Written by: Markuz, November 28, 2015
Translate by: Stefania
As stated at the end of our article about the Abstergo Handbook, the scenario dedicated to the present day of 2014 in the Assassin's Creed franchise contains more information than you may think: the problem is that this information was scattered in the various publications released at the end of the year, including the Handbook itself. With this spoiler-free article about AC: Syndicate we will try to recover the information from the various “sources” in order to see how the present day plot evolved and to analyze the moves of the various forces at play.
THE INITIATES
As some of you may remember, the story of the Initiates was abruptly interrupted at the middle of June 2014, when the Initiates spies infiltrated among the Assassins, Eric Cooper and Stephanie Chiu, were unmasked by William Miles and Gavin Banks. In the last memories of the old ACInitiates, therefore, the two spies revealed that the Initiates, through a series of satellites, had built a network that could transmit information anywhere in the world, without using the internet. An "Outernet", as Rebecca called it. In addition to that, Chiu and Cooper provided additional information on the organization of the Initiates, stating that this was funded by private citizens and also had supporters at Harvard and MIT, but that was led by four individuals (who are unidentified, so far). The purpose of the Initiates was to gather information remaining neutral but, Gavin and William, after discovering them, have prepared and proposed a different future for their organization: faced with the problem of a very narrow worldwide presence of the Assassins, the Initiates could have been part of the solution becoming a sort of non-operative branch inside the Brotherhood, led by Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings. It’s Shaun, in fact, the person who sent the Initiates the request for help and participation to the cause of the Assassins on June 16th, 2014, which was followed by the shutdown of the Initiates website, with the promise that one day the Initiates network and database would be back "in one way or another."
And that’s what happened, in one way or another, as all owners of Unity know. Before coming to that, however, in the days before the release of the main AC chapter of 2014, the Twitter account of Initiates was reactivated.
Abstergo's "plans"
On October 30th, 2014, in fact, the user who ran the account (probably Shaun, according to the plot) informed the Initiates (here and here) that soon the Assassins would be ready to make their move and would need their help. A few days later, on November 3rd, the same user showed the Initiates and all the fans, still unaware of what Helix was, the plans that Abstergo had in store for the next few months (here on the left). The owners of the Employee Handbook maybe already noticed that the image shows exactly an excerpt from that book and Shaun (or someone on his behalf) points out how the purpose of interactive entertainment is only a facade for the true goals of the Templars.
On November 5th, the account started posting again and this time showed a message from Eric Cooper (one of the two former spies of the initiates) to Emmett Leary, in which the former stated that the Paris Headquarter (at that time it was a new information, not even mentioned in the game [CHECK]) had been set up. After connecting the servers, according to Eric, their “local team” would infiltrate a Helix hub and this time the Initiates would be brought in.
The following days are still dedicated to the final preparations before carrying out of William’s plan in Paris. In particular, on November 7th, the admin of the Initiates Twitter account showed part of a memo by William, writing that maybe he should not have published it and then ironically telling the Initiates that if William had shown them the complete plan, they would have had to act surprised (once again it’s probably Shaun writing).
William Miles' plan
Two days later, finally, the complete plan of the Assassins was published, especially concerning the Initiates, as you can see in the image here. The plan took into account the reconstruction of the Assassin's Network, presumably a new IT system that the Assassins would use to communicate across the globe. A sort of evolution, therefore, compared to the Hephaestus and Hephaestus 2.0 systems in the first AC games and on ACInitiates. Such reconstruction would start from the outernet created by the Initiates and through reengineering (maybe by Rebecca) it would have led to a “secure hub". All this in regard to the IT side, while as for the organizational side William had other in mind.
The document indisputably shows how now the Initiates have become part of the Assassins (once again with some doubts on how this happened), and in particular we also see the functions envisaged for them, in other words training and operational support.
