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So, yeah, this is kind of an ambitious pet project of mine. I'm actually supposed to be studying for an exam, but I just can't get this idea out of my head, so I need to let it out for now. I hope to update this regularly, at least once my exams are over on the 20th.

This fanfic is a crossover between the storylines of Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and of course, Katawa Shoujo. I'll be changing most of the Assassin's Creed lore to fit this, so familiarity with Assassin's Creed is not that essential. However, familiarity with Mass Effect is necessary to understand this fic. This is also my first long term planned fic. This prologue just sets up how the three stories connect.

Constructive criticism, or even outright harsh criticism is welcome. I'd like to know whether my writing is any good.

Note:
Commander Shepard is a female Sentinel (Colonist, War Hero backgrounds) named Elizabeth, as in my latest ME3 playthrough. But this story doesn't focus on Shepard, so that shouldn't be a problem.
Hisao's story is post Lilly good end.

Well, then, on with it.



Table of contents:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Prologue:

"Commander, Admiral Anderson's available on vid-comm," said communications specialist Samantha Traynor as Commander Elizabeth Shepard walked over to the galaxy map. "However, he suggests that you contact him via the private terminal in your cabin as he wishes to discuss a classified matter." "Alright, patch him through," replied Shepard as she walked over to the main elevator of the Normandy SR-2.

Arriving at her destination, she fired up the holographic interface on her cabin desk and waited as the calm face of Admiral David Anderson appeared on it. "Shepard, any news from Admiral Hackett about the Crucible? Have they found any intel on the Catalyst yet?" Anderson went straight to the matter at hand. Rightly so, as every second they wasted reduced their chances against the reapers. "Not as far as I know, Anderson, " said Shepard. "But I assume this is not why you contacted me? You would have contacted Admiral Hackett directly, if so." "Yes, and no," Anderson gave a dry chuckle. "Indeed I have contacted Admiral Hackett, but there is something that you should know, and yes, it is about the Catalyst. Or so we believe," he paused for a short while. "First, check your armor locker. I had a package delivered to you from the Citadel." "Not you too, Anderson!" Shepard gave an exaggerated sigh. "I really didn't like the Illusive Man sneaking stuff into my locker either." With that, she left Anderson with an amused expression on his face to get the "package" out of her armor locker.

What she found, however, surprised her. She wasn't sure what she expected, but it sure was not... "A helmet?" began Shepard as she walked back to her terminal, "wha—," but was quickly interrupted by Anderson. "Put it on." Driven by curiosity, she carefully slid it on to her head. The computerized interface in it quickly sprang to life. "Welcome to the Animus Project," an almost monotonous female voice spoke. "Please authorize connection to your omni-tool". The voice was oddly soothing. "Shepard?" Anderson's voice was heard over the terminal. "Link it up to me." Raising her left arm, Shepard entered a few details on her omni-tool. "Done."

Suddenly, the world around her was no more. She was staring into a greyish-white abyss that seemed to go on forever. More than that, looking down at herself, Shepard saw that she was no longer herself. She was, in fact, a young man, dressed in odd clothing. Somehow, she knew that the clothing style was an old Italian, though she had no idea how she knew this bit of information. "Anderson?" she called out. "This... simulation... or whatever it is, seems to be unable to detect my gender. It's kinda weird to be a man..." she said dryly. "That would be because this is not a simulation, Shepard," came the reply. "Just calm yourself down and pay attention. It's easier for me to show you than to explain." "Alright, I'm calm," said Shepard, though 'calm' may have not been the right word to describe her state of mind at the time. Nevertheless, she tried to relax her mind and stared into the empty void that surrounded her.

