here is part 16 of desmond's story. it's been a long while guys, but it's not abandoned!

here we have desmond settling after what happened, as well as some... information. this world has expanded since i first started writing, because my mind likes making connections and happenings. the hephaestus email network is one such thing, especially after i read the wiki on what exactly it was.

idk if we'll ever see these server assassins, i just like the idea of ninja internet librarians lmao. in my humble opinion, librarians are badass and can totally run the world.

Dinner was necessary, after.

For one, Desmond needed to be distracted. He chose a meal that was more complicated than it needed to be for that purpose. Second, food made it easier to have serious conversations and he had one coming up soon. People underestimated just how important proper food and rest was for making decisions. Thirdly, Desmond just needed something to do to help settle down.

"We need to figure out what exactly we're doing," Evie said, watching him work. The knife work was soothing, especially with these knives. In hiding and with cheaper supplies they may be, but they were Assassins. The knives were lovely.

"For now, we're negotiating how long we need to be in the Animus. Again." Desmond said.

"And you're certain about heading back in?" Aveline asked.

It wasn't a rhetorical question. They made the initial decision earlier, yes, but it was still a big one. Up until they actually spoke with Lucy, Rebecca, and Hastings, it was still up in the air. They would throw the idea back and forth until they were tired of it. A properly debated idea had a more solid base than an impulsive one. Not that impulsive ideas didn't have their place, mind. This just didn't happen to be one of them.

"No," Desmond said wryly. "I certainly don't want to. But there are reasons both to and not to, and right now the reasons not to won't really hold up in this situation."

"Especially if we want to know what the Templars are seeking from my memories," Ezio said grimly. "They're after the Pieces of Eden, yes, but we don't know any more than that. What, exactly, will I be seeing in the future that they would send you here for it?"

"The Assassins are likely seeing it as circumventing what the Templars want," Altair said, shoulder pressed against Aveline, resting his head on Ratonhnhaké:ton, who stood behind him. "The Templars want the Pieces of Eden. And the ones Ezio will come in contact with must be rather important if they are willing to set up this farce in the first place."

The farce being that the Templars let Desmond and Lucy escape. Oh, there definitely was truth in there. The threat from Vidic, and from Rikkin, yes. Even what exactly they were planning. But everything else? Desmond knew that they were being monitored, and Lucy was sending them mission reports about what they did.

"And providing incentive to move quickly with Vidic so close by," Elise said, grimacing. She despised Vidic, even compared to them. Probably because she spent the most time interacting with him, to hide Desmond's own truths. "We're hiding, but we will be found. And since Vidic is the one in charge of the Animus, and the Templar we've interacted with the most, it's going to be him we're seeing."

"Do you think we could get away with killing him?" Desmond asked.

"That'd be nice," Elise said wistfully. Yeah, she really didn't like him. "But it depends on what we want to happen after. The Templars have the most power here, and this is only a four man cell. If we kill him, we'd have to decide if killing a powerful Templar would be worth the hassle of the Templar Order coming after us."

Desmond grimaced. That was true. But it would make him feel better. "Ugh, okay."

"You'll likely be the one to kill him in the end anyways," Evie said, shrugging.

"Really?" Desmond raised an eyebrow.

Evie grinned and Desmond winced at the gleeful humor he felt there. "Of course. You're life is like a movie, Desmond. The final confrontation with Vidic is right up there with the rest of the tropes you embody."

"Why am I friends with you again?" Desmond groaned.

"Because you quite literally didn't have a choice?" Jun offered from her spot on the counter.

"Sometimes I really hate you guys," Desmond muttered.

At least the banter was comforting. It made it easier to focus on the reality of here and now, instead of what happened that morning. It could just be a regular evening, Desmond making dinner and speaking with his people. Except for literally everything else going on at the moment, of course.

Desmond sighed. He loved his other selves, and he loved spending time with them. But they only ever gathered all together like this when there was a situation. Usually they only visited in smaller groups.

"It's nice," Evie agreed, having heard his thought process. She was the one most aware of their individual minds. "But we do associate being together like this with some sort of trauma, don't we?"

"Because it's situations like these when we need all of us together," Ratonhnhaké:ton pointed out. "I can assure you, I'll be needing you soon enough, with the war going on." Not to mention the times prior that they did all spend at his side.

