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

[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. >>

[celticromanstone]

<< Well, I will believe you, darling. We can talk about it, in Italian, if you want to. Are you in Healer's? >>

[shirley_templar]

<< Nah, I'm in the hotel yet. Don't exactly know how I got here, but I woke up in my room. I feel sorry for the people who probably heard me screaming in my sleep. I should probably stop by the Healer's Guild, though, seeing as how my brain's convinced that I'm an elderly Italian man. I'll do my best to get there, but it might take me a while, seeing as how I'm half-senile. >>

[He smiles, but it's weak. Desmond is not right in the head and he knows it, despite his attempt at humor-deflection. He pulls his hoodie on, preparing himself to travel.]

[celticromanstone]

<< Well, perhaps I should take you to Guild before we start feeding you. >>

[shirley_templar]

<< That's probably a good idea. I'd bet my brain's gonna light up an MRI like a Christmas tree about now. God I wish Rebecca was here. She'd know what the hell to do. >>

[celticromanstone]

<< Hmm. Well, we'll worry about that later. I'm coming to get you. We'll get you to the Guild, then some food, and we can continue to talk in Italian. >>

[shirley_templar]

<< Okay. Fair warning, I may or may not have broken a few things and trashed my bed. I get...seizures sometimes. >>

[celticromanstone]

<< Alright. I'm coming to you, I'm just downstairs. >>

[ Sure enough, there she is, just pushing the door open, and walking in. Nothing surprises her anymore. ]

<< So, darling, do you have pants? Because I don't care, but the people on the street might. >>

[shirley_templar]

[Her comment makes Desmond smile, as he pulls himself up from the blood-smeared heap he had settled himself into.]

<< Yeah, I'm dressed. Managed to get myself that far before I started hallucinating Italian nobility in here with me, at least. >>

[He scrubs a hand over his face.]

<< There's...some things you should probably know about me, Heather. The reason I'm apparently speaking 16th century Italian, anyway. I was...part of an experiment, about a year ago, called the Animus Project. I was put into a machine that sampled my DNA, and put my mind into a simulation of the memories of my ancestors, going as far back as the Crusades. The downside being that those memories can get tangled with my own, and more or less drive me insane. >>

[Desmond laughs, and shakes his head.]

<< Jesus, saying it out loud just sounds crazy all by itself. >>