Some text appeared in front of her eyes [Animus Project ver. 11.0: Loading memory from file /source/S17.anima] as the previously heard female voice said "Beginning synchronization," and the endless void began to fill with detail. Shepard instantly knew that she was looking at 15th century Italy. Florence, to be specific, though just like earlier, she had no idea how she actually knew that. The young man was hurriedly climbing the side of a tall building with surprising dexterity. Next moment, he was running across town, jumping from roof to roof, with another young man, his elder brother, in hot pursuit. It was a race, and the destination seemed to be a church nearby. A quick flash. The scene had forwarded to atop the church. The young man and his brother appeared to be in high spirits as they looked down over the city. "It is a good life we lead, brother. May it never change," the elder man was saying, to which the younger man was replying "May it never change us." Flash. The man was looking into the eyes of his lover. Flash. He was dashing through the crowds, screaming, as his father and brothers were hung unjustly. Flash. A sharp blade emerging from his armor at the wrist. Flash. Thrusting the blade into a guard's neck in anger. Flash. Sneaking across the Sistine Chapel. Flash. "When I started this fight, I did not think it would span a lifetime." Now much older, walking into a dark room with a glowing orb at the end. "But I soon discovered, it will span many more." Touching the orb. And then, as soon as they came, the visions were gone. Shepard, still in the form of the man, who was now rather old, was back in the greyish-white void, with the orb she saw in the final vision floating in front of her. As if by instinct, she reached forth and grabbed it.

Once again, the void was filled. But this time, Shepard knew the relevance of the visions. The visions were brief flashes of a reaper attack. The planet seemed to be Earth, but the structures on it were nothing like the Earth she knew. Yet, it was Earth, possibly of an earlier cycle, before the protheans. The flashes indicated a species, physically very much similar to humans, struggling to hold off the reapers, and also trying to build what looked like the Crucible. And then, the 'simulation' ended. "Synchronization complete," the voice of the Animus spoke. Shepard quickly pulled off the helmet, which she now felt was suffocating her, and realized that she was sweating and panting.

"Anderson..." she struggled to form the words. "What did I just see? I mean I think I know what it was, at least the last bit, bu—" "Calm down, Shepard," said Anderson via the comm link. "Your reaction, and obvious confusion, is understandable. I too learned this recently, and of course, had a similar reaction. What you just saw was a memory. A memory of Ezio Auditore, a man who lived in Italy, about eight hundred years ago, long before we discovered galactic civilization. Actually, a few parts of his memory. The most important part being the very last bit where he found a certain artefact—" "Is that the Catalyst?" Shepard wasn't feeling very patient at the moment. "That might be jumping the gun, so to speak," came Anderson's reply. "It is possible that it could be the Catalyst, but it could also be a part of the Catalyst, or at the very least, a device that could give us much more information including its location."

"Alright, you want me to retrieve it?" asked Shepard. "I assume it's no longer on Earth, seeing as you contacted me." "I believe this is when it gets... let's use the term 'interesting' for now" said Anderson. "There are obscure records of several of these artefacts being present on Earth during various stages of human history. However, most of them were destroyed in the year 2012 due to a certain incident. But there are also records of one of them, just one, surfacing a little while later, though that is the last we have heard of it." By now, Shepard was feeling quite confused. "So how do I help you with this?" she wondered. "After all, maybe that artefact was also destroyed, just like the others, but later on." "That is what I need your help with finding out. You see, this memory you just saw, was not extracted from the man himself. Are you familiar with the concept of genetic memory, Shepard?" Anderson was looking pointedly at her. "Yes, but it has so far not been proven." said Shepard, as she really wasn't sure what to make of it. "Are you saying that what I saw was actually a memory taken from a descendant of that man?" "Yes," replied Anderson. "Unless there were memory retrieval and saving technologies in the 15th century, that is the only way we can come to possess this memory after all." Anderson paused for a slight moment. "Look, I know all this can be a little hard to take in. But the basic thing is this. To find what happened to the final artefact, we need a descendant of the man who had it finally. And lucky for us, we have found one. Which is where you come in."

"Who is that, and how am I connected?" Shepard was quite intrigued by this new developement. Some development was always better than none, and this seemed to be much more than 'some'. "Your former crew member, who I hear is already working to help build the Crucible," said Anderson. "Kasumi Goto." "Just out of curiosity, Anderson," began Shepard, as a plan formulated in her mind on how to get the elusive thief's attention once again. "How did you find all this? And how trustworthy is this intel in the first place?" "Well, it wouldn't hurt to let you know some things, I believe," said Anderson, and Shepard's omni-tool beeped. [Codex updated. New entries: The Assassin Order, Knights Templar, Abstergo Industries] "Read up on these when you have time."

