Third Animus Data Fragment - I've seen enough for one life

[shirley_templar]

[Desmond looks....tired. His face is unshaven and sallow, and his eyes are red. He shakes his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. When he speaks, it's not in English, but an older Italian dialect.]

<<Ugh...did anyone get the number of the goddamn train that hit me? It'll be another month before I'll shake this nightmare.>>

[Desmond looks surprised, as though he wasn't expecting what came out of his mouth. He shakes his head again.]

<<What the hell? Am I speaking Italian?>>

Comments

[lasergrenades]

[Pepper looks very concerned when she appears on screen.]

...Desmond!? You, uh, you don't look so good.

You, er, also don't seem to be speaking English, but I think you've figured that one out. Um. [Normally the Dreaming accounts for that, but not always.] Do you need some help with, uh, anything? Oh! One second.

[She should probably get some help with translating, and disappears for a moment to retrieve her armor. If it can translate ancient Chinese it can, hopefully, translate this, right? Maybe?]

[shirley_templar]

<< Sofia? >> [Desmond shakes his head, and smacks himself on the side of the head a few times.] << No Desmond, you're not Ezio Auditore, no matter how much Italian you're speaking. >> [He pinches at the bridges of his nose.] << I think there's...something wrong with me. I dreamed that I was old. No...I was dreaming about Ezio, when he was old. It was like being in the Animus again. I watched him die in my dream. >>

[Yup, things are Not Okay in Desmond-land.]

[lasergrenades]

[The armor rightly assesses that Desmond is speaking Italian, but it's an older dialect and things come across... a little skewed. Still, the more Desmond talks, the better the suit will be able to identify and properly translate the language. In the meantime, Pepper can understand enough to get the picture.]

Yeah, you seem like you're stuck in Ezio mode. Um, you've been out for a while, in case you hadn't noticed, so I'm not totally surprised that your head isn't on quite straight. [Given what little Pepper knows about the Animus and the Bleeding Effect, dreaming Ezio's death was probably a lot like experiencing it personally.] It'll be okay; we'll get this figured out. You should probably get looked at by someone, though. Would it be okay if I came over?

[shirley_templar]

<< Yeah, I noticed. I hear the big turtle's beached itself somewhere? >>

[At Pepper's question, Desmond nods emphatically.]

<< Would you? I know I need to get looked at, but I don't trust myself out there. Not with my head all mixed up like this. Too much risk I'd hallucinate something horrible, and hurt someone without meaning to. >>

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[lasergrenades]

Yeah, it's called Ioa Elanag; we're just east of Tavimbi. Maybe when you're feeling better we can go visit.

[Assuming he's up for it.]

Sure, of course. I'll be there in just a few minutes - I need to bring the armor or I can't understand you, just as a heads up. [It startled some people at first. Pepper wouldn't guess Desmond would be one of them, but in this state... well. No way to know.] Don't go anywhere, I'll come by your place.

[She signs off and shortly after she's at Desmond's room; the armor gets a few strange looks, but she's left the faceplate open so everyone can see who she is. Pepper knocks quietly.]

Desmond? It's Pepper. Can I come in?

[consultingbishop]

You realise everything's translated by magic, right? No-one knows what language you're speaking.

[shirley_templar]

<< Trust me, if I could stop myself, I would. I don't even normally speak Italian. It's all the Bleeding Effect. My brain thinks I'm a 65 year old Italian man from the 1500's. >>

[Desmond laughs, realizing that Peter probably still can't understand him. He pauses for a second, trying to write something on a piece of paper...before he realizes that he's writing in Italian, too. He always knew that the Bleeding Effect was weird, but he never realized that it was this weird.]

[consultingbishop]

[You're getting a look, Desmond.]

No, you're not getting it, kid. I could be speaking Mandarin right now and you'd be able to understand it clear as day.

I understand you perfectly. Grammatically, at least.

[shirley_templar]

<< Well, you should know that my brain's a little funny right now. It's like....stuck...I think. I've been knocked out for a month, if the date on the calender's right, and I was dreaming about an ancestor of mine. An old Italian guy. I picked up a bunch of his skills from an experiment, and now I'm stuck speaking his language, until my brain figures out that I'm me, and not him. I sound crazy, don't I? >>

[celticromanstone]

[ Hey, she knows that language. She's good to go. ]

<< Darling, you don't look well. Is there anything I can do to help? >>

[shirley_templar]

<< Jesus, you can speak Italian? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I could use some aspirin, and breakfast if you wouldn't mind. I've been asleep for way longer than a person should be. I was dreaming about that ancestor I told you about, Ezio. I think my brain still thinks I'm him, hence the Italian. I feel like I got hit by a truck. >>

[celticromanstone]

<< Of course I can. It's a little rusty, but it's perfectly serviceable. Now, I'll bring you a light breakfast, and something for your head. Anything else? >>

[shirley_templar]

<< Well, I'm grateful. I woke up feeling like I'd lost my mind. I try to keep this shit to myself, you know? Who the hell's gonna believe me when I say I was experimented on, and have the memories of ancestors of mine from hundreds of years ago. Nobody ever thinks of the side-effects, like waking up thinking you're 65 years old and living in Florence.

