HOME | DD

Description
November 20, 2015; Montreal, Quebec

Ava began to stir from her nap and groggily lifted her head off of the car door's window. It was still pretty early in the day. Some stars were still shining in the dark sky. She looked at the car's clock, which read 6:00 AM. She groaned.

"Problem?" asked Ben from the driver's seat. Ava looked over at her friend.

"Not a morning person," she said. Ben lightly chuckled.

"Yeah," he said. "I know how you feel. You get used to it, though. You kinda have to in this line of work."

"Ugh," groaned Ava, rubbing the sand out of her eyes. "I need a cup of coffee."

"I'll make you some when we arrive. We're almost there."

Ava yawned. It had been almost a month since the Roanoke incident. Been had been driving her all around, introducing Ava to various Assassin hideouts across the country. He wanted to ease her in, get her used to her new environment before beginning any actual training. And now the day had finally arrived when he thought she was ready. "So, where are we heading anyway?" she asked.

"We're heading to the Assassins' hideout here in the city." Ava looked out her window and looked around at the buildings around her. Most still had their lights on in some windows. "Where are we?" she eventually said as her mind broke from its tired state.

"Montreal," said Ben.

"Montreal? We're in Canada?"

"Yep." By then, Ava had begun to realize the Canadian flags hanging on a few poles. She turned her attention away from the window and shrugged. She decided to think of it as a vacation, even though the circumstances of the trip weren't to pleasant.

"How long's it going to take to train me?" asked Ava.

"With luck," said Ben, "a few days at most."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "A few days? Ben, I'm pretty sure it's gonna take way longer than that to train me." Ben looked at his friend for a moment before returning his attention to the road.

"We have a much faster way to train you than the normal methods," he said. "And all you have to do is sit in a chair all day."

"Really? How?"

Ben started looking uncomfortable. He was nervous about his answer. "We're gonna... we're gonna hook you up to an Animus," he eventually stuttered out. Ava's jaw dropped. Ben looked at her apologetically. "Ava..." he said.

"You're gonna what?" said Ava with a shocked tone.

"Ava..."

"After what I went through last time? You're gonna stick me back into one of those things?"

"It's not going to be the same experience."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"We got our hands on one of Abstergo's console versions, the ones that people use to play video games on. This one won't cause you any harm." Ava remained silent. Ben still looked sorry. "Ava..." he said.

"How is that thing supposed to help me train?" asked Ava, trying to find some way out of this scenario. Ben looked at her. "We call it the Bleeding Effect," he said. "Essentially, the idea is that you gradually gain the skills of whatever ancestor you're reliving the memories of. Whatever they learn, you learn. And it only takes a few days to finish the process." Ava still looked hesitant.

"Ava," said Ben. "I know you're scared. I would be too if I went through what you did. But we don't have a lot of time. And this is the best option we have right now." Ava was quiet, debating with herself. Ben continued. "We've taken every precaution to ensure that this will be safe. I promise, we won't let anything happen to you."

More silence. Ben stopped the car as they came to a red stoplight. He turned to Ava. "Please Ava," he said. "If not for yourself, do it for me." Ava looked at her friend. She saw the pleading expression in his eyes. That was what made up her mind. She sighed. "Alright," she said, though still with a hint of hesitation in her voice. "I'll do it. I trust you, Ben." Ben looked highly relieved.

"Thank you, Ava," he said. "I promise we won't let you down." Ava nodded as the stoplight turned green and the car was set in motion again. She returned to looking out the window at the city of Montreal, which was trying just as hard as her to wake up.

------------

About fifteen minutes later, the two arrived at their destination. Ben drove the car through the gate of a tall chain link fence, and drove up in front of a large old warehouse that stood inside of the fenced-in area. He parked inside a small garage that was hidden from view. He and Ava got out of the car and exited the garage, closing the door behind them. Ava got a good look at the massive warehouse. The walls were falling apart in some areas, and patches of rust and erosion covered the building. It looked like no one had gone near it in years.

"This is the hideout?" asked Ava, expecting something a bit nicer-looking.

"Yep," said Ben. "This is the place."

"It looks abandoned."