William’s plan, therefore, took into account an infiltration in the new system created by Abstergo, Helix. What’s more, a steady infiltration, because William was planning to recruit people (Assassin recruitment) and train them (training) inside the Helix platform. These, after all, were the ideas behind the present day in Assassin's Creed Unity, and justify Bishop’s search for the Helix user who will then deal with the sequencing of Arno Dorian’s memories.
Unfortunately the information in terms of plot about the Initiates ends here, with the group that is absorbed by the Assassins and (unless unexpected changes in the future) loses its identity and independence. At present, the name “Initiates” is only linked to the ACInitiates website, which now only “works” as a database for the progresses in the past AC games.
THE ASSASSINS
Similarly to what happened with the Initiates, the last information about the Assassins (before Unity, Rogue and the related products were released) would go back to the shutdown of the Initiates website too... if it weren't for two audio files in Assassin's Creed Rogue, dated February 2014 (three months after the events of Assassin's Creed IV).
Harlan T. Cunningham, by Olivier Donato
It’s, in fact, during that period that the assassins Harlan T. Cunningham and Arend Schut tried to steal a Piece of Eden, a Precursor Box no less, from a Templar warehouse in Rotterdam. According to the plan, Schut, counting on his strength and his past as a wrestler, was to attack several Abstergo employees scattered throughout the city in order to deflect attention from the real theft, which his mentor, Cunningham was to commit.
The initial part of the plan actually succeeded, and Harlan tried to escape with the box while Schut was still busy assassinating the Templar agents. The Templars reacted immediately, supported by Violet da Costa, with Berg chasing Cunningham and the whole Sigma Team looking for Schut. Schut was able to fight against all the Sigma Team and kill half of its members before throwing a smoke bomb and running away to go and help Cunningham who had been captured by Berg. Schut's intervention was necessary to save the life of Cunningham but in the confusion the Assassins were not able to retrieve the Precursor Box, which remained in the hands of Berg and the Templars (here is the location of one of the Precursor Boxes mentioned by Richard Farrese, lead writer on Rogue, during Loomer's last podcast).
Meanwhile, following the events of Initiates, the Assassin Brotherhood was still led by Gavin Banks until when he reached William Miles in Norway. Here the two unmasked the Initiate spies around mid June 2014 and were able to assess the situation, which wasn’t the best. The majority of the remaining Assassins was in Norway (Gavin’s team, William and the two Initiate spies), plus some other elements around the world (like Jasdip Dhami in India from ACBrahman, Saeko Mochizuki in Japan from ACInitiates, and Cunningham and Schut themselves). The solution, as we have seen, was the unspecified alliance Assassins - Initiates, which came about in two documents of the Initiates site... and was then marginally consolidated in William's plan in November that we mentioned before, but let’s proceed step by step.
As we have seen in our two articles dedicated to the Abstergo Employee Handbook (you can find them here and here), the Assassins appeared, albeit by roundabouts means, way before November, precisely between June and August, in the story of Robert Fraser. As we have seen, the first researcher on the Arno Dorian project, Fraser, already conditioned by very high levels of the Bleeding Effect, was influenced by Dr. Victoria Bibeau, an undercover contact of the Assassins at Abstergo Entertainment, in an attempt to send the unsequenced memories of Arno to the Assassins. The action, although completed with disastrous consequences (both Bibeau and Fraser were eliminated by Abstergo agents), was successful and ensured that the memories later ended up in the hands of the Assassins, specifically Bishop, the real contact of Bibeau and then Fraser in the Brotherhood.
Up to this point, however, the Assassins were unaware of the plans that, in the meantime, Abstergo had developed in the previous months, especially after recovering the body of the sage John Standish (John from IT in AC4). That changed in October 2014, when the Assassins assaulted an Abstergo laboratory in Paris which, as we can see from the picture, was located in the "La Défense” district. According to a description by Otso Berg in a file from ACRogue, at that time Gavin Banks was able to find the location of the laboratory both thanks to his connections with Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, who already had infiltrated Abstergo Entertainment, and thanks to his ability to “follow information” (according to some hypotheses Gavin has the Eagle Sense).
