2 December 2013=
À la Prochaine
At 6:02 pm, Rebecca informed Gavin about the latest events in Montreal.
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Rebecca's message
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Gavin's reply
3 December 2013=
Testing Database Upload
At 11:51pm, in Osaka, Japan, an Initiate spy aboard the Altair II updated their database.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
It took a few tries, but I have managed to worm my way into the
guts of Hephaestus 2.0.
I will now be able to deliver full reports to the Initiates database in
addition to the usual snippets of information our other spies are
able to obtain. All without anyone onboard the ship knowing about
it. Lucky for me, our computer expert enjoys recreational
marijuana.
I trust you will find my information useful, and I hope you will
indulge me my little narratives.
I remain your humble spy.
4 December 2013=
Osaka He Youkoso
At 1:12pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
Three men entered a room where more men had died. Gavin
Banks looked at that room, using that special clarity of his, and the
room showed him ghosts in return. This doesn't come naturally to
him, or easily, and he always emerges from the experience
looking tired.
Emmanuel Barraza saw things in that room as well. He's seen his
fair share of rooms like that for one lifetime. He doesn't need to
use Eagle Vision to know where the bodies fell or how they died.
He was born in a room like that, and I think he's convinced that
he'll die in one.
Gavin emerged from that room with a truth: Abstergo didn't take
out the Osaka Brotherhood, the Yakuza did. Gavin's contact here in
Osaka was one of his first mentors, as well as one of the victims
of that room, and he's taking it pretty hard.
"Find me the Assassins who survived," he told us, "or find me the
Yakuza scumfucks that did this." And so, at last, we have a
mission.
I remain your humble spy.
6 December 2013=
The Safety of Information
At 10:39pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry aboard the Altair II.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
Emmett's many computers are arranged just so among his pipes and ashtrays.
They hum as he plays the keyboard like a ghastly instrument, and the
world's secrets dance to his tune.
He learned that there was recently a violent gang war where a particularly
ruthless branch of the Yakuza, the Onmoraki-Gumi, was wiped out, its leaders
all arrested or killed.
By all reports, Osaka's quiet again. Despite this, Emmett has decided to
stay aboard the ship, surrounded by his lovely machines, where he is safe.
I remain your humble spy.
12 December 2013=
Osaka's Underworld
At 2:20pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry aboard the Altair II.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
The Onmoraki-Gumi is no more, but they are somehow still running
their front companies. In a welcome surprise, Susan Drayton went
ashore to help with the investigation. I'm surprised she remembers
how to walk on land. It's usually so hard for me to sneak about the
ship with the captain always puttering about. She tried her luck in
one of their gambling dens, but came back aboard when she
couldn't figure out Pachinko.
Emmanuel had better luck, he trailed a cash deposit through the
back streets to the Onmoraki's new HQ.
I remain your humble spy.
13 December 2013=
Who Leads the Onmoraki-Gumi?
At 9:04am, the Initiate spy updated an entry aboard the Altair II.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
The new leader of the Onmoraki-Gumi is unknown, though
rumours abound. Eric Cooper heard that it was a 64-year old
woman who killed her own family. Dr. Stephanie Chiu found a
tweet that claimed it was a castrated former porn star. Emmett
said that if he couldn't find anything about her, she didn't exist, but
Emmett was stoned and talking to a lamp. There is a bet going
among the crew, whoever has the right suspect will get to shower
first in the morning for a month.
Gavin decided that the only way to move forward is to confront the
Yakuza directly. He's not here to play games.
I remain your humble spy.
16 December 2013=
The Look of Love
At 9:22am, in Philadelphia, an Abstergo file was uploaded to the Initiates database.