"And me," Elise added glumly. Yeah, she had the Templar coup going on, didn't she? As well as the French Revolution that was coming up. It was obvious at this point, especially since Desmond and Evie could tell her it was coming and Elise remembered.

"Should I be glad we got the worst of my issues out of the way, then?" Altair asked dryly.

Aveline snorted. "With the whole Apple thing, you're an ongoing issue for the foreseeable future," she said just as dryly.

"Well, you're in good company," Desmond said, motioning to the rest of the hideout.

"Why are our mid-twenties just so collectively awful?" Aveline said. "At least Ezio, Evie, and Jun had their big revelations when they were teenagers. And not even all at once."

"I dunno, Evie and Jun were dealing with their issues pretty much at the same time," Desmond said. "In hindsight it felt more separate?" he offered.

"It was also less people," Ratonhnhaké:ton said. "Now we're dealing with myself, Desmond, Altair, Elise. And Aveline from earlier this year."

"Being an adult is hard, apparently," Jun said deadpan.

"Look at me, being a responsible adult," Desmond snorted, nodding to his cooking. "I'm cooking, I'm sleeping, I've apparently got an eight-to-five job right now."

"You're doing so well for yourself, sweetheart," Evie drawled, sniffing and wiping a tear from her eye. "All grown up and making responsible decisions."

That set off a round of laughter. Desmond bit his lip to limit himself to a bright smile. No need to bring attention to himself. At least the kitchenette was a bit more private than being in the central area. Though he could feel the attention from the others as dinner started to smell better and better.

"Desmond?" Rebecca asked, leaning in the doorway. She watched the stovetop intently, an almost predatory gaze as she saw the food. "Is dinner almost done?"

Desmond looked it over. He was only reducing the moisture, so pretty much. "Almost. Go grab some plates and forks, please?"

In an impressive display of speed and agility, Rebecca sped through the kitchen and around Demond to where they kept the dinnerware. Ezio stepped out of the way before she could run through him. It didn't feel much like anything, really, but it was still pretty weird, so they tended to avoid it when possible.

"I'm guessing you're hungry," Desmond said, watching Rebecca. He turned the small stove off, and threw away everything he set aside previously. Proper clean up would come after. But, just because Desmond wouldn't be cleaning didn't mean he had to leave a mess.

Rebecca looked at him seriously. "Desmond, you have no idea what we have been eating."

"Take out is not that bad," Desmond said, and moved everything for easy access. He was not serving dinner, thank you. Everyone could come to grab dinner on their own.

"Like I said," Rebecca said, "You have no idea. I think I might be mildly traumatized. If I knew you would be cooking for us, I'd have led the extraction team myself."

"I'm intrigued, but I'm not certain I really want to know," Ezio observed.

"I think I'd either be disappointed or traumatized myself if I learned the truth," Aveline mused.

"Go tell the others dinner's ready," Desmond said.

"On it, Boss!" Rebecca saluted, and then went to the doorway to yell to the others. "Hey, dinner's ready!"

Desmond grabbed a plate and served himself. He turned around and saw Lucy and Hastings already waiting in line. "Wow, you are really hungry."

"Yes." Lucy said seriously. She gave him a once over to check his well being, but then turned her attention to the food. Hastings nodded once at him, and then ignored him entirely. This time, Desmond was pretty sure it wasn't just because of him.

"I'll leave it to you," Desmond said amusedly, and went to go find a seat in the main room. No need to stay between Assassins and their food. He looked to his other selves. "I suppose you guys should go grab something to eat as well."

Altair tilted his head, listening to his surroundings in Masyaf. "Yes. I get the feeling that either Malik or Kadar will be making me eat soon enough."

Desmond shrugged. "I'll still be here. If the conversation gets weird or serious I'll call everyone back, yeah?"

"Okay, dinner break then," Evie stretched her arms above her head.

"See you soon," Desmond said, and watched his other selves all blink back to their own bodies. Elise would take care of Ezio, and they could go to who needed the most company. Or they might bring themselves back to Desmond.

Either way, they kept a mental eye on each other. It was like eating dinner with them just behind him. He couldn't see them, but they were definitely there. Desmond wanted to cling, and cling tight, especially to Ezio.

Desmond sighed and ate his food.

"So." Desmond said, sitting on the edge of the Animus and watching the others. Dinner was over with, and they had cleaned up. Leftovers were put in the fridge for midnight snacks or for breakfast, whichever happened first.