Picture of 'La Défense' district - Attack to the Abstergo Lab, October 2014
The laboratory, in the words of Laetitia England, was dedicated to the study of the Sage recovered in Montreal at the end of 2013 (John Standish, in fact) and so the attack by Gavin and the Assassins is even more focused. In particular, the attack was also "fruitful" for the Assassins, because during one of the breaks in Unity, Deacon / Shaun says that during the attack (in which he participated), the Assassins have melted some servers, destroyed some Precursor samples (slowing the research of the Templars on the Sages) and, above all, recovered some data, the most important of which is surely the video of the Phoenix Project, created by Abstergo to attract new investors in order to carry out their project. As we will see in detail in the section dedicated to the Templars, watching the video, the Assassins realized in October what was the new goal pursued by the Order, in other words the search for Precursor (Triple Helix) DNA through the Animus technology to map the genome of Those Who Came Before and achieve knowledge and abilities never obtained by mankind (for example, the understanding of the technology of the Pieces of Eden).
Reference picture for Sorkin's cosplay
Once the assault was completed, Gavin and his team were able to escape, but were tracked down by Otso Berg and his trusty subordinate Sorkin (who had already been used as a shield by Arend Schut in February of that year and hit by a Templar sniper during that action) in La Rochelle, where the Altair II, Gavin's ship showed many times on ACInitiates, was anchored. The two, however, found themselves strongly outnumbered against the Assassins, who managed to escape. Not before, however, that Galina Voronina could furiously attack poor Sorkin, stabbing him seven times.
The access to the Helix server in the laboratory had as a consequence, according to Berg, that nothing was hidden to the eyes of the Assassins anymore. This can have a very broad meaning (a sort of reverse Great Purge?) but more probably it refers to the fact that the Assassins had access to the Helix servers to retrieve confidential information (the content of the "Assassin Intel" is an example) and therefore not only they understood how it worked but maybe they also have located other facilities dedicated to the servers of the new Animus.
In the report he sent to Laetitia England immediately after the assault, so still in October, Berg recommended to send some agents on reconnaissance to Paris because, according to him, some Assassins were still in the city ... and he was right. The week before the release of Unity (November 11th, 2014), which should correspond to the events of the present-day in the game, is the moment in which the Assassins actually put their hands on the unsequenced memories of Arno.
The Assassins, at this point, roughly knew the goals of the Templars, had stopped their research on the Sages in the laboratory located in La Défense, and were also able to get memories that most probably contained the location of the remains of a new Sage. Finally, therefore, they have an advantage against the Templars and it is here that, at last, William carries out his plan, with the creation of the headquarters in Paris on November 5th.
Thus the Assassins planned the reconstruction of the Assassin's Network and the very risky but necessary recruitment and training of new Assassins, quite infelicitously called "Initiates" , within the Abstergo Helix simulations, to which they probably had access after the assault in Paris. The need comes from the fact that the Assassins do not have access to the surrogate technology shown in the Subject Zero files and refined with the Animus Omega and the Helix and have not been able to recreate it. For this reason, the Assassins are forced to infiltrate the Helix architecture.
Bishop shows Arno to the 'Initiates'
It is at this point, finally, around the November 11th, that the almost ... non-existent present day of Unity begins.
Bishop, or "The Enabler", as she is called in the credits of Unity, is the person in charge of talking to the new Initiates. It seems that the Assassins make the Initiates explore the memories of Arno Dorian because they are aware (through the story of Robert Fraser) of the fact that he came into contact with a Sage. Also the co-op mode is explained in terms of plot: all the players are Initiates who have been tasked by the Assassins to explore Arno's memories inside the Helix simulation and this should give an idea of the extent of their recruitment.
