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Deadward-Kenway — Sanitarium
Published: 2019-06-06 21:47:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 350; Favourites: 1; Downloads: 0
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Description Sanitarium

I stepped into his… no, MY office, jittery as all get out. The room had been emptied of quite a bit, making the walk to my desk a little eerie. Everything had already been moved out, which didn’t surprise me. Berg had given me the keys and split, barely a word said. I understood the meaning, though. Apparently, with everything I’d done in the last two 4 years or so, he thought I was worth the effort, handing me the branch. I’d questioned him of course. I’d done some risky shit, and really didn’t feel ready.

He looked at me, gave me a half, knowing smile. “Well, if you screw up, you’ll be removed. I suggest you not.”

That was a few weeks ago, shortly after the adventure in Bellwood. I sat down in my chair, spinning to look back out the window over the city. He’d basically entrusted the whole thing to me, Which was incredible. I wasn’t even halfway to thirty and I now had Indianapolis to protect. I turned to the computer, eyeing the stack of paperwork laying next to it, and sighed. I also had all the management that came with it. Oh well. Guess I better get started with it. I called down to Nancy, asking her to send something up. She kinda huffed a little.


“What, now that you’re the boss you can’t go get your own food? There’s a Jimmy John’s right down the street.” There was a bit of a laugh to her voice.

“Exactly. So send out an order. I don’t know if Berg left all this for me specifically, or if he started to slack in the last few weeks. I’ve got stacks that need to be worked through. Thank you, Nancy.”

I hung it up, leaning back in my chair to stretch, then got to work. Business as usual? No way to know. Lots of requisition forms, paychecks to complete, business deals, research requests. After about an hour of just staring at words on paper, screen, in my own head, I started blanking and had to get up and move. The place had been emptied, but apparently some things Berg didn’t want. A couple of paintings. Old ones, too. I walked down the side wall, towards where the storage rooms were. Bunch of cabinets with old files and documents. I felt a stabbing in my head, but not like before. The voices where a flicker, the pain a headache, but not enough to drop me. I clenched my eyes, leaning against the wall and groaning to myself, willing the pain to stop.

I opened my eyes to bloodred sight. Everything covered in a thin layer of… holy crap. There was blood everywhere. I thought it was just my vision… I fell against the wall, trying to catch my breath. My heart was pounding. The floor was covered in footprints, different shades. I could hear shouting as I looked around, different voices associated with each. I tried to focus in on them, but my head just started screaming at me. Okay. okay… one at a time.

I limped back to the office, rubbing my eyes. The vision wouldn’t go away. Everything… even the sky outside… it looked like I was inside a Virtual Boy. The footprints covered the ground, but a couple shades stood out. It was as if… specific paths were outlined. I looked over to the desk, seeing one of the shades there. And suddenly… a voice…

“I’m not going to try, Carter. I’m going to. I have to. For the good of the city, for the good of the Templars, for the good of the world, the Assassins have to be stopped. You have to be stopped.”

I didn’t recognize the woman at the desk. But her words… something clicked. I looked to the other end of the hall, a second set outlined in the same shade. And it all made sense suddenly.

“So. This is it then, huh? You couldn’t control me, couldn’t fight me, couldn’t experiment on me, and so you trap me and try to kill me. You don’t have to-”

I don’t know if I imagined it, but I felt a whoosh of air, the world around me twisting and morphing. It hurt for a second, but then I was there. I recognized this scene. Cathy had told me about it back when I was with the assassins. At the very beginning. This was when he fought his mom.

They stood apart, glaring daggers at each other from across the office.

“-do anything.” Carter completed his line. His mother answered back, continuing from where she had left off. The sudden reversal in dialogue made me want to puke but the scene fixed itself.

They both reached for their weapons, perfectly ready to cut the other one down. I felt the sudden urge to call out to them, when reality reassert itself like a bomb, me falling back onto my ass as the red tint disappeared. I sat there for a second, mind reeling. Did that really just happen? Was that time travel or… no. No wait a second. This happened before.

I stood up, shaking my head, focusing on the pain I had felt. The stabbing sensation in the back of my head. My lunch lurched to my throat, a sudden punch to the gut as I opened my eyes. The red tint had returned. I blinked a few times, trying to regain my footing. Was this the Eagle Vision the guys had been talking about? They’d described it differently… and I don’t remember so much… pain. I stepped back, looking into the other rooms. They had mentioned it like the video games. Significant objects sticking out… and there it was

A single filing cabinet, one of the few that still had papers inside it. It was a bright crimson, almost screaming at me it’s importance. I made my way over, pulling it open. Files upon files.I was in no mood to read them all. Apparently my eyes agreed, one word in particular standing out.