Lucy kept an eye on him, but Rebecca and Hastings almost avoided looking at him. At least Rebecca had the excuse of focusing on her programming at the moment. Hastings wasn't even working at his computer properly.

Desmond raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to tiptoe around me."

"Have one breakdown and they treat you as if you're made of spun glass," Evie said, and rolled her eyes. She munched on some jerky. "How do they treat their own when it's not Animus induced?"

"It's most likely guilt," Jun pointed out. "They are the ones that put you in the Animus."

Desmond sighed heavily. "Seriously guys, we can't have a proper conversation if you can't even look at me."

"Right," Lucy said, turning in her chair to look at him. She studied him, likely making note of his appearance and general well being. "How are you?"

"I still feel like shit, thank you," Ezio snorted, and leaned heavily into Elise's shoulder. Desmond carefully made sure not to wince; yeah, they were moving easily, but that echo of trauma wasn't so easily ignored.

"Stable, if that's what you mean," Desmond offered. He rubbed his arm. "I suddenly know way more Italian swears than I did yesterday, but I'm taking that as a positive right now."

Ezio grinned at him, the ass. But yeah, the Bleeding Effect did bring forward all the proper Italian usually needed in that kind of situation. Desmond wasn't certain if he could speak Italian properly without sharing, but he definitely knew how to swear now.

Rebecca blinked at him, and a slow smile spread as she registered that. "Ooh," she said, and rubbed her hands together. Hastings shot her a glare, and she winced exaggeratedly. "Okay, okay, serious stuff first. But you're teaching me those later, Des."

"Sure?" Desmond said amused. "You want me to teach you how to curse in Spanish too? Swearing in Spanish is way more fun. And what I know is modern too."

Rebecca lit up. "Yes. I'll pay you back in German swearing."

"Deal," Desmond nodded seriously at her, which Rebecca returned.

Hasting huffed. "If we could please get back to the matter at hand."

"How are you feeling, Desmond?" Lucy asked again.

Desmond thought about it. "Like shit, but it's more background radiation of my life right now instead of something I need to worry about. Stable, not likely to have another breakdown in the near future."

"Food and sleep," Rebecca said wisely. "Might not make you okay, but it'll definitely make you better."

"It makes me more willing to work towards being okay," Desmond sighed. He looked to Lucy. "So, what are we doing now?"

Lucy bit her lip. "We still need you in the Animus," she said.

"I gathered," Desmond said, shrugging. "But we've got to do something different if you want me to go back in."

"I've been refining the code we've got since this morning," Rebecca said. It wasn't her fault, but Desmond could see her acting and working as if it were. "It's easier to enter and exit the Animus. And with the usual acceleration of time, we can totally give you more breaks."

"That's something," Desmond agreed. "But what memories are we diving into?"

"The ones we wanted you to head into in the first place," Hastings said, rolling his shoulders. "With the one trauma-locked memory out of the way, we can access everything we wanted to originally."

"Parkour and free running," Lucy nodded. She looked Desmond over. "We can even shorten the time somewhat so we can put what you learn to the physical test. We're training you, and we may as well see how you develop outside of the Animus."

"The Animus." Ratonhnhaké:ton breathed, twitching in place. Desmond glanced at him, startled himself at the somewhat extreme reaction from him. Ratonhnhaké:ton looked to the others, something like revelation in his eyes. "They're using the Animus to train you. Just like-"

Aveline hissed a breath. "Like all of those Animus we saw in Abstergo. We were confused as to why there were so many. But if-"

"If they are using them to train their own, it means they are training them to fight Assassins," Ezio finished grimly. Especially if they had taken both Sixteen's and Desmond's genetics for their own. That was at least two confirmed Assassins they had access to, nevermind all the generations Desmond held.

"Seventeen test subjects to refine the knowledge for their own," Jun said and ran her hand through her hair. "They are not stupid. They wanted the information in your memories to find the Pieces of Eden. They just were able to use it for more than the one purpose."

"Desmond?" Lucy asked, brow furrowed.

He turned back to her, aware that they had seen him startle. Well, they already thought he was hallucinating. "Sorry, just remembered something. You said parkour, right? Where are we going to do that here?"

"Not much without leaving, and we can't do that right now," Lucy sighed. "But we do have enough height here to learn how to fall properly."

