Glitch in the Animus

Assassin's Creed is owned by Ubisoft while Shaolin Wuzang is owned by Les Cartooneurs Associēs and Fantasia Animation.

December 13th, 2014

Abstergo-Ubisoft Entertainment, Singapore

"Sir, we have a problem. Big time." A woman came rushing in to an office room. At the desk there sat a man dressed in a casual shirt and brown khakis, reading a copy of a book that read, "Assassin's Creed: Forsaken."

"Define 'big time', Miss Zhou." asked the man.

"The Helix is suffering a major glitch. Systems have gone haywire. All connections to it have been severed." The man stood up in alarm. He hurried over to put on his computer. For the first few seconds, the PC was booting up just fine. However, as soon as it reached the loading screen, the greenish-blue screen soon turned a bright, hazardous orange with the smooth wavy patterns suddenly jittering up in a violent matter like something out of the Richter scale during a massive earthquake. A triangle-shaped logo appeared and below it were the words "ERROR". He tried tapping the buttons rapidly, but to no avail. It simply did not budge. The man slammed his hands on the table in frustration.

"Damn it! You're right. How did this happen?" he demanded.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the technical genius here." answered Miss Zhou.

"I thought the team in the Montreal studio fixed the Helix months ago. Darn, how am I supposed to tell Master Berg that we have suffered from another error here in Singapore as well?"

"We can't afford to send any of our 'employees' into their Animus stations. It's too risky."

"It'd be worth the risk anyway, Miss Zhou. Get them back to their posts."

"We can't, Mr. Ramsay. They've already evacuated the area." The boss just couldn't hold in his frustration. He let out a silent groan.

"Never mind. We'll need to come up with something to tell Master Berg. Or we will outlive our usefulness to him. Are you sure there is no other way to access the Helix?"

"Unfortunately, there isn't even a single little crack we can get through with." Miss Zhou took out her laptop, which was still able to work despite the network crisis. She ran a program that monitored all the building's connections and networks. "I've already consulted with the IT managers and… Wait… hang on…"

"What? What is it?" The woman suddenly had a change in expression. She kept on pressing on the keyboard and moving the mouse, clicking and clicking. And then…

"I don't believe it. We got something!" A moment of relief hit her.

"What is that something?"

"All connections to the Helix have been cut… except one. There is still a link to a certain genetic memory bank."

"Who is it?"

"Checking on it… and… there. Jia Mei Feng. From the Henan Province, Ming China, 1618 AD."

"Isn't that where the Shaolin Monastery is in?"

"Affirmative."

"Hmmmm… Well we can't waste any more time. It'll have to do. Go ahead and send the person who was supposed to man this station."

"But this is the only one active. Shouldn't we have the other stations online to widen our search for the Piece of Eden?" Mr. Ramsay shook his head.

"Like I said, no wasting time. Let us cross our fingers and see if this Mei Feng can help us find the Piece we are looking for. Get the man or woman in charge of her right now."

"Alright." Miss Zhou took out her handphone out of her pocket and dialled in a few numbers. She then held it up by her ear, waiting for her recipient to respond. Finally, the call was answered. "Hello. Mr. Chung Ren."

"Yes, this is Mr. Chung Ren." greeted the respondent from the other end of the call. "May I help you?"

"Good evening, Mr. Chung. This is Camille Zhou, Chief Creative Officer of Abstergo-Ubisoft Entertainment Singapore."

"Ah yes, boss." called Mr. Chung in a really informal matter.

"Don't speak to me like that." stressed Miss Zhou.

"Sorry, boss."

"Darn it." She took a few seconds to rub her temples before getting back to her call. "Alright listen here. I need you to come back to the studio and resume your work on Project Mei Feng immediately."

"What? But I just got out of the building." The easy-go-lucky worker couldn't believe his ears. The whole building had been ordered to evacuate and now he had to come back?

"I gave you an order, not a suggestion, Mr. Chung. You are to report yourself to your Animus station and continue work as usual."

"What the… Oh alright. Fine. I shall be there. Goodbye boss!" The call ended.

"That man is such a ruffian."

"But our only hope until we get Helix up and running for the rest of the stations back online. Now, leave me be. I must get back to Haytham Kenway's journey to Istanbul."

Moments later, Mr. Chung and Miss Zhou were at a curved table with books lining up on one end while there were shelves containing display models of robed warriors and men and women dressed in Chinese-themed armour. In the middle was a wide-screen monitor and a flashy keyboard. The monitor had a circular orb at the bottom that looked like some sort of camera. There were also the engravings below it spelled out as "ANIMUS 3.0" The man slid right at his table on his chair, ready to get to work. The computer activated. The same loading screen from Mr. Ramsay's computer appeared in its calm state. Then, much to Miss Zhou's relief, the loading bar was able to be filled and soon on came the network menu with a simple "Welcome" message before a whole set of data screens and pictures of a Shaolin monastery appeared.

"Alright." said Mr. Chung. "Now I get going with the Animus and then find what the company is looking for. Pure quality for the next instalment."

"Yes yes." Agreed Miss Zhou. "Go ahead and deliver results. Remember, we must know what was this Assassin searching for and why. It will make… good story-telling for our customers."

"Ooohhh. I think it'll better than that little mini-game where you play as Shao Jun. That Unity product was a mess, I tell you that."

"Just get to work, Mr. Chung. The fate of our studio depends on your findings."

"Waaahhh. So big a burden ah? Okay. I'll do it!" shouted the man with a cheer.

"Sssshhh! Not so loud! The Main Executive from Abstergo Industries, our parenting company, is here. He wants no immature attitudes. Just make sure you don't disappoint him."

"Okay, you got it, boss."

"Why do I even bother?" groaned Miss Zhou. Soon, she left Mr. Chung to man the Animus. The man clicked on the big, blue 'INITIATE' button in the screen. Next, the orb down below soon opened up to reveal a built-in lens. A bright light soon shone right in front of Mr. Chung, followed by a ray of lasers, scanning him. When the scan was complete, another bright flash of light blinded Mr. Chung. The next you know it, he started to feel dizzy and nauseated. His vision was blurring and his skin began to feel numb. After a few seconds of that traumatizing experience, the enthusiastic office worker finally, with no energy left, passed out, entering a small comatose. All seemed quiet on the outside as he sat unconsciously on his chair. But inside his mind, it was a whole different story. From pure darkness, he soon started seeing himself being sucked into a wormhole, pulling him all the way into a dimension unknown. What would he find there? Where would he end up in? Or when? All the answers will soon be revealed to him… in time.

To all who doesn't know what Shaolin Wuzang is about, then let me be brief. It was a cartoon produced in France, based on 1600's China, where three teenage warriors of Shaolin fight against a ruthless demon who is searching for infinite power through two books of wisdom. There were twenty-six episodes but the story didn't have a proper ending. I wish they could make the series again, but for now, I shall continue where they left off from.

It shouldn't be hard to know Assassin's Creed. It's everywhere, so go look it up.

Anyways, do leave a review and tell me what I've missed. Thanks for reading!