“Possibilities? What did you leave for me, Berg…” I pulled the file out, walking back to my desk. The vision stayed around for a few minutes, before finally blinking away. It was another punch to the gut when it did, but I had been ready for it this time. The file was filled with different pages. Different ideas from… I cringed a little. Morgenster, Natasha, Trina, and a slew of other names that didn’t click at first. “Aaah… been doing some research yourself, big guy?”

They labeled different objects these people had been looking for. Pieces of Eden and Isu tech that… while improbable where no longer out of the scope of possibility. There was even one talking about the possibility of turning a man into a pillbug or armadillo. Insane but unfortunately not impossible. I frowned a little. These were legacies left by some… some bad people. And Berg was listening to them. While not their ideals, maybe, but their beliefs. There were uses for them, some good, some horribly corrupt, but they were there. Collected and saved.

I read through a number of them, before laying them aside. Later. Right now I need to think of what I’m going to do next. I thought back to the vision I’d had and had an idea. I grabbed my personal phone, contacting the hideout. I’d run the vision by Cathy and make sure I got it right. If so, this could be a huge boon in the future. I let the phone ring, tapping my foot impatiently, until I heard the click on the other side. “Hey, Cathy? This you?”

“Try again.” Oh. Chelsea. This should be fun.
“Oh. Hey, Chels. I was hoping to find Cathy. Something just happened up here in My office that I wanted to run by her.”

“She’s out right now.  Jess and I are the only ones at the hideout.  What’s on your mind?”

“Jess is there? Huh… I need to run something by her, too. Not important right now, though. Do you remember what Cathy said happened when she came after Natasha? Specifically when she got to Abstergo.”

“Yeah, remember that day clear as ice.  We chased Natasha down and she fled into your building, so Cathy went up after her.  Turns out the bitch flew the coop though and left Trina there to do her dirty work.  Cathy and her fought, Cathy won, and sent Trina limping away with her tail between her legs.  Then we hunted down Natasha and that was the end of that.  Why you ask?  Trina actually coming out of her hole to cause trouble or something?”

“No, but I’d kinda like to meet her one day. Give her a kick in the head as thanks for what she did. But in that same vein…” I took a second to describe the woman I’d seen in the vision. Everything had been red, but when I thought about who I had seen, I could see each color as if she was right there in the room. “Does that sound familiar?”

"Yep, that's the evil half of Cathy's genome alright."

I stayed quiet for a moment. That really did happen, then. I wasn’t just crazy. But then again… “Chels? Is Eagle Vision supposed to be painful? And… covered in blood?”

There was silence on the other line for a moment.  "Uhh… no?" she said uncomfortably.  "Are you like, okay?"

No, huh? “Oh boy. This is gonna be another one of those conversations, I can already feel it… So, back when I took down Monibagh, I got hit with a massive aneurysm. Vision went red, everything hurt, voices on top of voices. Next thing I know I’m at a set of stairs leading down into the factory. It happened again, except this time it was… tamer. Everything was red, the pain wasn’t excruciating… And I saw footprints everywhere. I could hear voices, but it was like they were through a thick wall or something. When I looked to my desk though… Everything started to swirl, and I saw Cathy and Trina staring each other down before they went at each other's throats. It was like they were in the room with me. I could even hear their voices clear as day.”

"Huh… yeah that, that's not normal.  That sounds more like a Bleeding Effect attack than Eagle Vision, but unless you've been hanging out with Rubes in the machine I don't know how that would make sense.  I know people who have never used Eagle Vision before tend to get massive migraines since they have to focus so hard to get it going.  Maybe it's just some weird form of those side effects?"

I shuddered at the thought. Berg had tried to get me into the Animus a number of times, but I’d have a panic attack just getting close to it. The time I’d spent with Cain still weighed heavy on my mind.

“Definitely haven’t been in an animus lately… I guess it could just be side effects, but I can turn it on now with a little difficulty. Can’t get rid of it until some time has passed, though. Speaking of which, I found a file.”

"Oh?"

“Yeah, something Berg had been holding on to. A bunch of thoughts and ideas from… Others. I think once Lucy came to light, Berg started compiling info from some of the crazier sounding agents. He’s got stuff on the last three and further.”

“Guess finding out that something one of your nuttiest agents has been rambling about for thirty years is real will make anyone wonder what to take seriously.”

“Yeah. Might have to look into some of it as… well…” I took another look at the file, picking it up and flipping through. “Would be interesting to think about huh? Someone absolutely insane talking about… oh… I don’t know… some secret benefactor?”

“That would definitely be interesting.”  She smirked a little.  I couldn’t see it, but she was definitely smirking, I could hear it.

“Only a few weeks into owning this joint and already I’m getting some good ideas.” I laughed to myself, typing onto the computer. “Hey, can you get Jess? I want to run some of these by her, real quick. She used to be one of us, so maybe she’ll remember something.”

“Yeah, sure thing.  Just be careful about how you phrase ‘one of us’ around her.  The last person who sat in that chair wasn’t exactly someone she was as happy to talk to, afterall.  Yo Wolfgang!  Phone call!”

