Shay

“Shay Cormac?” the man nodded and pulling out a chair he joined me at the table watching as I started a new page, “First question! Why did you need to involve us?” “After what had happened, something have to be done the book should be destroyed or kept locked away from everyone; we can’t let that happen again; I admit I didn’t think straight but I took a breath decided against it!” “Against what?” “Stealing the book and killing Achilles if I had to!” I wrote it down before asking, “You don’t like him?” “No, not at all; I like him but he is so secretive that it makes you question what he is doing and when!” “Being nosy?” “No it’s just he tells some something and the others nothing which is problematic when he hasn’t even told the person the mission until they exactly started” I wrote that down before asking, “What is Achilles’ relationship with Hope and Liam?” “Does it matter?” “It effects the validity of what they say?” “Liam is a loyalist, very likely to be the next Grand Master of the Brotherhood and looks up to him, Hope is a loyalist to but she does think more that Liam!” “So Liam is a mindless zombie?” “He thinks everything Achilles does it right!” I nodded before saying, “Do they have any other family members?” “No I wouldn’t think so!” “They aren’t seeing anyone?” “Hope had a man but he got shot in a drunken bar fight a few years back!” “So they have no dependence meaning nothing will miss them gravely if they get executed!” “Executed?” “If guilty they have broken the tenets of brotherhood! It has to be execution!” he nodded before I asked, “So tell me about the assignment being handed to you?” “Achilles was there with Hope and I was given it purely because of my knowledge of the Lisbon area, he warned me about the importance and mentioned how fragile they can be but offered no specific method on to pick it up!” “There is only one way to pick something up and that’s picking it up!” he nodded causing me to ask, “You didn’t ask for advice? You didn’t question it?” “No because he made it out to be easy if I was careful!” “Hope said it could be down to your youth and rashness to get the job done!” “I respect my mentor but I disagree with that statement for this occasion; I know the importance, the value of the Pieces of Eden and how delicate the process was! So I took extra care with it!” I nodded before asking, “So Lisbon since you are the only first hand account apart from the odd sailor who saw what happened after it collapsed, tell me what happened!” he nodded and pulling out his notes spoke, “I entered the monastery and it was hidden by 4 keys that required solving to unlock the door in the floor. When I entered the temple it was a darkened room with the odd glowing light not of this world, the floor floated up and I was able to walk across!” he pulled an diagram out and putting it down spoke, “This is something of what it was like; with white lights and black edges!” “White? Not golden” “Not golden or oranges but white!” I wrote down white before asking, “Was it just on a stand? Was it levitating? Was it just in a box” “It was hovering over a podium, it wasn’t moving, it was still but still hovering!” “And you thought to touch it?” “I had a job to do and thought what I was told by Achilles was fine!” “Trying to shift the blame to him?” “No, no I wouldn’t do that, it was me who went to retrieve and me who caused the earthquake but he shows no empathy and no care, just wants to find another one, despite what happened in Haiti and now Lisbon!” “We will get to that later now tell me the rest! How did you pick it up? Did you drop it? Did it immediately disappear? Did the Earthquake start straight after?” “I cupped it in two hands and held onto it, I didn’t even get chance to drop it because it fell away almost immediately and then after the initial crack it started to shake and floors to fall apart with other pieces of rock, it all came from that spot and spread out!” “It was the epicentre of it all. I don’t need the rest because it’s clear Lisbon fell apart, people are dead or at least homeless. So returning here, why don’t you tell me what happened?” “I came back angry, upset and hurt; I was to blame for that and I shoulder that blame. I acted angrily and challenged him but it was a good reason to, I was angry but I knew what happened; he started to make excuses about them being delicate and how I did it wrong. When I challenged him again about the number dead he did particularly care, not even an flinch almost like it didn’t matter. Hope and Liam tried to defuse it but they wouldn’t listen to me, they listened to him who wasn’t even there. They wanted to talk to me in the morning but I know what that means!” “Which is?” “They lecture me about respect and won’t listen to me because of what I said!” “You could say you called us in because you felt like you had no one to talk to?” “Yes!” “A few more questions on this event before the other activities you have mentioned. First of all could Achilles attitude be down to the loss of his family?” “It could be but should he have been running the brotherhood when he is clearly not right mentally!” “Actually no, so they have failed protocols at least!” “He hasn’t been right since then but again should be in the position of power? I respect he lost his family but anyone else would have at least listened to me!” “I agree! Next question, is the brotherhood completely against you?” “I don’t know, I haven’t been allowed to find out!” “What about the book in general, what do you know of it?” “It leads you to other sites and shows you the exact location of the temple!” “So you will ill informed on that then! In your letter you mentioned other activities, what are they?” “The French are getting more aggressive in their rule and we now have Assassin’s gangs who are hurting, intimidating or stealing from the people to line their own pocket! That isn’t even related to the gas testing I heard Hope talk to Liam about!” “Gas testing?” “She was discussing how it was working well and the initial testing was off to a great start and they hoped to equip all assassin’s and their gangs with it!” “I need to find out about this! If so there is no excuse to spare her!” I slammed my book shut and signalling him to leave sighed, “Fucksake, why is it every time the Assassin’s are in a good position it’s because they are doing something they shouldn’t have been.

