Assassin's Creed: Destiny of Souls

Chapter 6

The darkness closed in as his presence faded, but the warmth of his voice lingered, echoing through her mind as if trying to fill the hollow ache that settled in her chest. Claire clutched the ring around her neck, her fingers tightening around the cool metal as she pressed it against her heart, grounding herself in the single promise she would not let go of. Desmond's legacy would endure. She would find Elijah. She would protect him, no matter the cost, even if it meant fighting her way out of the hell Abstergo had forced her into.

She braced herself to be pulled back into the cold confines of the Animus room. But as her vision cleared, she found herself not in the Animus, but instead in the Black Room—a sterile, desolate landscape where programming bled into memory, a liminal space she knew all too well. Her senses adjusted to the emptiness, the vastness of the room stretching infinitely in all directions, a stark wasteland devoid of color or warmth. It was the place she'd ventured years ago, in that desperate attempt to pull Desmond back from his coma—a place where time stood still and reality felt frayed at the edges.

Claire felt a shiver creep up her spine, a reaction not only to the cold but to the chilling familiarity of this place. Shadows shifted around her, phasing in and out of existence like ghostly echoes. The air held a strange artificial weight, as if it were stagnant, an endless stretch of digital silence interrupted only by a faint, directionless breeze that carried no scent, no life.

Beside her, Juno's form materialized, emerging from the darkness like a statue brought to life. Tall, statuesque, and shrouded in an unnatural light, Juno stood with an air of supremacy, her gaze piercing and unyielding, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth as if relishing this unexpected encounter. Her presence was as unnerving as ever, her face impassive, her eyes holding a depth of malice and knowledge that sent an involuntary chill down Claire's spine.

"You desynchronized from the memory," Juno stated, her voice carrying a detached, almost clinical precision. "The system is being rebooted as we speak, providing us... a few precious moments." Her gaze lingered on Claire, each glance as cold and calculated as a scientist observing a test subject, savoring the hold she maintained, even here.

Claire's jaw clenched, defiance flashing in her eyes. She had little patience for Juno's games, especially now, in this hollow place where the lines between herself and the machine were more fragile than ever. "I don't need your games, Juno," she replied sharply, voice tight with resentment. "Why are we here?"

Juno's lips curled, her eyes narrowing with a hint of intrigue, as if delighted by Claire's resistance. "Consider this... a rare opportunity," she purred, her words sliding from her mouth like venom. "An anomaly in the Animus programming allows you to reach beyond this machine, to communicate with the outside world."

Claire's heart leapt, the possibility igniting a spark of desperate hope. She could reach out—to Aiden, to the Brotherhood. She could tell them where she was, that she was alive. But even as the thought took hold, her mind bristled with suspicion. She had learned well that Juno never offered anything freely.

"Why?" Claire demanded, her eyes narrowing with distrust. "What do you get out of this?"

Juno raised an eyebrow, her expression one of amused indifference, as if Claire's question had only confirmed her expectations. "What I 'get' is irrelevant," she replied, her tone laced with a patronizing edge. "Consider it a moment of... curiosity. I wish to see what you will do with this opportunity. How much loyalty and conviction you truly possess." Her gaze sharpened, as though assessing the measure of Claire's resolve.

Ignoring Juno's calculating gaze, Claire's thoughts spun, racing through possibilities of who might hear her if she could push a message through this strange, temporary rift in the Animus. Her mind leapt to faces she hadn't seen in years—Shaun, Rebecca, people who had fought alongside her and Desmond. A surge of determination hardened in her chest as she thought about Elijah. They had to know about him, somehow, that there was still a piece of Desmond out there, someone who deserved a life untouched by Abstergo's reach. The thought sparked a fierce, unrelenting resolve within her, igniting her purpose anew.