Assassin's Creed Initiates: Surveillance - Osaka
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| 1 - Osaka // Japan // 2013-12-03 // 23:51 - TESTING DATABASE UPLOAD
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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.
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 | 2 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-04 // 13:12 - OSAKA HE YOUKOSO (WELCOME TO OSAKA)
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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.
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 | 3 - Osaka // Japan // 2013-12-06 // 22:39 - THE SAFETY OF INFORMATION
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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.
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 | 4 - Osaka // Japan // 2013-12-12 // 14:20 - OSAKA’S UNDERWORLD
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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. | |
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 | 5 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-13 // 09:04 - WHO LEADS THE ONMORAKI-GUMI?
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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.
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 | 6 - PHILADELPHIA // USA // 2013-12-16 // 09:22 - THE LOOK OF LOVE
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 .///
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 | 7 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-17 // 21:47 - RATTLING CAGES
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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.
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 | 8 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-17 // 20:50 - A HORRIBLE BEATING
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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.
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 | 9 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-17 // 21:51 - NO HARM
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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.
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 | 10 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-18 // 01:03 - THE OSAKA BROTHERHOOD
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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” (the terrible grandma), 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.
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 | 11 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-20 // 12:10 - A NEW KIND OF WAR
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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.
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 | 12 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-23 // 08:29 - HELP WANTED
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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.
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 | 13 - OSAKA // JAPAN // 2013-12-25 // 18:38 - CHRISTMAS WITH THE BROTHERHOOD
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REPORT BEGINS:
The ship was still, anchored. The crew was at the table, together.
Nodar Ninidze, our chief steward, outdid himself again this year and while the dinner was consumed, the conversation was allowed to approach topics that didn't include murder, conspiracies, and desperate survival.
This year, like last year, Akaki Ninidze, our chief engineer, demanded to know how his brother managed to smuggle a turkey on the ship. Nodar replied to his little brother with the shit-eating grin of an older brother and said nothing.
Instead, he offered the crew a bottle of the Ninidze Brothers special reserve, made in a rickety still in the deepest bowels of the ship, and for one magic night, it didn't taste like something scraped off the side of a drug addict's bathtub.
Of course, I know how Nodar does it, but I like the guy, so I'll keep this one secret, even from you.
I remain your festive spy. | |
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 | 14 - TOKYO // JAPAN // 2014-01-01 // 00:00 - R.I.P. 2013
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REPORT BEGINS:
Captain Susan Drayton was not one to embarrass easily, but a bolt of shame crept into her cheeks as Osoroshii Baba began to tidy up the inside of her ship. Eric Cooper, (who by the way, declared himself the winner of our bet and now uses all the hot water in the morning!) had brought her aboard for a tour, and the old lady sucked air through her teeth at the state of things. She informed them that in Japan, New Year's Eve was a chance to start the next year off with a clean slate, which could only be accomplished by having a clean house. She even caught me skulking about and dragged me into the cleaning team. The old Mentor rewarded our efforts with homemade toshikoshi soba, which was delicious.
Emmanuel and Kiyoshi sparred for three hours, before Kiyoshi dragged him out to a karaoke bar. Dr. Chiu filmed him singing with her phone, and Emmanuel swore that he would renounce his stance on killing if she ever showed it to anyone.
The Hacker, the Chief Engineer, and the Chief Steward went shopping. Emmett stockpiled the strange mutant cousins of American snackfood for the next leg of our endless journey. Wasabi chocolate bars, seafood ice cream, and something called a placenta jelly drink. For an arthritic hacker, he's certainly a braver man than I. Akaki bought classic samurai films on DVD and I look forward to his next movie night. Nodar, meanwhile, spent $300 to eat a meal prepared by a man revered as the last living master sushi chef.
When Gavin gets stressed, he runs, scrambling across rooftops as only an Assassins can. I don't doubt that he was thinking of his old friend and Mentor, who must have taught him so much, and who was now just another ghost to chase him around the world.
This is where my team of Assassins were at the stroke of midnight. Where were you?
I remain your humble spy.
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 | 15 - PACIFIC OCEAN // 2014-01-02 // 16:46 - MOVING ON
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REPORT BEGINS:
Satisfied that there is an Assassin presence in Japan, Gavin has made the call to move on.
Again, we take our direction from another riddle in William's book.
Emmett, recovering from a two-day bender of Japanese corn syrup and his complex hybrid sativa, asks Gavin why he can't just call up William for the answer, now that he has returned to the Good Fight.
“First of all, Bill gave us the book, so it's our mission, end of story. Second of all, just because I know Bill's back, doesn't mean I know where he is or how to get in touch with him,” is Gavin's answer, “And besides, it just wouldn't be any fun if we had all the answers from the start.”
I wonder where we are going next.
I remain your humble spy.
TEXT FROM THE PICTURE
The city of Silene, Libya, was menaced by a dragon. To appease it, the people fed it their children, chosen by lottery. When the king's daughter Sabra was chosen, he told the people they could have all his gold and half of his kingdom if it saved his daugther, but they refused. The daughter was sent to the dragon.
By chance, a man rode past and Sabra tried to send him away, but the man chose to remain. The dragon emerged and the man fortified himself with the sign of the cross, charged at it with his enchanted sword, called Ascalon, and wounded it.
Sabra and the man led the Dragon back to Silene. The man said that if they obeyed his order, he would slay the dragon. The king agreed and on the site where the dragon died, the king built a temple that housed the man's wondrous sword, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.
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 | 16 - MONTREAL // CANADA // 2014-02-07 // 09:27 - A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM
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Update:
Things have calmed down since the excitement in the fall.
I was looking into the code of Animus Omega and I noticed a small error which was causing aspects of the simulation to malfunction.
I know I'm not supposed to leave any traces, but I fixed it. We need the simulation running at peak performance to get the information we need.
I've attached a file that should prove useful.
Your Man in Montreal.
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