Desmond couldn't help it. He snorted. "I know how to fall properly. It's one of the few things I made sure to keep up, especially when I started working." Nevermind that Desmond was one of the best free runners of the eight of them, with as often as he ran about in New York.

Lucy blinked at him, and then nodded slightly. "Still, we will see where you are, and where you go after." She smiled slightly. "I'm not going to lie. I'm also interested as someone who's worked on the Animus for the past several years."

"Professional curiosity, huh?" Desmond asked. Well, she wasn't lying.

"Stick to basic stuff until Vidic arrives," Altair said, watching Lucy. "What could be reasonably explained as your own experience and what you learn from the Animus. We don't know where Lucy will take us after. We may or may not have more freedom to act."

"We can start tomorrow," Rebecca offered. "I've got some things I want to finish up for my Baby, and some things to discuss with Desmond regarding his own equipment."

Lucy nodded. "We can wrap up our own projects we put on hold when Desmond came here. We're running behind our projected timescale, but well." She smiled amusedly at Desmond, and shrugged. Despite her relaxed presentation, Desmond could see how upset that actually made her. "Unforeseen circumstances and all."

"We really need to speak with her as well," Elise said worriedly. "I think Lucy understands just how expendable she is to those higher up in the food chain."

"Okay then," Desmond said slowly, watching them. "We can start tomorrow."

"Here you go," Rebecca said. She handed Desmond a phone.

Desmond turned it over in his hands. It was an older iPhone, likely a few years old. As expected, really. For one, it meant the casing was more durable. Secondly, it made modifying it that much easier. And since it was an older model, it was more forgettable.

"What'd you do to it?" Desmond asked. He weighed it carefully. He wasn't certain without an actual iPhone to compare it to, but it felt heavier than he expected. Hardware upgrade then.

"A total upgrade, duh," Rebecca grinned. "For one, it has way more storage and processing power. Granted, most of that goes to the security, but it does connect to the satellite network."

"Hephaestus," Desmond murmured.

He remembered, now, though it did take a night of thinking it over. While the Hephaestus Network was their email network, it wasn't the entire thing. It was just that the email network was what remained after the last Mentor died. Or at least what the Assassins had access to afterwards.

Hephaestus was the near unhackable Assassin network. It had been created when the internet was in its infancy. Almost alongside it, in fact, since Assassins were the ones to help create the internet in lieu of Abstergo.

And the email network was simultaneously the most secure and the least secure of it all. It was primarily text based, with very little allocated to images. Ami, Erudito, and likely Abstergo all had their fingers in the email network, that was how open it was.

But when Ami had gone digging deeper, she had found that it was designed that way from the start. Assassins were taught code, and emails were hardly where the most sensitive information was held. Everything was done vaguely and in code, where only those aware of it knew what was actually being said.

It also made it so that no one could get into the true Hephaestus from the emails. Ami had tried, and Desmond figured that Erudito and Abstergo did as well. But Ami could only get so far before deciding there was too much risk by going any further. Not without being noticed, and not without retaliation. Who knew how far Erudito or Abstergo managed? It couldn't have been too far, or the intrusion would have been dealt with. Noticeably.

And that was just the email server, basically. Sure, the Assassins bounced signals around, but that was different than having access to the actual satellites, or that original network. Ami wasn't even certain that Abstergo knew about the true network at all.

Desmond looked up at Rebecca. "No one even knows where the servers are, last I knew. Did the Assassins actually find them in the last decade?"

Rebecca shook her head. "We still don't know where they are. We only know that Daniel Cross never found them, or likely never knew about them. The Assassins in charge of Hephaestus are still out there."

Desmond let out a low whistle. And this was the first he heard of it. Desmond eyed Rebecca thoughtfully. "And this is something you shouldn't be telling me, isn't it?" As an engineer, she had access to knowledge and info that even the Mentor might only have partial access to. Not because it needed to be secret, but because engineers were specialized. They did, after all, keep the Assassins up to date.

Rebecca nodded, and pressed a finger to her lips, quirking a smile. "I figured you knew, considering who your parents are. Even if it has been a decade. Anyways, I made a request when Lucy let us know she was springing you out, and they sent me all I needed for the phone. Assassins are one thing. Our Hephaestus guys are ghosts."

"Ghosts to the ghosts themselves," Desmond said, remembering the old adage.

Like all cultures and societies, Assassins had their own legends. As such, there were rumors of the Assassins that embodied hide in plain sight to the point of invisibility.