Two weeks later, master thief Kasumi Goto was in the AI Core room of the Normandy SR-2 with Commander Shepard herself. "I don't know how I let you get me roped into this, Shep," whined Kasumi in an exaggerated manner, though Shepard knew that she did want to help. "Let's get this over with." With that, she popped on the Animus device. Shepard raised her left arm and entered some details into her omni-tool. "You ready to save this, EDI?" she spoke to the ship's AI. "Ready to record data, Shepard," came the AI's electronic voice. "Do it."

Kasumi stared blankly at the void surrounding her. "Searching for ancestor data," said the voice of the Animus. "Ancestor name: Hisao, Family name: Nakai. Ancestor data found. Data recording started." And then, she saw the first glimpses of her ancestor's life as the text [saving memory to file /source/S65.anima] scrolled across her vision.

Next chapter =>

You should consider renaming this as the AssAssAss

I am familiar with Mass Effect but not with this Kasumi Goto... She's either a very minor character or from a DLC...
So, how does Anderson know what Shepard would see in her genetic memory? Since the animus is supposed to be the only means of accessing this information, he couldn't have known about this Ezio before Shepard activated it.

...

A THREE-WAY crossover?

Excuse me while I disembowel myself.

My interest is piqued. But I hope the ending is better than Mass Effect 3's! (Oh god, I'm jumping on a hate bandwagon that got old over a month ago...)

I am familiar with Mass Effect but not with this Kasumi Goto... She's either a very minor character or from a DLC...

She is DLC character from ME2, she is of Asian decent (Japanese, I believe),which is probably why the author chose her to be the one who has the genetic memories.

Well, my interest is piqued.

Brogurt wrote:You should consider renaming this as the AssAssAss

I know the name isn't exactly the best, but I really couldn't think of a good name for it, so I came up with this...

Mirage_GSM wrote:I am familiar with Mass Effect but not with this Kasumi Goto... She's either a very minor character or from a DLC...
So, how does Anderson know what Shepard would see in her genetic memory? Since the animus is supposed to be the only means of accessing this information, he couldn't have known about this Ezio before Shepard activated it.

Yeah, she's a DLC character. http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Kasumi_Goto From Mass Effect 2.
Oh, and about the genetic memory thing, Shepard is not a descendant of Ezio. I'm using the ACB and ACR multiplayer mechanic as a plot device here. In MP, storywise, the genetic memories of certain subjects are extracted to get the MP ancestors, and then those extracted memories are used by all the Templars in training. The same way, Ezio's memories have been saved, extracted from someone. Probably Desmond, which is why I used the "S17" label, but he will probably not be a part of this story.

Silentcook wrote:...

A THREE-WAY crossover?

Excuse me while I disembowel myself.

Sorry! This is the kinda thing that happens when someone is really really bored and is not feeling like studying for his upcoming exam. To be honest, I really don't know how I came up with this weird idea.

Roamin12 wrote:My interest is piqued. But I hope the ending is better than Mass Effect 3's! (Oh god, I'm jumping on a hate bandwagon that got old over a month ago...)

I am familiar with Mass Effect but not with this Kasumi Goto... She's either a very minor character or from a DLC...

She is DLC character from ME2, she is Asian,which is probably why the author chose her to be the one who has the genetic memories.

Yup. That's the case. I assumed she's Japanese, because of her Asian appearance and Japanese name, and of course, because she also writes haiku aboutJacob.

Hoitash wrote:Well, my interest is piqued.

I hope I can manage to keep it that way.

Yup. That's the case. I assumed she's Japanese, because of her Asian appearance and Japanese name, and of course, because she also writes haiku about Jacob.

I completely forgot about the Hiaku, that was definitely, interesting...

Sorry! This is the kinda thing that happens when someone is really really bored and is not feeling like studying for his upcoming exam. To be honest, I really don't know how I came up with this weird idea.

I've come up with weirder, and I've written a few, just never have and never will post them.

Hello, everyone. Thanks to those who read this. Here is the next chapter. It turned out a bit more cheesy than I expected, but this is how I envisioned an "ideal" happy ending to their time at Yamaku after playing through all five paths.



