Rebecca's Reports (1)

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points: Assassin's Creed/The Secret World
Summary: Hey, Sonnac, it’s me, your old favorite. Reports enclosed on my observations, written by only the best, the brightest, the sexiest agent we have, yours truly, as ordered. -R.C.
*Templar Bees often get greeted with a teasing or envious “you’re Sonnac’s new favorite”.
Word Count: 3177
Rating: Teen
Spoilers marked by the name

 

Desmond Miles (chapter 40 Echoes)

You’ve already seen all the data Shaun’s been able to dig up, what he’s sharing with you that is (just in case the warmongers are rifling through your desk again). But you come to me to be the interpreter, so I’m going to go to town.

I’d like to say Desmond’s not a danger. He absolutely is. It’s not even just the physical abilities, though I’d say there he can keep up with some of our best (he kept up with Shaun, after all!) He got past my wards and the guards with some sort of stealth magic, he’s got the Third Eye, Shaun hasn’t been able to work out what kind of magic he’s got overall because it’s different than anything he’s ever seen (which should clue you in there), although admittedly we kind of got sidetracked by the whole world ending thing. For lack of a better explanation, he’s going somewhere between chaos magic and Zuberi’s...whatever he does, and that’s not even the biggest news. I’m pretty sure it’s his experience and knowledge. He’s just decided we’re not a target, yet.

If I had to summon him up in a single pattern, it’s this. We’ve been an exception, maybe because of a premonition where he knew we’d be good people to approach, but everybody else he meets (and he’s really subtle about it; you have to know what you’re looking for to catch it) his first reaction is to evaluate them as a threat and look for weaknesses. He flat out admitted (okay, not directly, which is pretty Dragon of him) his family’s cult were training him to be an assassin, and given that violence comes as easy to him as breathing, I’m pretty sure that’s completely true. Even some stuff like the parkour, anything to be able to kill and slip into a crowd.

He’s also absolutely got PTSD (or something like it; I’m not a psychologist), but he doesn’t tend to get violent in his outbursts, just goes to hide or zones out. I’d guess it’s partly triggered by mind control, so we gotta watch out for that from his cult, I guess. I’ve (carefully) looked him over, and he doesn’t seem to have a code word or magical conditioning or anything, so he’s probably not a sleeper agent.

Shaun’s still looking for the cult of The Farm, but it’s almost certain that they used some kind of magic to cover their tracks because he hasn’t found anything yet. It’d help if Desmond had given us a name for his cultist dad, but nothing yet, and there’s nothing under ‘Miles’ anyway. And Desmond seemed pretty sincere about not knowing about magic, even though he obviously knew about gods (and seems to have a similar freakout reaction to them, so, uh, here’s a yikes moment, what if they’d been training him to assassinate gods?), so he probably hadn’t been told by the time he ran away.

He’s also got a massive mutual crush on Shaun. I know you’re not much for gossip, but in this case it’s kind of important. He genuinely likes us. If he thought it was necessary, he probably still wouldn’t hesitate to take us out, but it’s a protection not all of the Templars have, and he doesn’t seem like he has an all-or-nothing attitude. He’s got a whole lot more faith in people than systems. So, I guess the way to put it is: we’re safer than, say, Dame Julia. I think he’d like Dame Julia. I also think that if he thought it would make the world a better place he wouldn’t hesitate to stab, say, Helwing.

He’s not telling us everything. Some of it is that he doesn’t know how to put it, some of it is that it genuinely doesn’t seem to occur to him to share it (maybe part of that is that I’m fairly sure he knows there’s tracking and a spell in the handler app, so he just assumes I know), and some of it is kept back for a reason. I can’t decide if it’s because he’s trying to prevent a war or because he’s worried of how we’re going to react. He’s definitely tried to push us out to keep us safe at least once.

I’m pretty sure that Helwing already knows most of this and that’s why he pushed for his angry protégé to be deployed. He’s hoping Desmond dies in an ‘accident’. If he gets his war, even if we were at our peak, I wouldn’t bet on us.

That being said, they’re overlooking something. No, this isn’t the kind of alliance overtures you’d expect from the Dragon, but they’re the Dragon. Fancy pens and contracts aren’t their thing.