It was nice sitting down feet over the side dock boots off freezing the cold water between my feet, “It’s been so long!” he muttered unaware of Hope who stood there watching him groan thinking about what he knew, “This is a mess all of it, none of them are innocent!” “Edmund?” he froze and turning his head back he saw Hope standing there with a bottle of ale, “I wanted to apologise again from what happened and what I said earlier!” “Leave it!” “I am trying to apologise!” “Like I said leave it alone! Sorry doesn’t take back what was said or done so don’t bother!” “I brought you something!” “Drink it yourself, you are going to need it!” “It’s not poison, just an apology!” “Like I said, drink it yourself!” “If you want to be like that then screw you!” he turned back around and looking down at the assassin symbol of Marie stated, “A question not about the case but just a question in general!” “What?” “Should we break our own rules and/or organisations rules to better ourselves off?” “It depends on what would we break and why would break it!” he sighed before saying, “See that’s the thing what qualifies as either? Is Shay right for believing we should not pursue the artefacts and keep those we seek to protect safe or is Achilles right in pursuing them and risk kills thousands more?” “It’s not like that!” “Maybe not but that is the outcome and we have nothing for the deaths apart for the odd Templar ****, if the Templar’s find out on what happens they would use it against us and we wouldn’t have to worry about them hunting us but everyone hunting us!” he looked down before stating, “I thought sitting here like me and Marie used to would help me think!” “This helps you think?” “It used to, it used to make me think and reflect; me and Marie did it all the time where it was warm or cold it didn’t matter, I suppose doing the amount of running as we did your feet were always burning!” I tapped the side next to me and sitting down I said, “I come off hostile because I agree with Shay partially, our duty should not risk civilians and result in loads dying, I agree sometimes we have to sacrifice the few for the many but this was a careless risk something Shay shouldn’t have had to experience!” he helped with her boots and dipping her feet in he commented, “Yeah, I think that is what Marie would have thought too!” “How did you even meet? What did she even look like?” “Similar to you but smaller and older, calm and thoughtful and her hair was slightly lighter. I met her when she was working for both sides; gaining intelligence and taking out targets. One day she got injured and we took her in, from there I started to learn the basics off her and came her assistant. I always sided with the Templar ideology; it was wrong but made more sense and would bring safety quicker then the assassin one but one day she fled them and with her joined the assassin’s, they hunted her down and I killed my family to ease their suffering; from there I read the tenets; interpreted them in how I thought they were meant and from there learnt more in-depth the ideas of the original assassin’s and understood we would never be on the front foot but we were there to instead help those in need and to kill those who seek to hurt the innocents in hope one day we would be on the front foot. We fled together after assassinating her pursuers and fell in love, hell I was 16 when I met her and she was 34 when we fled I was 18 and she 36 but I loved her and we worked hard to make sure no civilians were harmed unless it was necessary! Marie would calm my naivety down and taught me to be my thoughtful and cunning in my techniques and as you can see I am well respected for it!” “Would she say if she was judging it?” “Shay isn’t to blame, he did right by not attacking or stealing from the brotherhood. Achilles despite not being responsible directly he sent the order out and wants to keep on looking for these devices, he also broke at least two, one being clear of the three tenets! You, Liam and the other master assassin’s are in trouble for not following protocols in a temporary replacement until Achilles has grieved for his loss, this being a total of two years unless in a emergency resulting in a loss of rank and freedom until the appropriate retraining is complete” “That isn’t too bad!” “I am not finished, but in light of the other facts and involvements of the other masters in activities to do with running gangs for profit and exploiting the people, using French thugs to intimidate the people into submission and making poison weapons to use on the people and have been tested on the people then **** will also be issued out!” she froze when she heard the last comment causing him to speak, “By the way your body stiffened I have my answer...I will remind you that it breaks the tenets using it on civilians! Take that as a heads up! That reminds me” he pulled out the letters and showing her spoke, “It’s interesting to see you referencing the progress of a new weapon that is almost ready and the test subjects are showing could signs and this other letter requiring materials that would make a several different variations of poison” she studied them before snapping, “These are from Achilles’ office! How dare...” he held the letter up and resigning to the fact he had the authority to he spoke, “I lock-picked the door it’s better like that, Achilles can’t burn the evidence!” she looked as he put the evidence back into his pocket she spoke, “What if it’s to affect the minimal but to help the many” “Poison bombs hurt all those within range it will likely kill more innocents then bad and if you don’t dismantle it I will find evidence and those involved will be executed!” there was an awkward silence she had virtually confessed she was involved and when he asked the next question she gulped, "If you were to be put to **** would anyone miss you?" “The brotherhood probably, I have no family or lovers!” “At least someone would miss you. No one would with me!” “I would!” he laughed before getting up spoke, “You are saying that so you can get into my ear and claim your innocence!” “What if I do like you?” he turned around before stating, “Then get away from it all!”