The search, however, is not so simple because, as explained in the files of the "Assassin Intel", in the Helix server there's an intrusion detection system that, if it detects the intruders, it causes a hippocampal shock and in some cases it even kills instantly. For this reason, the Assassins have created the Server Bridge, to allow the Initiates, with their avatars, to escape the detection system in the simulation of the French Revolution and jump in other simulations. These "escapes", which can be considered as further infiltrations in the Helix server, allow the Assassins, through the main initiate in the present day of Unity, to come into possession of all the files of the "Assassin Intel" folder. It is in this way, then, that the Assassins learn about the progress of the Phoenix Project, about some of Otso Berg's moves, and about some obscure dialogues by Juno with her Instruments of the First Will (this will be discussed later).
Apart from these "breaks", however, the latest information we have on the Assassins ends with the sad and feeble ending of Unity. As you all now know, the search (carried out by the main initiate of the game) comes to nothing. The bones of the Sage François-Thomas Germain during the French Revolution proved to be too damaged and degraded to push Abstergo to look for them and therefore it’s the same for the Assassins too. Bishop seems to appreciate this result, although the search proved to be useless and this battle against the Templars ended in a "draw."
Berg enters the Assassin's Network... and the Assassins go nuts
This would be the last piece of information in our possession on the Assassins... if it weren't for the ending of Rogue, which is somewhat difficult to place in time, but in my opinion it happens after the events of Unity. The protagonist - the Numbskull - once completed the story of Shay, receives the order from Otso Berg to restore the Helix servers at Abstergo Entertainment and, above all, to upload a short video of Shay's to the Assassin's Network.
Not only, therefore, Otso Berg is already able to access the new Assassin's Network (if this part of the story takes place after the events of Unity), but he also has already thought about how to use this information to attack the Assassins. In fact, by uploading Shay's story Berg sends a clear message to the Assassins with the intention of showing them how weak they can be (as Shay was when he was part of the Brotherhood) and indirectly to make it clear that their fate will be the same suffered by the Assassins during Shay's time.
The access to the Assassin's Network allows the protagonist of the present day of Rogue to see the reactions of the Assassins to the upload of Shay's story. Some of them are convinced that William Miles is dead (and others that he is alive), others claim that this video does not come from "Her" (Juno) and the Instruments of the First Will, others say they are "paralyzed" by this thing and look for Shaun to show him what happened.
Essentially the Assassins have been thrown again into complete and utter confusion, with the idea that it is the Great Purge all over again, and with Gavin Banks, the leader of the Brotherhood together with William, ordering all the Assassin cells to hide (since even the new network has been compromised).
This is the latest information we have on the Assassins, who once again and now more than ever are outnumbered and are again kept in check by the Templars.
And so, in the same way, once again the Templars have an edge on the Assassins, not only as for the real conflict itself, but also as for the technology and research. What were, therefore, the results achieved by the crusaders in 2014?
THE TEMPLARS AND ABSTERGO
To have an idea of all the events and projects involving the Templars and in general Abstergo in my opinion it is not enough to place the facts in chronological order because they follow different paths and not a common thread. For this reason, this chapter of the article is divided into several parts, corresponding to the macro narrative paths that involved the Order in 2014:
Helix, new projects and new directions taken by the Templars
Melanie Lemay and her designation
Otso Berg and the Sigma Team
We start, therefore, from the most "succulent" subject (also because in one way or another it is necessary to explain the others).
Helix, the new projects and the new directions
At the beginning of 2014 Abstergo (and Ubisoft :)) shifted the attention from the Animus project, which evolved over the last 35 - 40 years, to the Helix project, a whole new infrastructure, although still supported by the Animus technology.
The Helix screen (Source: AC Wiki)
As the Unity guide explains, Helix is a cloud-based software that has its roots in the Animus sold on the mass market shown in AC3 and AC4. In fact, it works like in the past chapters: a sort of "streaming service" provided through next-generation consoles to give the consumer a complete virtual gaming experience (obviously cut and edited compared with the original genetic memories).