Previous chapter <=

Chapter 1:

Disclaimer: Some Kenji dialogue in this chapter is from the game itself, and is not my work.

Commander Shepard walked out of the AI core room and into the med-bay. "Doctor Chakwas?" she called out to the resident doctor of the Normandy SR-2, Dr. Karin Chakwas. "Please keep on monitoring her condition. Admiral Anderson told me that memory dumping can be a very straining process, but she insists that she can't stick around to go through the memories herself, so we have to do it this way." "Already on it, Shepard," Dr. Chakwas gave a knowing smile. "I also have the Animus Project safety guide sent by the Admiral right here, and I have also given the necessary instructions to EDI. Trust me, Commander, I'm ready for any problems that may occur during this process. Though I must say, I'm rather intrigued by this technology. To think this has been in existance since the 21st century? I never thought technology could be hidden like this. After all, everything usually leaks out in some form." Shepard looked thoughtful for a while. "Let's just not try and come up with what else they might be hiding, doctor," she gave a laugh. "We'll end up being overly paranoid about everything. Keep me posted on how it goes."

Inside the AI core room, Kasumi was once again walking around the void, which EDI informed her was called the 'white room', as it changed into the setting of what seemed to be a school. "Resuming memory dump," the voice of the Animus spoke.

Hisao Nakai opened his eyes groggilly, trying to remember where he was. From the look of things, it seemed to be a bit too early to wake up. He tried to look at the clock next to him, but it made no sense to his sleepy mind. On further inspection, however, he realized that the clock would not make sense to him either way, sleepy or not, for it was a braille clock. With the braille clock, where he is and everything that had led to him being there came crashing back, and he quickly turned around to look at the golden haired girl sleeping peacefully next to him. "This must be what an angel looks like," he thought. He felt strangely at peace as he continued to watch her sleep, as his mind wandered to the chain of incidents that led him to where he is now. Thoughts of his second heart attack hovered over his mind. But one more look at the girl and he knew... "It was worth it, Lilly," he spoke softly. Sadly, the moment of peace was not to be, as he realized that a hint of light was beginning to enter through window. He had to get out before anyone else could know that he spent the night at the girls' dormitory, much less in a girl's bed. However, as he tried to slowly get up, he was suddenly blocked by Lilly's arm which now lay across his chest. "Stay with me," came her sleepy voice, and he knew wasn't going to be able to resist. Not after everything he had been through. He was going to treasure every single moment with her. With that thought, he snuggled closer to Lilly, and in a moment, felt sleep take over his body.

A soft knocking sound from the door woke Hisao, and he quickly sat upright on the bed. "Shit. Someone's here," he thought as his panicked mind raced through his available options. It was evidently daytime, and he had lost his chance to sneak out unseen. Luckily for him, Hanako's soft voice sounded outside the door. "Lilly, a-are you in there?" her voice was almost a whisper. Hisao felt his stomach return to its proper position. Spotting his clothes lying a few metres away, he quickly put them on and walked to the door. After looking back at the still asleep Lilly, he carefully opened the door a crack and peeked out. Hanako's cheeks turned red as she realized what had happened, as Hisao beckoned her in, and locked the door. "Y-you didn't t-turn up for class, and L-lilly hadn't either, so I looked—" began Hanako hurriedly, but he managed to quickly silence her. "It's okay. I'm sorry we worried you. Didn't mean to," he said, and looked pointedly at Lilly. "I guess it's time for the lady to wake up," he said, earning a rare chuckle from Hanako, as he attempted to wake the 'sleeping beauty' up. As she stirred, Hisao felt happy as he thought of the three of them, their own little family. Sure, life was going to soon intervene, and they probably wouldn't get to stay 'together forever', but he was determined to enjoy every minute he got with his loving girlfriend Lilly and their best friend Hanako.

And then, the world faded away. "Fast forwarding memory to a more recent one," the voice of the Animus was always to the point.

