can, then do it fast, Katja!" yelled Galina. "Some of the trucks are starting to leave!"

Katja looked around, scanning the trucks with her Eagle Vision, and trying to summon Altair and Ezio to access the memories of the Masyaf Keys from a distance.

"Wait, I see them!" yelled Katja. "They're in the dock doors over there!"

Katja used her crossbow to launch tracking devices on the rear of the three trucks. "Those three trucks have two keys each in them; they're heading to each of the three holy cities respectively! Everyone will have to chase after them!"

As the trucks began to leave, Elijah said, "The trackers are showing up on our smartphones. That was quick thinking, Katja!"

"Don't thank me yet!" Katja said.

As another truck left, Katja managed to run toward and grab the back of it before it sped away. "I'll go after one of them; you all go after the others!"

"Fucking hell!" yelled Shaun over comms. "The city's lit up like a bloody Christmas tree, and DedSec's riots they instigated are losing ground! What's going on down there!"

As Katja climbed to the top of the truck and held on for dear life, she said over comms, "Tell Rebecca and DedSec to initiate the mass hack!"

"On it," said Rebecca. "Darcy, it's time."

Katja climbed to the side of the truck and neared the door of the driver's seat. As Abstergo vans surrounded the truck, Katja yelled, "Oh shit!"

Seconds before she was shot to death by Abstergo agents exiting the vans, the lights in the entire city of Istanbul went out.

Katja used the opportunity to open the driver's door, slam her fist into the truck driver's face, throw him out of the truck, and enter the driver's seat, then buckled her seat belt and hit the accelerator, slamming through an Abstergo van and ducking under the wheel as agents fired at her through the truck's windshield.

As she drove in the direction of the trucks containing the Masyaf Keys while the Abstergo vans chased after her along with the local police, Ezio and Altair sat next to her.

"That man, Sadiq…" said Ezio, "he mentioned a 'Nexus site' of some sort…"

"What about it?" said Katja as suddenly her Old Altair and Old Ezio alters started to flicker before her while she continued to drive through the streets of downtown Istanbul.

"It has something to do with the Masyaf Keys…" said Ezio.

"The ones I created to seal the Masyaf Vault, house the Apple…" said Altair.

Then their figures merged into one glowing figure who looked vaguely like Elijah, albeit older.

"Who are you?" said Katja.

"My name's Desmond Miles," said Desmond.

"Desmond?" said Katja. "Elijah's father?"

"That's right," said Desmond. "You're experiencing the memories of Altair and Ezio, the ones Elijah relived through his time in the Animus using my DNA."

"I know," said Katja.

"You're getting close to experiencing a sync nexus," said Desmond.

"A sync nexus?" said Katja.

"A synchronization of memories," said Desmond. "Perhaps if you manage to remember the rest of Altair and Ezio's memories, you'll remember what happened to me and my parents, Elijah and his mother… and you and your parents. Separate the fact from fiction."

"Is that possible?" said Katja.

"One way to find out," said Desmond. "Keep driving, and recover the Masyaf Keys. Otherwise, as an old friend said… we're scheduled for deletion."