Obviously those aren't the only purposes of the project. The published memories now involve Assassins and Templars, who are explicitly shown, although in the form of video games or fictional virtual experiences. Nevertheless, through this and always trying to put the Assassins in a bad light, the products related to Helix also take on a sort of propaganda function. Finally, through Helix, it is more than likely that Abstergo tries to monitor every possible parameter linked to their users, as they already did in the past through television (as stated in cluster 8, "[the TV channel] It has my name on it, my son's name, and a list of things we like, my credit card purchases, loans, travel. And then after that there's this gibberish about biometric patterns and optimal screen refresh frequencies.")
It is the infrastructure of Helix, therefore, that, consisting of laboratories with servers around the world, serves as support for all of Abstergo's projects, from the smaller entertainment video to the search for surrogate genetic memories and, especially, to even bigger initiatives like the Phoenix Project that takes years to develop and defines the new search of the Templars in the present day.
The Phoenix Project, in particular, is the most important element that characterizes the present day of 2014 and, to tell the truth, even of the previous years.
The project, in short, tries to sequence and map the genome of the First Civilization, in order to obtain their knowledge and explore their genetic memories. To better explain, however, the project, fortunately in Unity we can watch the promotional video, protected by a high level of security (watching it for those who do not have the authorization would be a federal and international crime) that Abstergo dedicated to the investors in order to convince them to finance the project.
One of Clinton B. Rosenburg's letters
Through the video we are reminded that in 1952 Linus Pauling thought that human DNA had a triple helix structure and, apparently, the X-ray crystallography of scientist Rosalind Franklin seemed to confirm it. Soon after, however, again following the video, in 1953 Watson and Crick were able to prove without any doubt that the basis of all life forms was a double-helix structure, so the theory of the triple helix was demolished and set aside.
Actually we know that's not what really happened. After the discovery of the triple-helix DNA, the Templars decided to focus on the double-helix structure, secretly giving the data of Franklin’s X-ray analyses to Watson and Crick thanks to Clinton B. Rosenburg, the protagonist of some of the most beautiful files of Initiates that we analyzed in "The origins: Triple Helix DNA" and "When bacteria teach the meaning of life".
While the double-helix structure as the basis of every life form, man included, was becoming more and more important for Abstergo (several years later it would become the key element for the Animus), according to the video of the Phoenix Project, the X-ray analyses of Franklin seemed to support the presence of triple-helix DNA anyway. On January 12th, 1976, Dr Rosenburg had even notified an Abstergo senior executive that he had found strong evidence of the existence of this type of DNA.
Nonetheless, all this data received little consideration until, at the end of 2013, the Templars came into possession of the body of the Sage John Standish (or John from IT, as he was called in AC4). The study of his DNA (partly consisting of precursor genes, as we saw in "A new beginning - Part 2") was probably what made the Abstergo scientists realize how the DNA of the First Civilization was configured, and also how this corresponded to the revelations by Rosenburg and Franklin.
From that, the Phoenix Project was born. A project that basically starts again from the studies in the 50s and 70s and it establishes very important and far-sighted objectives. Recognizing the existence of precursor DNA (actually it’s minimally present in every human being), the new objective that the Templars have sought to achieve is the mapping of the First Civilization's genome.
The mapping of TWCB’s genome would probably allow its reading, as it happens with the Animus for the human DNA, and, at this point, as stated by the Phoenix Project video, the possibilities would be endless: studies of the Precursors’ history, analyses of ancient languages of their time and especially access to their advanced technology. In fact, one of the objectives of the project, might even be the understanding of how the Pieces of Eden work and so lead to their recreation or re-engineering.
As we have said, therefore, the project started from the study of DNA provided by "donor" John Standish who, being a Sage, had a ratio of 25:1 between the precursor DNA and human DNA. A huge step forward for Abstergo, which, compared to the project itself is still very limited though, but that made it very clear how important was for the Templars to locate any form of DNA coming from the Sages, in the present day or in the past.