"Good. It's supposed to. We wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"I suppose so."

The two continued to walk towards the warehouse entrance. Ben pulled a key out of his pocket and undid the locks on the door, including a hidden one in a small secret slot in the door. He opened the door and held it open for Ava. “Ladies first,” he said with a smile.

“Go on in then,” said Ava jokingly.

“Haha,” Ben said sarcastically. Ava smiled and walked into the warehouse. Ben followed, closed the door behind them, and locked it up again.

As the two friends walked through the hallways, Ava noticed that the place looked much nicer on the inside. The paint on the walls seemed relatively new, the floor was still shiny, and the lights still shone brightly. “Just because we want to be hidden, doesn't mean we can't be comfortable,” Ben explained.

Soon enough, they reached the end of the hallway. They walked through a set of double doors and found themselves in an enormous room. Ava was visibly surprised at the size of the place. The room was at least 4 stories up, slightly bigger than a large gymnasium. The room was littered with tall shelves and piles of large boxes and crates. The metal framework that supported the room jutted out everywhere around the walls and ceilings. A few rusty vehicles sat parked in the corner.

“Wow,” said Ava. “This place is huge!”

“Yep,” said Ben. “This is the storage room, though we don't use it for storage that often.”

“What do you use it for then?”

“We mainly use this as a training area. Freerunning, combat, stealth, you name it. This place is great for practice.”

“It definitely looks like it.”

The two took a moment to look around a bit before Ben motioned for Ava to follow again. “Come on,” he said. “We should head upstairs.” Ava nodded and followed Ben up a flight of stairs that led up a few stories. They reached the top and walked through another set of double doors. Ava noticed how this area of the building looked and felt more like an apartment than a warehouse. The main hallway they were in was short, but spacious. Ava could see the sun rising through the large window that sat high on the wall. A few wooden double doors laced the hallway. One set of doors was wide open. Ben and Ava walked into the room beyond those doors.

The large room definitely gave Ava an apartment-like feel. The room had a few couches and chairs, and even a TV. A few computers were crammed into one side of the room. Close to them was a desk with papers covering it and the walls around it. A woman sat at the desk. She span around in her chair when she heard Ben and Ava walk in. She gave a big smile.

“Ben!” she said as she shot out of her chair and went to hug her friend. “Ruby!” Ben said back as he returned the hug. “It’s great to see you again,” said Ruby as the two friends separated. She turned to Ava. “And I take it you're the Ava Arlie that this clown wouldn't shut up about?” she said.

“Hey,” said Ben. Ruby just smirked at him before returning her attention to Ava. “Pleasure to meet ya,” she said, shaking Ava's hand. “I'm Ruby Mills. I run the tech around this place and keep Ben out of trouble.”

“You're one to talk,” said Ben with a smirk of his own. Ruby stuck her tongue out at him.

“Good to meet you, too,” said Ava. She got a good look at Ruby. She had long, wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, slightly torn jeans and a pair of boots.

“So,” said Ruby. “You ready to learn to be an Assassin like us?”

Ava nodded. “Ready as I'll ever be,” she said.

Ruby smiled and firmly patted Ava's shoulder. “That's the spirit!” she said. She looked at both Ava and Ben. “I'll go get the Animus and hook it up in here,” she said. And with that, she left the room. Ava watched her as she went, starring a bit longer than intended.

“I like her,” said Ava when she was sure Ruby was out of hearing range.

“I know. I can see it on your face,” said Ben with a smirk.

“Oh, shut up,” said Ava jokingly. “I didn't mean it like that.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you didn't.” Ava felt herself blush a little. She kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to admit to Ben that he was kind of right.

Soon enough, Ruby returned. She was holding the Animus headset in one arm and some other equipment in the other. She went over to an area that was set up with a comfy-looking chair and a few small desks, and started setting up the console. Ben and Ava walked over and stood beside her.

“I thought you said Rebecca was with you guys,” said Ruby to Ben, trying to make small talk while she worked.

“We had to drop her off in New York,” said Ben. “She said she had some business to take care of in England.”