I guess if I need anything, it's just to talk. Get whatever this is out of my system. >>

[isochrone]

[ Elizabeth pounces on the opportunity to practice a language she's learned, but only academically. As such, some of her speech lacks the smooth cadence of a natural born speaker, even though the words and grammar are largely correct. ]

<<You are speaking Italian... do you not mean to be?>>

[shirley_templar]

[Elizabeth's enthusiasm throws Desmond for a second. He's tired and grouchy, and his brain keeps telling him that he's older than he actually is, but he responds anyway.]

<< No, I don't. My brain's gone a little weird on me. I was dreaming about someone from Italy, who lived a long time ago. I was...connected to him for a long time. Now my brain's taken his language and made it mine. Like...I can still understand people when they speak English, but all I can respond with is Italian. It's weird, and kind of hard to explain. >>

[isochrone]

<<That sounds kind of amazing, actually! Just think of all the things you could learn, that you'd never think to ask... wait, how were you connected to him?>>

[ Times like this is when it really shows that Elizabeth hasn't had a ton of social interaction... she can't really fathom that this would be unnerving to someone, only that it's an opportunity to discover new things. ]

[shirley_templar]

<< It was an experiment I was part of, called The Animus Project. I was put into a machine that tapped into my DNA, and let me experience the memories of my ancestors. It wasn't something I did by choice. I did learn a lot, but there were side-effects. I'm still dealing with them. >>

[Side-effects like having your brain tell you that you're someone else, or that you're seeing things that aren't there. Yeah, the Bleeding Effect was a nightmare.]

[backwordscompatible]

[Zatanna's dialect might be slightly more modern, but it was easy enough for her to deliberately switch to her father's native tongue:]

<< Okay, two questions. One, shouldn't you know if you're speaking Italian? And two...okay, I'm fluent, so correct me if I'm wrong here, but...don't languages usually get auto-translated for people anyway? >>

[shirley_templar]

<< Well, it's got to do with the Bleeding Effect, that side-effect that comes with all of my Assassin skills. I'm speaking Italian because Ezio spoke Italian, it's not a language I speak naturally. I was...I dunno...sleeping? In a coma? Either way, I was dreaming about Ezio, like I was back in the Animus. >>

[He pinches at the bridge of his nose. He's having to think way too hard with a brain that feels like he didn't actually get any sleep at all.]

<< I'm guessing I'm not being auto-translated because I'm not speaking a language that I naturally know. Like...I dunno, maybe the magic or whatever that auto-translates everyone is glitching out because of my exposure to the Animus and the Apple of Eden. It wouldn't be the first time something like that's happened. >>

[backwordscompatible]

<< In other words, your magic is canceling out the auto-translation magic. Huh. That's actually kind of impressive. >>

[Zatanna, now is probably not the time to be amused about magic breaking things again.]

[shirley_templar]

<< That's one way to look at it, I guess. Personally, it freaks me out, but I'm kind of a Luddite with all this magical technology stuff. Or it could be Ezio, too. He never quite got the hang of the Apple of Eden or any of that stuff, but he wasn't really meant to, either. >>

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[jinzhong]

...Desmond? [Jackie squints.] I've got no idea what the hell you're saying, guy.

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[shirley_templar]

[Having finally figured out that while he can only speak Italian, he can still write in English, he starts scribbling on a notepad, before holding the slightly blood-stained pad up to the camera.]

I was in some sort of coma for the past month. Dreamed about one of my ancestors when he was near death. Now I'm stuck speaking his language. Can't stop myself. Sorry I've been missing work.

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[jinzhong]

Uh...huh.

Yeah, no worries. I got a couple kedan bar staff to help out, so it's cool. Hoping you'll come back if you're up to it.

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[shirley_templar]

[More scribbling, and Desmond nods.]

I'll explain everything once I'm back to normal, and I'll start picking up my regular shift once I'm sure I've got my mind right. I think it's a Dreaming thing, but my head's pretty messed up all by itself.