He could’ve not told us about Beaumont. That’d be standard operating procedure. Could’ve kept quiet about the sword until it was safely in Dragon hands. Hell, he was there for that bit where you talked about Third Age Artifacts. He’s been doing the opposite. Shared what he’d seen of the Filth. Is letting me track his movements using the camera network and his phone.

Something else that other people would ignore, which is why you turned to me? Shaun was talking to his old friend, Jin Jae-Hoon, trying to track the whereabouts of Excalibur. And apparently Desmond has Jin scared shitless. Not of him, like he’s going to get killed. He’d gotten the feeling that Desmond’s going to raze the whole thing to the goddamn ground.

One other thing? I’ve had my ears to the ground, and the Mouth of the Dragon doesn’t seem to like Desmond, which can only mean one thing. It’s an order from the Dragon himself.

The second the Illuminati work it out (‘cause they will, just because they’re slower than me doesn’t mean they’re that much less intelligent or competent, just...mostly) they’ll want some of the pie. They’re the war profiteers. They’ll be able to turn a profit out of it somehow. (Still not sure what you see in Geary, boss.)

We’ve been getting all those prophecies and premonitions. Change is coming. I’m pretty sure they’re right, and I’m pretty sure Desmond’s going to be in the thick of it. The real question is, where are we gonna be standing when all this goes down?

 

Kirsten Geary (Chapter 14 Initiate)

We both know that the Illuminati handler you’ve got a crush on is one of the more likely candidates; not that she’d be on-scene herself. It’d mess up her manicure. But Desmond managed to avoid being recruited under her watch, which doesn’t look good, and given what he’s gotten done so far, he’s probably also cost them money which is the only sin she really acknowledges. She’s already sent him a threat, just because we haven’t gotten the anchor to Agartha to work with a non-Bee yet doesn’t mean the Illuminati’s labs haven’t managed it (particularly with their resident mad scientist Zurn on payroll), and it’d be child’s play for them to blackmail some sap into going after a very, very competent Bee with a gun.

As for their angle...honestly, if that’s what they’re up to, they’ve already decided Desmond isn’t going to play ball, and the least they can do if there’s going to be a war is start it themselves so they can add it to their Outlook calendar and ramp up weapons production in response. Shaun’s fairly convinced they’re responsible, and it’s not impossible they’re just doing talks out of reach, but...I’d expect a lot more calls to presidents and prime ministers if they were actually the culprits and haven’t seen anything yet. Cassini might have just figured out my in again, though, and if that’s the case I’m going to have to cook up something else. Hacking is a cat-and-mouse game, after all.

Jacek Helwing (chapter 35 Echoes)

If we’re at all involved with the attacks on Desmond, it’s probably Helwing behind it, given that he’s one of the oldest of the Old Guard, and of course they wouldn’t get you or us involved. We’re the weird New Guard types, and don’t even have bloodlines or titles to our names. From what you’ve said, other than complaints and attempting to oppose us when pet projects come up for debate, he hasn’t really been too in our face about putting a stop to any of this. Maybe he saw this as his chance, and for the price of throwing us under the boss he can promote Javier while he’s at it. You’ve mentioned fighting for the soul of the Templars before, and while I thought you were kind of exaggerating things a bit, I don’t think so anymore. Guess I needed to get back into the field to see it. The Old Guard are resentful, but I get the feeling that we have to adapt to survive, only the Old Guard isn’t quite so adaptable. Then again, if the same old tricks work and you can cling on to power for just that little bit longer...why bother? Of course, most of this is based on what you’ve told me about him, boss. I’ve only run into him once, and while the ego took up the entire street, I didn’t get much more from him. The motive is totally there, but the means? We’ve been on the downslide for ages, guys like Helwing even more so, so if that’s the case I’d expect he’s gotten outside help from somewhere.