“I see.” She continued to plug a bunch of wires into different ports. Ava watched Ruby anxiously. She was still nervous about this whole thing. After her last experience in an Animus, she was pretty nervous about a second round. She trusted her friends to keep her safe, though, and she pushed her fears aside.

Ruby plugged one last wire into the system and the whole thing lit up. She stood up and smiled at her friends. “Alright. That's it,” she said. “She's up and running and ready to go when you are. Wanna do a real quick practice session or do you wanna wait a bit?”

Ava thought about it for a moment. “Well,” she said eventually. “I guess it's better to jump straight into the water than to struggle through the cold. Alright. Let's do it.”

“You sure, Ava?” asked Ben. “You seemed pretty nervous in the car.”

“Oh don't get me wrong, I'm still scared out of my mind. I just think it's better not to prolong the inevitable.”

Ben nodded. “Alrighty then,” he said. “Whatever you say. I'll go make you that coffee I promised while Ruby gets you set up.” He walked towards the door. “Maybe you two could get to know each other while I'm gone.” He winked at Ava, who smiled and rolled her eyes as Ben left the room. She turned to Ruby and her Animus. Ruby patted on the back of the chair. “Have a seat,” she said.

Ava nodded and sat down in the chair. Ruby grabbed the Animus headset and carefully put it on Ava's head. “That fit okay?” she asked.

“Yep,” said Ava.

“Good.” Ruby went over to a laptop that the Animus was hooked up to and started typing on it.

“So what now?” asked Ava.

“Now,” said Ruby, “I'm gonna run a scan of your DNA to find a suitable ancestor of yours to help you train. Should only take a second.” Suddenly, Ava heard the machine on her head beep and whir as it scanned her. Ruby clacked away on her keyboard. “Aha!” she said eventually. “This one looks promising. This one's a Shawnee-Canadian chick that fought in the War of 1812. Sound cool?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Ava.

“Alrighty then.” Ruby typed on her keyboard a bit more and then got up and walked over to Ava. She carefully lowered the visor on the headset, blocking out Ava's vision. “I'll go ahead and start running the program,” she said. She went back to typing. As she did, the inside of Ava's visor lit up. Ava watched as the digital void filled her vision. Hundreds of ones and zeroes dashed around her. Columns of digital DNA strands stretched across Ava's field of view. Ava noticed one piece of one strand blink as it separated from its helix.

“Now this first session is gonna be quick, but it's gonna feel a bit weird,” Ava heard Ruby say.

“What do you mean?” asked Ava.

“In order to safely use one of these things, we have to ease your mind into the process, something those Templars that kidnapped you didn't do. We have to start you with a memory that you can easily synchronize with.”

“Okay.”

“In this case, we're gonna put you into one of your ancestor’s childhood memories. Since kids usually have simpler thought processes, it'll be easier to synchronize. But it'll be a bit disorienting once you get out because of that same reason. Just remember to stay calm and take your time.”

“Gotchya.”

“Alright. You ready?”

Ava gulped a bit and took a deep breath. “I'm ready,” she said.

“Alright. I'm starting up the session. Good luck, Ava.”

Ava saw the piece of digital DNA blink faster. A series of numbers and letters flashed above it, spelling out:

Session Settings: June 21, 1806; York, Canada
Subject: Ava Arile
Ancestor: Aveza Deryn, age 11

The piece of DNA suddenly stopped blinking and let out a single, bright light that blocked out everything in Ava's view. She watched as the ones and zeroes disappeared from the view. She listened to the gentle beeping of the Animus and the delightful chirping of the birds. She saw the light of the sun shine through the glass of the house’s windows. She looked down at the doll that her mother had just given her. She looked up at her mother.

“It’s beautiful, mama! Thank you so much!” she said. Her mother smiled at her and chuckled. “You're welcome, Aveza dear,” she said. “Now, would you like me to teach you how to decorate it?”

“Yes, please!”

“Alright then. I'll be right back.” With that, her mother stood and went into the other room to get what she needed for the project. Aveza looked down at her doll and smiled. She loved spending time with her family. Days like these always felt so special. She wished they'd never have to end.