He remembered his parents and the adults on the Farm speaking about Hephaestus a lot. He didn't know, not really, but Desmond almost thought that it was Hephaestus that kept the Assassins afloat after the last Mentor died. If those revered Assassins in charge of the network in the first place were still alive, that made sense.

"Yeah." Rebecca rubbed the back of her neck, and smiled nervously. And slightly in awe. "It fit in with what I already planned for your phone."

"We ever wonder why they don't run the world themselves?" Desmond asked absently.

He idly looked over the phone with his second sight. It glowed golden. He wondered if he went high enough and followed the trail, if he could find them. Either the servers or the Assassins in charge of them.

Best he didn't. They had all the opportunity in the world to find Desmond and report his location back to his parents, but they didn't. If anything, Desmond owed them for that, nevermind everything else Hephaestus has likely done.

"Because they're Assassins?" Rebecca offered, shrugging. "Free will and all that. Though I'm pretty sure they only back the Assassins because they despise the Templars more."

Desmond got the feeling that wasn't quite it. "If you remain neutral in the face of oppression, it isn't a neutral act," Desmond recited. He studied his new phone. Well. He definitely didn't need to worry about anyone snooping on this at least.

Ratonhnhaké:ton appeared to hover over Desmond's shoulder. "What is the likelihood of these Assassins having Eagle Vision?"

Aveline appeared as well near Desmond's other shoulder. "To remain as they are, even with technology this advanced?" Aveline snorted and shook her head. "No bet."

"Walk me through what you've done?" Desmond asked Rebecca, and opened his phone. It didn't have a passcode yet, but that was an easy fix.

Rebecca moved to his side, and Ratonhnhaké:ton stepped away from her. "I left the interface as is since Apple has a pretty good user system. Here are the apps you'll need. Here's our email, and here's the apps that don't record any data."

"You actually didn't do anything noticeable, did you?" Desmond asked.

"Nope!" Rebecca grinned at him. "It's all hardware and programming, thank you. You'll notice it runs way smoother and faster than the commercial standard, but that's really about it. Other than the massive storage, of course. Feel free to take all the pictures and videos you want."

Desmond hummed thoughtfully. "I'm guessing that it does a full wipe?"

"Not what I put in, but the stuff from Hephaestus? I'm pretty sure," Rebecca said. "As you can imagine, we never actually recover equipment to check on what it does."

"Thanks, Rebecca," Desmond said and focused on his new phone. Old phone. Whatever.

"Not a problem," Rebecca said, and nudged him in the side."Just be careful about using the phone or sending texts while we're here. It's too close to Rome to be certain that any outgoing and incoming calls won't be traced."

Well, Desmond wasn't planning on outright calling anyone. Email it was. "Got it. Thank you."

There was a pause. "Desmond?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah?" Desmond looked up. He could organize the apps how he liked later.

Rebecca studied him. "Have you really only been here for a few days?"

Desmond blinked, and thought it over. The night he and Lucy escaped Abstergo. The afternoon and night he spent passed out. The first day he spent in the Animus, and then the realization on why Hastings was such an ass to him. And then today, with what happened that morning, leading up to now…

"Yeah," Desmond said incredulously. He shared a startled glance with Ratonhnhaké:ton and Aveline. "It's felt like it's been way longer."

Rebecca rubbed her arms like she was cold. "Assassins can move pretty quickly, but this is something else."

Desmond frowned. "It feels like something's pushing us, maybe?"

"Maybe," Rebecca agreed. "It might just be the threat of Abstergo. We really are too close to Rome for my comfort."

"Hm," Desmond hummed, and looked to Ratonhnhaké:ton and Aveline, still at his side.

He thought of what was happening in all of his lives currently. Ratonhnhaké:ton, who was days out on his siege of Fort George. Altair, who was dealing with the aftermath of their rebellion. Elise, who had the Templar coup, and the upcoming French Revolution to handle. With Desmond, that was half of their cluster of eight dealing with some rather troublesome things.

"We'll push through," Desmond told Rebecca.

Maybe not whole, and definitely not the same. But they would. Desmond had seven other selves to bolster his strength with, as well as the support systems they all had spread throughout time and space.

And Desmond would share that strength with this team of Assassins. He'd have to work on it to make them a proper team, but here was a start. And it seemed Rebecca was willing to work with him.

Rebecca smiled up at him, relieved. "Yeah, okay."

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