Abstergo File #JD98-2113829: Annual Physical Biometrics Report
Date: 2013-12-16
Location: Abstergo Discovery and Acquisitions Facility,
Philadelphia
Present: Milton Jones (Level 1 Employee, Animus Technician);
Deanna Geary (Level 3 Employee, Nurse)
Prepared by: Damian Saravakos (Level 8 Employee, Medical
Examiner)
For: Mistuko Nakamura (Level 9 Employee, Research Executive)
Mistuko,
Sometimes happy news just falls into your lap. Turns out we just
hired someone with a very interesting bloodline. We've only just
started looking into Mr. Jones's ancestors, but we've already
pulled some good data on a known associate of Edward Kenway,
from c.1735.
While it's unclear if it will lead to any new artifacts, at the very least
those clowns in Montreal can make a stupid game of it or
something. Naturally, I'll keep you updated.
Best,
Damian.
///Transcript begins:
D. GEARY: You look like that actor from those kung fu films. You
know, the one with the afro?
[Nurse Geary disposes of a pair of plastic gloves and retrieves a fresh pair.]
M. JONES: Yeah, my mom swears that I'm his son, but I don't
believe her. I think she just didn't want me to feel shitty about never
having a dad around.
D. GEARY: Don't be nervous. This is standard procedure for new
Abstergo hires.
M. JONES: I'm not nervous. I've just always hated needles.
(Vocal analysis program suggests a 70% chance that young Mr.
Jones is lying based on volume, changes in pitch, and pauses
between words. False bravado? Or is he nursing a little crush on
Ms. Geary? No pun intended. –DS)
D. GEARY: Then you're in luck!
[Nurse Geary reveals a Vial.]
M. JONES: Is this like a charity blood drive type thing?
D. GEARY: No, it's for our health records, as well as our genetic
memory research.
[Nurse Geary retrieves a blood sample from M. Jones.]
(What's interesting is that when their hands touched, thermal
imaging suggested that both of their heart rates jumped. I'd bet
you anything that had I cut them open at that very moment, I'd have
found their brains soaking in norepinephrine and their hearts
flooded with adrenaline. Young love! –DS)
D. GEARY: You never know what kind of stories are hiding inside
you!
(We know. And it looks like it won't be hard to keep Mr. Jones
around should we need bigger… samples of his genetic
information. –DS)
Transcript ends.///
17 December 2013=
Rattling Cages
At 9:47pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages…
REPORT BEGINS:
Gavin's Japanese is flawless, but often a little rude. He marched
up to the HQ of the Onmoraki-Gumi and demanded an audience
with their new leader. Gavin had Emmanuel with him and was
confident that the odds were in his favour.
The stylish thug guarding the door introduced himself as Kiyoshi
Takakura, and invited them to leave before he was forced to
administer a horrible beating.
Gavin repeated his demand, and tossed in a little insult about the
man's ridiculous fashion sense. He's always going on about
psychological warfare. His old Mentor, the one whose death we
are investigating, always told him that once you get inside their
heads and rattle them, then you've won the fight before the first
punch ever gets thrown.
Tonight, the first punch that got thrown hit Gavin square in the jaw.
I remain your humble spy.
A Horrible Beating
At 9:50pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages…
REPORT BEGINS:
Kiyoshi kicked the shit out of Gavin. Gavin cried out to Emmanuel
for help, only to be reminded that although he is the ship's
armorer, Manny is a pacifist.
Between Gavin cursing Emmanuel's moral character and
Kiyoshi's laughter echoing through the streets, two other Yakuza
emerged from the building. They watched Kiyoshi beat up an old
white man and cheered loudly to support him, but Emmanuel
overheard them talking to themselves. One suggested that
"Grandma" wouldn't like this kind of attention. And the other
agreed that she had worked hard to keep the Brotherhood out of
sight.
Emmanuel's Japanese isn't as polished as Gavin's, but he knew
enough to realize that everyone there was on the same side. It
was at that moment that Kiyoshi cried out in fury and brought down
his hidden blade towards Gavin, and Manny stepped in between
them.
I remain your humble spy.