Description
November 20, 2015; Montreal, Quebec

Ava began to stir from her nap and groggily lifted her head off of the car door's window. It was still pretty early in the day. Some stars were still shining in the dark sky. She looked at the car's clock, which read 6:00 AM. She groaned.

"Problem?" asked Ben from the driver's seat. Ava looked over at her friend.

"Not a morning person," she said. Ben lightly chuckled.

"Yeah," he said. "I know how you feel. You get used to it, though. You kinda have to in this line of work."

"Ugh," groaned Ava, rubbing the sand out of her eyes. "I need a cup of coffee."

"I'll make you some when we arrive. We're almost there."

Ava yawned. It had been almost a month since the Roanoke incident. Been had been driving her all around, introducing Ava to various Assassin hideouts across the country. He wanted to ease her in, get her used to her new environment before beginning any actual training. And now the day had finally arrived when he thought she was ready. "So, where are we heading anyway?" she asked.

"We're heading to the Assassins' hideout here in the city." Ava looked out her window and looked around at the buildings around her. Most still had their lights on in some windows. "Where are we?" she eventually said as her mind broke from its tired state.

"Montreal," said Ben.

"Montreal? We're in Canada?"

"Yep." By then, Ava had begun to realize the Canadian flags hanging on a few poles. She turned her attention away from the window and shrugged. She decided to think of it as a vacation, even though the circumstances of the trip weren't to pleasant.

"How long's it going to take to train me?" asked Ava.

"With luck," said Ben, "a few days at most."

Ava raised an eyebrow. "A few days? Ben, I'm pretty sure it's gonna take way longer than that to train me." Ben looked at his friend for a moment before returning his attention to the road.

"We have a much faster way to train you than the normal methods," he said. "And all you have to do is sit in a chair all day."

"Really? How?"

Ben started looking uncomfortable. He was nervous about his answer. "We're gonna... we're gonna hook you up to an Animus," he eventually stuttered out. Ava's jaw dropped. Ben looked at her apologetically. "Ava..." he said.

"You're gonna what?" said Ava with a shocked tone.

"Ava..."

"After what I went through last time? You're gonna stick me back into one of those things?"

"It's not going to be the same experience."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"We got our hands on one of Abstergo's console versions, the ones that people use to play video games on. This one won't cause you any harm." Ava remained silent. Ben still looked sorry. "Ava..." he said.

"How is that thing supposed to help me train?" asked Ava, trying to find some way out of this scenario. Ben looked at her. "We call it the Bleeding Effect," he said. "Essentially, the idea is that you gradually gain the skills of whatever ancestor you're reliving the memories of. Whatever they learn, you learn. And it only takes a few days to finish the process." Ava still looked hesitant.

"Ava," said Ben. "I know you're scared. I would be too if I went through what you did. But we don't have a lot of time. And this is the best option we have right now." Ava was quiet, debating with herself. Ben continued. "We've taken every precaution to ensure that this will be safe. I promise, we won't let anything happen to you."

More silence. Ben stopped the car as they came to a red stoplight. He turned to Ava. "Please Ava," he said. "If not for yourself, do it for me." Ava looked at her friend. She saw the pleading expression in his eyes. That was what made up her mind. She sighed. "Alright," she said, though still with a hint of hesitation in her voice. "I'll do it. I trust you, Ben." Ben looked highly relieved.

"Thank you, Ava," he said. "I promise we won't let you down." Ava nodded as the stoplight turned green and the car was set in motion again. She returned to looking out the window at the city of Montreal, which was trying just as hard as her to wake up.

------------

About fifteen minutes later, the two arrived at their destination. Ben drove the car through the gate of a tall chain link fence, and drove up in front of a large old warehouse that stood inside of the fenced-in area. He parked inside a small garage that was hidden from view. He and Ava got out of the car and exited the garage, closing the door behind them. Ava got a good look at the massive warehouse. The walls were falling apart in some areas, and patches of rust and erosion covered the building. It looked like no one had gone near it in years.

"This is the hideout?" asked Ava, expecting something a bit nicer-looking.

"Yep," said Ben. "This is the place."

"It looks abandoned."