That’s all for the information coming from the video shown in Unity, but there are way more pieces of information about the Phoenix Project: in fact the present day files in Unity show us a more detailed story of the project with more defined objectives and clearer explanations.
The Phoenix Project, which already seems to be quite big and have extremely ambitious objectives, is actually a small part of an Abtsergo research on the First Civilization, technically defined as Homo Sapiens Divinus (HSD), launched in the 50s as a result of the discoveries, then censored, of Rosalind Franklin.
This research, according to some Abstergo internal documents, was articulated in three phases:
Phase 1 (early 50s - late 60s): Franklin and Pauling’s discoveries of the triple-helix DNA are “censored” to highlight the theory of Watson and Crick. Also, in the late 60s, according to the Abstergo files, additional samples of precursor DNA were found near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in four fossilized remains of HSD. This discovery, combined with "modern scientific techniques”, finally confirmed (to the Templars) the existence of the First Civilization.
Denisova cave, where the bone fragments of the hominin were found (Siberiantimes.com)
Phase 2 (1971 - 2003): In 1971 Abstergo created and funded the first Precursor Habitation Expedition, in other words what seems to be the first expedition dedicated to the study of the remains of First Civilization’s structures. By the end of the 70s, Abstergo scientists were able to locate and partly excavate seven “Denisovan” sites, in other words sites of the Homo Denisova, a hominid discovered in 2010 and who lived between 70.000 and 40.000 years ago in areas populated by Neanderthals and Sapiens and with a mitochondrial DNA different from the one of the two latter species (a possible reference to the fact that in AC these remains are linked to the Precursors). From this moment onwards, the Templars and Abstergo have focused much of their efforts on the recovery of tools, artifacts and other objects related to the Precursors.
Phase 3 (2004 - 2018?): The third phase is guided by the explicit mandate to sequence an entire Precursor genome by 2018 in what is internally called the HSD genome project. To do so, considering the lack of material at the Templars’ disposal, a team dedicated to the recovery of the highest number of samples possible and to the extraction of any kind of genetic memory from them was created. This phase, however, was not only dedicated to the HSD Genome Project and so to the Precursors, but also to the sequencing of other species of the Homo genus (with these percentages of completion):
Homo Sapiens Divinus (around 4%)
Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Complete)
Homo Neanderthalensis (Complete)
Homo Erectus (around 17%)
Homo Antecessor (around 4%)
Homo Ergaster (around 13%)
Denisova Hominis (around 2%)
Homo Habilis (around 16%)
Homo Sapiens Idalu (around 27%)
The study of these genomes led to further discoveries on the various hominids: for example also the Neanderthals, as the Sapiens, seem to have been deliberately created, and specifically for military purposes.
The research, however, is not proving to be easy for the Templars. It’s been estimated that the remains of Precursor organisms, at present, can contain, at most, the 0.625% of the original information, and this in the case in which such remains were found. The acquisition of this DNA, in fact, has proven to be difficult and this is not only due to the Toba Catastrophe: in fact, it seems that the HSD species had an almost “universal” preference for cremation over the burial rituals preferred by lesser hominids. In addition to that, Abstergo scientists found proofs that indicate how the Sapiens, the Neanderthals and the following species dismantled and salvaged almost all the precursor sites as a means of survival.
Initially, the lack of Precursor DNA caused the research to proceed extremely slowly... until the end of 2013. In fact, through the events shown in AC4, the Templars have discovered the existence of the Sages and, specifically, the fact that they survived until the present day. In this way the Templars have retrieved a “fresh” source of triple-helix DNA, which in the Sages corresponds to 5-6% of their entire genome. In addition to that, and it is something new, Abstergo’s documents show the existence of a second possible "fruitful" source of Precursor DNA: unfortunately at present not even the confidential documents reserved for the elite of the Order mention what it is.