Graduation day. The day they all knew would come, but somehow didn't expect to face anytime soon. It was finally here. After their small graduation ceremony, Hisao was making his way towards the friends that he wanted to say goodbye to before the day was done. "They said I would have to graduate eventually," Kenji began as Hisao approached him. "Well, I showed them. I've lived here rent free for more than long enough. If you take into account the rising cost of land, I think you could say I've won in the end. No, you know what? I did win. History will acknowledge me as the victor." "The victor of what?" Hisao couldn't help asking. "I managed to stay out of sight, and slipped through the cracks. I beat the system," said Kenji proudly. "So, what you're basically saying is, you won't miss it?" asked Hisao. "No, I told you, this place is too filled with feminists. I'll only come back, years later, when they build a statue to honour me, "replied Kenji. "Anyway, I have to start packing now. Take care of yourself, man." "You take care of yourself, too," said Hisao as Kenji left.

"Take care of yourself..." That was the first time Hisao had heard him say anything of the sort. He was rather annoying at times, but Hisao knew that he'd miss Kenji, oddly. After some more time with a few more people, Hisao decided that he's done with the goodbyes, and went to meet Lilly at the school gates, where they were going to see Hanako off on her trip with the newspaper club. By the time he gets there, Lilly is already there, and is hugging an almost tearful Hanako. But as he closed the distance between them, and she let go of Lilly and turned to him, he could see that her face was brimming with happiness. Tears of joy. Rather uncharacteristically for Hanako, she quickly dashed towards Hisao and sprang into his arms. "Thank you. Thanks so much to both of you. I-I'm s-so happy that you two are my friends," she said earnestly, as he held her gently. "Thank you too, Hanako," he replied, meaning every word he said. "I found Lilly because of you, and the two of you helped me get back on with my life." Together, they walked over to Lilly, who quickly linked her arm with Hisao's, and Naomi of the newspaper club produced a camera. "Say cheese, folks!" Photos were taken, and phone numbers and email addresses were updated. With a heartfelt promise to keep in touch, Hanako left Yamaku Academy with her new friends, leaving Hisao and Lilly to themselves.

"So, we have a lot of time left in the day," said Hisao, bringing himself physically even closer to Lilly. He could almost feel her heartbeat. "My, my, that we do," she giggled. "But before anything else, how about we go for one last stroll across the school?" "I can live with that." And on they went. At the track, they met Emi and Rin, where they learned that Rin had won a scholarship to study at a Tokyo art school, and that Emi and her mother were planning to go to Tokyo with her as well. "Congratulations, Rin!" Hisao was genuinely happy for her. Even Lilly, who usually avoided Rin due to being unable to understand her, seemed to be happy about the development. After saying goodbye to the two friends, and covering almost all of the school premises, they still had one more place left to go to. "The roof," reminded Lilly, and together, they climbed the stairs leading to the roof, through the door with the broken lock.

Up there, however, the sight that awaited Hisao was not one that he expected. It didn't surprise him as much as he thought it would, but he didn't expect it either, that much he was certain. Shizune and Misha were seated alongside the iron railing, locked in a tight embrace, oblivious to the world. It was obvious that the act was of a 'more than friends' nature, and he couldn't stop a small smile from forming. He almost wanted to let them be and steer Lilly away somewhere else, but as soon as that thought came, it was replaced by memories of them often getting him to help out with their student council work. This was too good a chance to just drop, he thought, and cleared his throat loudly. As expected, Misha jumped backwards, her face almost brighter than her pink hair, which she had trimmed, and was now missing the iconic drills that Hisao had come to associate Misha with. It took some time for Shizune to notice what had happened, but unsurprisingly, she managed to keep her cool demeanour, unlike Misha. "H-hi, Hichchan! Lilly! Wahaha~! W-we were... um... W-wahaha~! Shichchan and I were..." Misha was getting redder and redder by the moment. "We were—" "Having fun, weren't you?" interrupted Hisao, and he began laughing, an infectious laugh that soon spread to Lilly as well. It seemed Lilly had understood what happened as well, and was wearing a chesire cat grin. "Congratulations, you two," said Hisao, managing to curb his laughter. "From me as well," added Lilly. Misha looked at Shizune and signed, who signed back and turned to Hisao with a smile. "Thanks, Hichchan, and Lilly. Shichchan says thanks too." With that the two of them hurried downstairs, leaving Hisao and Lilly on the roof.