"Good. It's supposed to. We wouldn't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"I suppose so."

The two continued to walk towards the warehouse entrance. Ben pulled a key out of his pocket and undid the locks on the door, including a hidden one in a small secret slot in the door. He opened the door and held it open for Ava. “Ladies first,” he said with a smile.

“Go on in then,” said Ava jokingly.

“Haha,” Ben said sarcastically. Ava smiled and walked into the warehouse. Ben followed, closed the door behind them, and locked it up again.

As the two friends walked through the hallways, Ava noticed that the place looked much nicer on the inside. The paint on the walls seemed relatively new, the floor was still shiny, and the lights still shone brightly. “Just because we want to be hidden, doesn't mean we can't be comfortable,” Ben explained.

Soon enough, they reached the end of the hallway. They walked through a set of double doors and found themselves in an enormous room. Ava was visibly surprised at the size of the place. The room was at least 4 stories up, slightly bigger than a large gymnasium. The room was littered with tall shelves and piles of large boxes and crates. The metal framework that supported the room jutted out everywhere around the walls and ceilings. A few rusty vehicles sat parked in the corner.

“Wow,” said Ava. “This place is huge!”

“Yep,” said Ben. “This is the storage room, though we don't use it for storage that often.”

“What do you use it for then?”

“We mainly use this as a training area. Freerunning, combat, stealth, you name it. This place is great for practice.”

“It definitely looks like it.”

The two took a moment to look around a bit before Ben motioned for Ava to follow again. “Come on,” he said. “We should head upstairs.” Ava nodded and followed Ben up a flight of stairs that led up a few stories. They reached the top and walked through another set of double doors. Ava noticed how this area of the building looked and felt more like an apartment than a warehouse. The main hallway they were in was short, but spacious. Ava could see the sun rising through the large window that sat high on the wall. A few wooden double doors laced the hallway. One set of doors was wide open. Ben and Ava walked into the room beyond those doors.

The large room definitely gave Ava an apartment-like feel. The room had a few couches and chairs, and even a TV. A few computers were crammed into one side of the room. Close to them was a desk with papers covering it and the walls around it. A woman sat at the desk. She span around in her chair when she heard Ben and Ava walk in. She gave a big smile.

“Ben!” she said as she shot out of her chair and went to hug her friend. “Ruby!” Ben said back as he returned the hug. “It’s great to see you again,” said Ruby as the two friends separated. She turned to Ava. “And I take it you're the Ava Arlie that this clown wouldn't shut up about?” she said.

“Hey,” said Ben. Ruby just smirked at him before returning her attention to Ava. “Pleasure to meet ya,” she said, shaking Ava's hand. “I'm Ruby Mills. I run the tech around this place and keep Ben out of trouble.”

“You're one to talk,” said Ben with a smirk of his own. Ruby stuck her tongue out at him.

“Good to meet you, too,” said Ava. She got a good look at Ruby. She had long, wavy brown hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a black leather jacket, a white t-shirt, slightly torn jeans and a pair of boots.

“So,” said Ruby. “You ready to learn to be an Assassin like us?”

Ava nodded. “Ready as I'll ever be,” she said.

Ruby smiled and firmly patted Ava's shoulder. “That's the spirit!” she said. She looked at both Ava and Ben. “I'll go get the Animus and hook it up in here,” she said. And with that, she left the room. Ava watched her as she went, starring a bit longer than intended.

“I like her,” said Ava when she was sure Ruby was out of hearing range.

“I know. I can see it on your face,” said Ben with a smirk.

“Oh, shut up,” said Ava jokingly. “I didn't mean it like that.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you didn't.” Ava felt herself blush a little. She kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to admit to Ben that he was kind of right.

Soon enough, Ruby returned. She was holding the Animus headset in one arm and some other equipment in the other. She went over to an area that was set up with a comfy-looking chair and a few small desks, and started setting up the console. Ben and Ava walked over and stood beside her.

“I thought you said Rebecca was with you guys,” said Ruby to Ben, trying to make small talk while she worked.

“We had to drop her off in New York,” said Ben. “She said she had some business to take care of in England.”