An example of how fruitful this method of research is can be seen in this image:
It is a frame extracted by Isabelle Ardant, Operations executive in the Historical Research division of Abstergo and member of the Inner Sanctum, exactly from the memories of John Standish and particularly from the ones of Aita.
Our Hephaestus' hyphotesis
More specifically, as noted by Ardant, these memories from the TWCB era show figures (probably part of the First Civilization) that seem to be guards, 50 centimeters taller than the other humanoids nearby and, I would add, each of them with a spear in his hand that is very similar to the Staff of Eden. Our Hephaestus points out a great similarity between these figures and the ones in the ending of Assassin's Creed 2, shown by Minerva to Ezio.
Also, the fragmented image shows two TWCB temples (on one of them one we can see the classic drawings), the architecture of which seems to be, according to Ardant, a combination of architectures similar to the Sumerian, Egyptian and Babylonian ones, but made up of ultra modern alloys (.... how did she figure it out from the image?). The picture also shows how groups of people (one seems to be a caravan) are heading towards them.
According to Ardant, finally, the genetic memory should take place in the southwest of the Hoggar Mountains, in southern Algeria and actually near the Mountains (in reality) a prehistoric settlement was found, with cave paintings dating back to 6000 BC. Curiously, near the Hoggar Mountains there is the tomb of Tin Hinan, the woman believed to be the ancestor of the Tuaregs and her legend is rooted in the myth of Atlantis. As Hephaestus pointed out, in fact, the DNA of the Tuareg and of many African populations is extremely important for science since not only the entire story of humanity began in Africa, but also their DNA includes traits are so ancient that they can be dated back to the Y-chromosomal Adam, basically the DNA of the first human ancestor, which, from the point of view of the AC plot, belongs to Adam. It’s not a coincidence that their DNA belongs to the so-called "Haplogroup A", the rarest and most ancient type of DNA, the one closest to Adam’s DNA.
Getting back to the main subject, it’s more or less in this period that the Phoenix Project comes into play (Ardant’s image is a part of it), and so it’s from here that the search for any type of “usable” triple-helix DNA starts, especially if it belongs to the Sages.
In fact, to this end, Melanie Lemay even creates a list of potential Sages to be explored to obtain genetic material useful for the Project. A list that would correspond to historical periods that can be explored in the future of the franchise… or not, as happened in the past:
John Standish's body, studied in Paris
John Standish - killed at the end of the events in AC4 in 2013
"David Jones" - a reference to singer David Bowie (David Robert Jones), who apparently “has" heterochromia
Unknown (Indian), born around 1885. It is believed that he appeared at the Indian National Congress, but there is no confirmation
Unknown (French), born at the beginning of the 18th century - Probably the reference is to François-Thomas Germain
John "Bartholomew" Roberts - Little to say, we have seen him in AC4 as one of the antagonists of Edward Kenway
Thomas Kavanagh - Once again there’s little to say, we thoroughly analyzed his memories in this article and in this article
Unknown - It is believed that he lived in China in the late 14th century, at the beginning of the Ming dynasty. The sources describe him as a "Confucian scholar" and as a member of the court of the Emperor but nothing else..
Unknown - born during the 6th century in Byzantium, now Istanbul, during the reign of Emperor Justinian.
"The Wanderer", born in Judea - He was believed to have encountered Jesus Christ on his way to Golgotha. In his case it is possible that there is a reference to the legend of the Wandering Jew, a man who mocked Jesus on his way to the crucifixion (on the way to Golgotha, as we stated before). According to the legends, Jesus cursed him saying that he would wander forever until the end of time or until his second coming to Earth
To this list, we can also add a Sage, ancestor of Desmond Miles, who lived in Europe around the 5th century AD during the height of the Hunnic Empire.