"That was... interesting," Lilly turned her chesire cat grin towards Hisao. "How... how did you figure it out so quickly?" asked Hisao, a little surprised. "Let's just say I have my ways," said Lilly, mysteriously. "Of course, Misha's voice and the way she stuttered was enough on its own right," she giggled. As they sat on the roof, in the comfort of each other's company, Misha's voice once again sounded as she peeped in through the door. "Hichchan, come take a photo with us!" Her voice had regained its bubbly nature. "Shichchan said to ask Lilly to come too." "Sure thing, Misha" said Hisao, and hand in hand with Lilly, followed Misha downstairs where Shizune waited with their librarian, waitress at the Shanghai, and most importantly, trustworthy friend, Yuuko Shirakawa, who was holding a camera, though she didn't seem very enthusiastic about taking photos.

And then, everything faded to black. [Ancestor memory dump at 60%. Process suspended by user.] "You can take the helmet off now, Miss Goto," Kasumi heard Dr. Chakwas say. "Time to rest. This process can be very stressful, and the Commander wanted me to ensure that you won't suffer any adverse effects."

Next chapter =>

I had my doubts at first, but I'm actually enjoying this story quite a bit. And as a huge fan of the Mass Effect and Assassins Creed series, I must say you are really spot on with with the stories and lore (I guess "lore" is the appropriate word) of both series. Can't wait for the chapters to come!

Pro PandaBear wrote:I had my doubts at first, but I'm actually enjoying this story quite a bit. And as a huge fan of the Mass Effect and Assassins Creed series, I must say you are really spot on with with the stories and lore (I guess "lore" is the appropriate word) of both series. Can't wait for the chapters to come!

I hope I can keep you entertained through the rest of it too.
Oh, I'm a huge fan of both too. My favourite franchises this gen. Though ME3 left a lot to be desired by the end. I'm gonna have to change some of the AC lore, though, to fit with the whole reaper scenario. Oh, and off topic: Talking about AC, Only two notches to go in the bar! The gameplay trailer is almost here. I'm so excited.

acewing905 wrote:

Pro PandaBear wrote:I had my doubts at first, but I'm actually enjoying this story quite a bit. And as a huge fan of the Mass Effect and Assassins Creed series, I must say you are really spot on with with the stories and lore (I guess "lore" is the appropriate word) of both series. Can't wait for the chapters to come!

I hope I can keep you entertained through the rest of it too.
Oh, I'm a huge fan of both too. My favourite franchises this gen. Though ME3 left a lot to be desired by the end. I'm gonna have to change some of the AC lore, though, to fit with the whole reaper scenario. Oh, and off topic: Talking about AC, Only two notches to go in the bar! The gameplay trailer is almost here. I'm so excited.

I liked the chapter, and as long as it doesn't deviate too much, I won't mind the modified lore that much.
Same here, AC3 is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated games this year, right behind #2: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm #1: Diablo III.And I agree on the ME3's ending, my choices didn't even matter at that point.

Roamin12 wrote: I liked the chapter, and as long as it doesn't deviate too much, I won't mind the modified lore that much.
Same here, AC3 is shaping up to be one of my most anticipated games this year, right behind #2: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm #1: Diablo III.And I agree on the ME3's ending, my choices didn't even matter at that point.

Glad you liked it. I will take great care to not modify more than what I feel would be necessary to integrate the two video game worlds. KS can of course fit in without needing such a change.

Hello, everyone! Thanks to those reading this. Here is the second chapter. A bit on the short side, I may edit a couple of things in this later, like the name of (minor spoilers for this chapter)Hisao and Lilly's first child.



Previous chapter <=

Chapter 2:

Kasumi took off the Animus interface that was beginning to weigh rather heavily, and shook her head. She felt like a child who was roused while in the middle of a good dream. "How do you feel?" EDI's electronic voice was heard asking. "Normal, I think," replied Kasumi, with a good look at her surroundings, to see whether her senses were behaving normally. "Am I supposed to feel any different?" "If things went right, no," said EDI. "But the Animus safety guide recommends that we check regularly for any unnatural symptoms." "Right. I'll keep that in mind," and with that Kasumi hauled herself over to a bed in the med bay, plopped herself on it and instantly fell asleep.