 

Bong Cha (Chapter 40 Echoes)

If The Mouth of the Dragon is involved in this attempted murder thing, we’re all in trouble. Now, it’s possible we’re being fed false information again and her disliking Desmond is a ruse. It’s happened before, it’ll absolutely happen again. I believe this one, though—Bong Cha likes being in control and while Dragon Bees are generally left to their own devices, the complete lack of any specific instructions (as far as I can tell) is pretty unusual. Since she’s the handler and everything goes through her, anything that she doesn’t like has to have come from the Dragon. Still nothing about the person bearing the title, only a dozen different conflicting rumors that all lead to dead ends. But if they’re fighting, we’re all in trouble, because I can’t even begin to predict how an internal feud would go for the rest of us. If it’s happening, though, openly defying an order she doesn’t like by trying to have the loose agent she doesn’t approve of murdered would be the kind of ballsy opening strike I’d expect. And as for getting a hitman, that’d be no sweat, but what’s tripping me up is getting an Agartha anchor, given that they don’t do Artifacts pretty much at all. It’s possible they bought one pre-jailbroken on the black market...which has other really bad implications, because unless it’s for personal use you typically don’t just jailbreak one device. Or Artifact. I’m probably going to have to consult with Saïd again about that one—even if the Kingdom wasn’t involved, they might’ve heard of something.

 

Phoenicians (Chapter 14 Initiate)

We’ve got definite proof they’re back, but not much on this. That being said, they’d definitely be capable, and since we’ve got bad blood, maybe that’s the reason. Desmond getting all buddy-buddy with us might have upset some of their delicate plans. They say they’re trying to recruit him according to the text they sent him, but they could be lying. It just might explain some of the unexplained traffic I’ve been seeing all over the place, though.

 

Chelsea Palmer (Chapter 17 Echoes)

Chelsea happens to have been one of the few Bees I know of that we recruited first, before she got empowered by Gaia. She’d actually been one of Brigadier Lethe’s favorites, though you might not have heard that yet—stubborn as an ox and twice as strong, but she hadn’t reached the point of field deployment (and, uh, last I heard, Lethe wasn’t actually training people by shooting them, just allowing you to go at the demons in the Crucible). One of her ancestors died protecting colonists in the demon incursion in Roanoke, and while only a few of her family have served since they’ve all been benefactors and passed down probably a lot of heroic stories...possibly with some exaggeration thrown in. So I’ve been seeing a lot of sentiment of ‘just order her back, she knows her duty’. She definitely has the flavor of Old Guard that’s less flexible, though I think hanging around with Desmond’s going to change that pretty quickly. No matter the relationship you’re in, the moment you make the demand ‘them or me’, it doesn’t tend to go well. Chelsea doesn’t see a reason why the two should be at odds. If we push it, Chelsea will choose Desmond first. She’s loyal enough if we leave it, but forcing her hand won’t go the way Helwing expects.

 

Danny Dufresne (Chapter 27 Echoes)

Can’t lie, boss, I totally want to recruit this kid, and not just ‘cause Desmond shoved him at me like a weird kind of gift. He’s good enough Erudito took a break from the ‘pranking Orochi and Illuminati’ war to send him something, and if we don’t snap him up, somebody else will. Getting somebody with his electronic guts-deep knowledge on drones could help us get a serious edge on the Illuminati. And it’s not just his meme knowledge or his skating ability. That’s just a resume plus.

 

-DK (Chapter 23 Echoes)

I’ve been keeping track of everybody contacting Desmond. Here’s one who scheduled a date in 20s lingo. I maybe have a hunch of who this could be, but haven’t actually met him and I have no way of proving it yet. I’ll keep you in the loop, boss.

 

Bob the Ak’ab (Chapter 40 Echoes)

This is a great name for an ak’ab and have I mentioned I really want to recruit this Danny kid, boss? Can I have permission already?

Nathaniel Fischer (Nate) (chapter 17 Echoes)

Just your average Californian surfer dude up until college, at which point he went to Hawaii and basically fell off the map. Maybe that’s when he was recruited by the Dragon, but I have at least one lead that suggests he might’ve come into contact with the yakuza when he was in college. The Dragon have more than a few connections to organized crime, so it’s definitely a possible pipeline. He’s been directly appointed as Desmond’s Dragon Agent, but the question is, by who? The Dragon, or the Mouth?