That… That had been directed. That wasn’t a warning for Jess, that was a warning for me. That old tinge of spite came up again. Even after what I’d done she still viewed me as an enemy. Or maybe it was just the position I was in. Head of her enemies in the area. I sighed, waiting for Jess to grab the phone.

“Hyello?” I heard her voice shuffle through the speaker.

There she is. “Hey, Jess. You know that thing we’ve been looking into? I just found something you could help me with.”

Jess hadn’t been working with Abstergo so much as been an informant. She’d noticed the strange things happening as well and had been looking into whatever she could find. We were in no way partners, but it helped to shoot ideas back and forth and hopefully make some headway. We hadn’t made much.

“I got a file here with a bunch of different agents. Each with different thoughts on Pieces of Eden and whatever. The usual swords and shit, but there’s furnaces, old factories, teleporters. All kinds of weird gadgets and tech. I’m sorry to ask but… Did any of this get brought up? That you can remember, I mean.”

“Uhhh… I mean I’ve heard stuff like that get tossed around every now and then, but most of it came out of Trina’s mouth so it didn’t reach very many ears.  And her main obsession was the Armor of Gabriel anyway.  She’d been trying to push for a search for that since ‘85.”

Hmm… so that’s a bust… “You remember Monibaghs, right? Any chance you head any of this around that time? Like employees or agents requesting this kind of stuff? I’ve got a file with names here, but I don’t want to ask about every single one.”

“Well, I have noticed an odd pattern after you sent Monibaghs packing to jail.  Or… I guess the lack of a pattern.  All his former employees don’t seem to have been affected.  His business collapsed, but they’ve still got a steady income it seems.  I can’t tell where though.  There’s no sort of records for anyone from the company in any other businesses.  It’s like they’ve all found some sort of off-the-grid work at some unregistered locale.”

“Huh… Noone could find jobs that fast… especially with how big his reach was. Someone was prepared… All right, Jess! Thanks a lot. I actually know what I could do with this.”

“No problem, my dude.  Hope it gets you a little farther in the hunt.”

I hoped so too. This hunt had gone on for awhile. Berg may have put me in charge simply to save face. There had been no progress, and all of our stuff was put into this. “With luck it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” I hang up and looked through the files again. Lots of pieces they believed existed. Conspiracy nuts in our own organization. I wrote a couple names down and went to the archives. There were a number of facilities around the country. Around the world, actually. Labs and training grounds. Veritable area 51’s, if not as widely known.

I was scrolling for hours, trying to find anything concrete. And getting nowhere. Discouraged, I pulled back, head in my hands. It was such a good idea, too. There were just way too many of these places around. I was about to get up for a break, when my computer dinged. It was that Guiding Hand account. We’d talked a little more often after the event in Bellwood. Me taking more consideration of him after his description of the Hands was so right on. I sat down at the computer to see the message, thinking about everything that had happened.

Crackpot conspiracy. Pieces of Eden that don’t fit. Templar agents responsible for world altering events.

My heart started pounding. I logged on as fast as I could, checking his message.

“The answers are sometimes close to home”

Then the account disappeared. It wasn’t just deleted. The page itself displayed an error. As if the whole thing had just gone mental. I tried reloading and reloading, checking other links, even calling Jewel. Nothing. It was as if the account never existed in the first place, all of it’s stories disappearing from the sites around the internet.

He knew something. He KNEW something. I went back to the archives, narrowing down the search. And there it was. A facility that should have been shut down ages ago. A Templar lab just on the edge of the city in an old office building. Receiving funding the day Montgomery went down. I hit the intercom for Jewel.

“I’ve got them. Hold the fort while I’m gone.”
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Comments: 6

AgentKelley [2019-06-08 20:32:28 +0000 UTC]

A nice change of pace after our last wacky adventure. *Shutters*

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Deadward-Kenway In reply to AgentKelley [2019-06-10 04:27:22 +0000 UTC]

What do you mean? Montgomery was a fine specimen.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AgentKelley In reply to Deadward-Kenway [2019-06-10 06:16:49 +0000 UTC]

No, I was refer to the cross over that took me by surprise. Tell me, is it true? Is the Kingdom Hearts crossover real?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Deadward-Kenway In reply to AgentKelley [2019-06-10 18:44:44 +0000 UTC]

Are you just learning about Kingdom Hearts? Yeah, Disney and Final Fantasy. It's an awesome series.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AgentKelley In reply to Deadward-Kenway [2019-06-11 02:30:25 +0000 UTC]

Not that JS. The Kingdom Hearts crossover fanfic that you and Car are making. Is it real?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Deadward-Kenway In reply to AgentKelley [2019-06-11 13:14:55 +0000 UTC]

nah

👍: 0 ⏩: 0