After a long nap, she awoke just in time to see Dr. Chakwas taking off the Animus interface off and getting up from her chair. "Enjoying free history lessons, doctor?" she couldn't resist asking with a smirk. The doctor shrugged. "Many of my ancestors seem to have led lives similar to mine, only without the threat of reapers about to obliterate them. It's still better than what you get on the extranet, of course." She raised her omni-tool and scanned Kasumi's vital signs. "Vitals are normal," she said. "If you're upto it, you can go have your meal now, and we'll continue the memory dump, so that we can find out whatever it is that Shepard needs to find." Kasumi nodded and went out to the mess hall.

Once she was done, she took a stroll to check out her old hideout in the Normandy, the port-side observation room, which she mentally declared as "ruined by the Alliance", and got back to the AI core room to continue her 'work'. "So," said Dr. Chakwas. "EDI tells me that most of the memory dump is complete." "Yeah, the Animus said something about sixty percent being complete. I'm pretty sure I didn't even see ten percent, though." replied Kasumi. "That is normal," explained EDI. "The memories of your ancestor are saved much faster than the rate at which you could safely experience them without suffering any adverse effects. Therefore, when the memory dump is in progress, you will be seeing only certain parts of your ancestor's memories. Usually, the parts tend to be what your ancestor considered his most important memories." "I see," said Kasumi. "His girlfriend sure seems to have been very important to him," she thought with a smile. "Alright, let's get to it."

Upon wearing the Animus interface and signalling EDI to start the process, Kasumi was once again in the white room, as Hisao Nakai took form. This time, he looked slightly older, and more mature. His unruly hair was tamed. "Must be in his thirties," she thought. "I'd say he's hot, actually, if he wasn't some great great grandfather of mine, in which case it would be borderline disgusting." [Resuming memory dump. Current progress: 60%] scrolled across her peripheral vision, as the voice of the Animus spoke. "Resuming memory dump." And the world took form around her.

Hisao and Lilly sat at a small low table. On the table, was a small, ornate teapot, filled with just the kind of tea that Lilly liked. Hisao looked at her. Even after all the years, her smiling, contented face made his heart beat faster. Luckily, new advances in medicine had significantly lowered the chances of that being able to instantly floor him. He reached across the table and touched her hand. Between their busy schedules, with Lilly as an English teacher at Yamaku and he himself a science teacher at a nearby college, they only got Sundays to themselves, and even those were sometimes taken over by piles of assignments to review and lessons to prepare. So the current moment was one to treasure. But at that instant, he was more excited than he had been in a long time. They were about to try and achieve something that would mean a lot to both of them. At least he hoped that it would be achievable. He wanted to share his world with her. And now, it seemed he might finally be able to give her a taste of it.

He brought the golden-brown orb out onto the table with his free hand. "Think you're ready for this, Lilly?" he asked, to confirm that she did want it. He was never one to pressure her into something she would find uncomfortable. "I've told you a few times now, Hisao," she giggled. "I am. I just hope it works. I am quite curious." "Okay, then," he said he gently placed her hand over it. Now was the hard part. He had practiced this many times before, but he still felt utterly nervous. He looked at her face, and as he focused on the vision of beauty before him, he willed the orb, which he somehow knew was called a 'Piece of Eden', to absorb his vision, to preserve it they way he saw it, and to direct it to the object of his affections. Suddenly, the Piece of Eden began to glow and hum. It glowed much brighter than it had when he practiced this alone. And in a moment, Lilly gasped, and quickly pulled her hand off. The glowing and humming stopped instantly. Hisao felt a chill run up his spine. "Lilly!" He got up and rushed over to her side of the table. "Are you alright? What happened? I'm so sorry, I didn't—" "It's alright, Hisao," she interrupted his rambling. "It's okay. Was a bit of a shock, that's all. I wasn't really counting on it to work, to be honest." "So... it did work?" Hisao sounded hopeful. "It did. At least I... I think it did," said Lilly. "But I'm not sure whether I could understand much of it. It was as if... as if there was a lot of... noise. I'm sorry, Hisao. I don't know how to explain it any better." She looked distraught, and Hisao felt terrible. Almost by instinct, he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, and felt her body slowly relax.