No Harm
At 9:51pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages…
REPORT BEGINS:
Emmanuel caught Kiyoshi's fist in his hand, but the blade
punched straight through. Emmanuel's grip never weakened, and
Kiyoshi was surprised that this gaijin was, as he later put it,
"almost Japanese in the way he deals with pain."
Emmanuel, in his broken Japanese, asked if Kiyoshi could recite
the first tenet of the Assassin's Creed. Kiyoshi, suddenly weary,
answered honestly: Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent.
Emmanuel brought up his other hand and pulled out a dog tag, a
memento from his previous life. On it was burned a certain
insignia that matched the one done in elaborate tattoos peeking
out from Kiyoshi's shirt.
Kiyoshi retracted the hidden blade and offered a sincere apology.
I remain your humble spy.
18 December 2013=
The Osaka Brotherhood
At 1:03am, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages…
REPORT BEGINS:
Osaka's new Mentor is a 78-year old woman who laughed at
Gavin's poor battered face when she saw it and assured us that
he was always a troublesome little boy.
Back then, he knew her as Saeko Mochizuki, the wife of Kenichi
Mochizuki, one of his first Mentors, who died in the old Bureau.
Their cell had escaped Abstergo, only to be killed by Yakuza.
Saeko led the surviving Assassins on a mission of revenge, and
took over the gang. These days, she's known as "Osoroshii
Baba", and she's using the Onmoraki-Gumi to blend her
Assassins into the city.
It's a natural fit, she explained, as both Yakuza and the Assassins
work in the dark to serve the light, citing the Yakuza's long history
of chivalrous acts towards the common people. Gavin kept his
criticisms to himself while in her presence, but the look on his
face was not one of approval.
I remain your humble spy.
<gallery>
GOG TheOsakaBrotherhood M.jpg|Saeko Mochizuki
<gallery>
20 December 2013=
A New Kind of War
At 12:10pm, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
Osoroshii Baba was happy to be reunited with Gavin, but warned
him that they were recovering from battles with Abstergo and
Yakuza and were low on resources. Japan's restrictive gun laws
and harsh penalties keep them at a disadvantage against
Abstergo's unlimited resources.
Gavin offered the guns we bought in the Philippines as tribute to
their new Brotherhood and gave her the contact info for his supplier.
In return, Baba gave him a new type of Animus headset, stolen
from a nearby Abstergo facility. The Templars are up to something
big and she fears that their war will soon escalate into a new
dimension, only she isn't sure what that will be.
And neither am I. How is it that we are only hearing about this now?
We need to dig deeper.
I remain your humble spy.
<gallery>
GOG ANewKindOfWar L.jpg|Abstergo's Animus headset
<gallery>
23 December 2013=
Help Wanted
At 8:29am, the Initiate spy updated an entry in Osaka.
Uploading to the Initiates Database in all available languages...
REPORT BEGINS:
Dr. Chiu changed the bandage on Emmanuel's hand while Gavin's
complaints could be heard echoing through the ship.
“Emmanuel lets a guy stab him, and Chewy makes such a fuss.
Meanwhile, I get turned into living hamburger, and I have to take care
of myself. I'm fighting for a world with more justice than this!”
Dr. Chiu reminded him that he was an old man and shouldn't pick fights
with trained Yakuza Assassins half his age.
“I wouldn't have to if fucking Manny did his fucking job!”
Emmanuel never answers. Creed or no, he will never take another human
life, not after what happened on his first mission as an Assassin.
And Gavin knows this, and constantly feels guilty for putting him in
impossible situations. I still have to shake my head at the idea of an
Assassin who won't kill. A fourth irony.
“What we need,” grumbles the echo, “is an enforcer.”
I remain your humble spy.
<gallery>
GOG HelpWanted.jpg|Emmanuel's injured hand
<gallery>
Security camera footage of New York
Security footage of the hangar
Security camera footage of the victim