“I see.” She continued to plug a bunch of wires into different ports. Ava watched Ruby anxiously. She was still nervous about this whole thing. After her last experience in an Animus, she was pretty nervous about a second round. She trusted her friends to keep her safe, though, and she pushed her fears aside.

Ruby plugged one last wire into the system and the whole thing lit up. She stood up and smiled at her friends. “Alright. That's it,” she said. “She's up and running and ready to go when you are. Wanna do a real quick practice session or do you wanna wait a bit?”

Ava thought about it for a moment. “Well,” she said eventually. “I guess it's better to jump straight into the water than to struggle through the cold. Alright. Let's do it.”

“You sure, Ava?” asked Ben. “You seemed pretty nervous in the car.”

“Oh don't get me wrong, I'm still scared out of my mind. I just think it's better not to prolong the inevitable.”

Ben nodded. “Alrighty then,” he said. “Whatever you say. I'll go make you that coffee I promised while Ruby gets you set up.” He walked towards the door. “Maybe you two could get to know each other while I'm gone.” He winked at Ava, who smiled and rolled her eyes as Ben left the room. She turned to Ruby and her Animus. Ruby patted on the back of the chair. “Have a seat,” she said.

Ava nodded and sat down in the chair. Ruby grabbed the Animus headset and carefully put it on Ava's head. “That fit okay?” she asked.

“Yep,” said Ava.

“Good.” Ruby went over to a laptop that the Animus was hooked up to and started typing on it.

“So what now?” asked Ava.

“Now,” said Ruby, “I'm gonna run a scan of your DNA to find a suitable ancestor of yours to help you train. Should only take a second.” Suddenly, Ava heard the machine on her head beep and whir as it scanned her. Ruby clacked away on her keyboard. “Aha!” she said eventually. “This one looks promising. This one's a Shawnee-Canadian chick that fought in the War of 1812. Sound cool?”

“Sounds good to me,” said Ava.

“Alrighty then.” Ruby typed on her keyboard a bit more and then got up and walked over to Ava. She carefully lowered the visor on the headset, blocking out Ava's vision. “I'll go ahead and start running the program,” she said. She went back to typing. As she did, the inside of Ava's visor lit up. Ava watched as the digital void filled her vision. Hundreds of ones and zeroes dashed around her. Columns of digital DNA strands stretched across Ava's field of view. Ava noticed one piece of one strand blink as it separated from its helix.

“Now this first session is gonna be quick, but it's gonna feel a bit weird,” Ava heard Ruby say.

“What do you mean?” asked Ava.

“In order to safely use one of these things, we have to ease your mind into the process, something those Templars that kidnapped you didn't do. We have to start you with a memory that you can easily synchronize with.”

“Okay.”

“In this case, we're gonna put you into one of your ancestor’s childhood memories. Since kids usually have simpler thought processes, it'll be easier to synchronize. But it'll be a bit disorienting once you get out because of that same reason. Just remember to stay calm and take your time.”

“Gotchya.”

“Alright. You ready?”

Ava gulped a bit and took a deep breath. “I'm ready,” she said.

“Alright. I'm starting up the session. Good luck, Ava.”

Ava saw the piece of digital DNA blink faster. A series of numbers and letters flashed above it, spelling out:

Session Settings: June 21, 1806; York, Canada
Subject: Ava Arile
Ancestor: Aveza Deryn, age 11

The piece of DNA suddenly stopped blinking and let out a single, bright light that blocked out everything in Ava's view. She watched as the ones and zeroes disappeared from the view. She listened to the gentle beeping of the Animus and the delightful chirping of the birds. She saw the light of the sun shine through the glass of the house’s windows. She looked down at the doll that her mother had just given her. She looked up at her mother.

“It’s beautiful, mama! Thank you so much!” she said. Her mother smiled at her and chuckled. “You're welcome, Aveza dear,” she said. “Now, would you like me to teach you how to decorate it?”

“Yes, please!”

“Alright then. I'll be right back.” With that, her mother stood and went into the other room to get what she needed for the project. Aveza looked down at her doll and smiled. She loved spending time with her family. Days like these always felt so special. She wished they'd never have to end.