"I'm sorry, Lilly," Hisao whispered into her hair. "I was just so eager to... to share how I see the world, too eager that I didn't realize that it might be uncomfortable to you." "I told you, Hisao, it's okay." Lilly slowly let go of him and smiled. "Thank you. That was... that was me, wasn't it? What you showed me? Me, in this room, right?" Hisao couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, that's right. I wanted your first sight to be of something beautiful." Lilly swatted his chest. "You flatterer," she said, but she couldn't help the blush creeping up her cheeks. Hisao felt amazed at how they could make each other feel that way even after being together for so many years. "Well, we'll try it again sometime later," he heard Lilly say. "Maybe you could show me yourself? But I'd prefer if it's just you without the room around you, if that's possible. I'm not sure if I like... seeing... everything at once. Feels rather... overwhelming." "Sure, I'll see what more I can do with this thing to control what it shows you, said Hisao. "I should've planned it better. I'm sorry." "That's enough, Hisao," giggled Lilly, and Hisao was glad to see that she was feeling better already. "Let's go see if Minato is up from his morning nap. Hanako should be dropping by sometime later." "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," said Hisao. Minato should be up and ready by the time his favourite aunt pops in."

Suddenly, Kasumi was back in the white room. "Insufficient synchronization to continue ancestor memory," she heard the Animus voice say. The text [Ancestor memory dump in progress: 98%.] scrolled across her vision. "EDI," she called out, unsure whether her voice would actually be heard. "What happened?" "I am not entirely sure," came EDI's voice from outside. "None of the Animus guides provided by Admiral Anderson have much information on such behaviour of it. However, using the available data, I calculate an 85% probability that it happened due to the memory somehow being unstable. The memory dumping process is almost complete. Would you like to retry the last memory?" "No, I think I'll just wait it out." said Kasumi, and in a few minutes, the white room faded to black. [Ancestor memory data successfully saved to file /source/S65.anima] She took off the Animus interface and walked out of the AI core room where she was quickly under the scrutiny of Dr. Chakwas. "I'm fine, doc," said Kasumi. "Gotta let Shepard know that it's done." But the doctor wouldn't have it. "First, you rest," she was adamant. "I saw that... that Piece of Eden. Don't you think Shepard would want to know about it?" asked Kasumi. "You can tell her all about it once you've rested." But before Dr. Chakwas could force her to rest, Shepard herself walked into the medbay.

"Thought I'd check on our... 'subject'," she said, with a chuckle. "How did it go, Kasumi?" "It's done, Shep," said Kasumi. "I saw the artefact. It's called a Piece of Eden. There are more than one, from what I could gather. It's definitely some kind of alien technology. I'm sure of it. Didn't see anything that could tell us where to find it, though. But the memories are are all saved to go through later." "Alright, then. You can leave now or anytime you wish, just like we agreed," said Shepard. "Thanks for helping me out. If this helps somehow, the whole galaxy will owe you. I'll tell Admiral Anderson the news and get someone to go through the memories." Kasumi felt a pang of guilt as she heard that. As she remembered the few intimate moments of Hisao that she sat through, she felt as if she was doing something akin to giving Keiji's greybox away to some stranger. She shuddered at the thought. "I'll do it." she said at once, as Shepard turned to leave. "Huh?" She spun around in surprise. "I thought you didn't want to be cooped up here for this." "I know," said Kasumi. "I changed my mind. If someone is going to be intruding upon my many times great grandfather's privacy, I guess it better be me." "I can respect that," agreed Shepard with a nod. "You might have to stay for some time, though." "As long as I get free food, yeah," said Kasumi with a chuckle as they left the med-bay, Dr. Chakwas shaking her head at the Japanese woman's sudden change in decision.

Isn't it spelled like artifact? And will we see how Hisao got the Piece of Eden in the first place? Or will that information be under wraps?
Overall a decent chapter.