Desmond shakes his head, trying to clear out the fog.

"Thought I saw a ghost, one of my ancestors. It happens to me sometimes. Doesn't seem to matter if I'm asleep or awake."

Desmond takes a breath, mentally preparing himself for having to explain the Assassins and Templars.

"A couple of months ago, I was kidnapped by a company called Abstergo. They're...the modern incarnation of the Templars. They've been fighting a war against the Assassin Brotherhood since...well...since the beginning of recorded history, really. Abstergo hooked me up to this machine called the Animus, that accesses my genetic memory, and lets me relive the memories of my ancestors, the downside being that their memories kind of...infect mine. They call it 'The Bleeding Effect'."

Desmond rolls up the sleeve of his right hand, exposing not only the rather wicked burn on his right palm, but also a tattoo on his forearm.

"I'm one of the Assassins. I was born into it. Abstergo's been looking for these things called 'Pieces of Eden', which are artifacts from an ancient civilization, and they were using my genetic memories to find them."

Desmond sighs. He's never really told a stranger any of that before, beyond cracking jokes about being raised on The Farm.

"Just now, I saw a vision of a Native American Assassin named Ratonhnhaké:ton, right when he killed General Charles Lee. Yeah, that Charles Lee. He was a Templar."

Desmond scrubs a hand over his face. He kind of hates having all of these memories, but he needed them at the same time.