Concept of the vials, appeared in ACIV: Black Flag
The Sages (and the second “fruitful” source) aren’t the only source of TWCB DNA. Abstergo, in fact, has long been dedicated to the research of men with the highest concentration of this type of DNA (by virtue of the hybrids born from humans and TWCB) and Desmond Miles was the most striking example. Finally there are still the Vials shown in AC4, which should contain the blood of “Precursor luminaries” and the location of which is still unknown after the end of Edward Kenway’s story. In that regard, with file 10 of the Assassin Intel in Unity, we come to know how the "Doctor", Àlvaro Gramática, requested Alan Rikkin an investigation in the area of the Observatory (Long Bay, Jamaica) dedicated to finding traces of vials and Precursor DNA , once again for the purposes of the Phoenix Project. It’s here that we found out not only that Rikkin holds the position of “Guardian" within the Templar Order in the present day, but also that he’s not the head of the Order. In fact, Rikkin is assisted by “two colleagues” and answers directly to a mysterious “General of the Cross”, about whom we don’t have any information, and who should be the real leader of the Order.
An organization and a search of this kind and in general the other projects carried out by Abstergo worldwide, however, are not possible without running into risk of leaks or of a too high interest for the common man, especially after making the existence of Assassins and Templars public through the various virtual experiences (from Liberation to the Helix ones).
For this reason, thanks to Dr. Alvaro Gramática (yes, him again), we came to know that Abstergo has been creating “Dedicated disinformation campaigns” for a long time, aimed to cover their activities and projects. Gramática explains that through these campaigns, dedicated to promote a certain numbers of conspiracy theories "tangential to actual historical and scientific facts", the common people's attention is drawn to harmless and fantastic directions, and so kept away from the real data and projects (for instance, the cover campaign of Phoenix Project is called Phoenix Rising… another reference to Rising Phoenix).
The reason for this action is that, according to Gramática, the people who deal with conspiracy theories are always looking for "simple truths”, unaware of how intricate and interconnected the nature of History is. For this reason, therefore, one of the directions that Abstergo plans to follow is this cover of the facts through disinformation campaigns aimed to draw attention to specific and irrelevant but abnormal facts, so that the truth and its complexity can remain unknown.
Melanie Lemay and her designation
After the death of Olivier Garneau at the end of 2013 (with the events of Black Flag), Abstergo Entertainment found itself without a Chief Creative Officer (COO) at its head. The choice, therefore, fell on Melanie Lemay, who was more or less in the highest position in the company and also had several contacts with Garneau. This designation, however, was not a "painless" transition, because while many employees of Abstergo Entertainment are ordinary people, the chief executive of the company necessarily has links with Abstergo Industries, the main company, and the Templars (for example Garneau was in touch with Laetitia England).
Melanie Lemay, concept art by Ivan Koritarev
In this case, therefore, Melanie joined the Templars in this period (if she wasn’t a member already) and her position as COO was confirmed by Alan Rikkin in person with a letter dated January 21st, 2014, indicating that she would take this position in March, with a salary of … only 183.000 dollars per year.
In Melanie's case, her main interlocutor in 2014 was Alvaro Gramática, a member of the Inner Sanctum and protagonist of the files in Unity.
Three days after Rikkin’s letter, in a phone conversation with Melanie, Gramática "starts" their collaboration by requesting a report on her relationship with John Standish. Melanie replies hesitantly and confirms that she would do it but she is a bit shaken due to the various information previously received on the existence of Precursors and Sages. This means that, in addition to the information coming from what she saw in the research dedicated to Edward Kenway, after the recovery of John from IT's body, it is possible that Melanie received new clarifications even before her new position was made official.
In addition to that, Gramática states that he will send her the documents about the data Abstergo will work on in the following years, including almost certainly the document on the Phoenix Project (although it is dated September 2014 ...), since at the beginning of the document, the doctor tells Melanie that it’s now time for her to know that information, considering that her level of security and access to information has been increased. Among the other documents are also images (as mentioned in a phone call between Melanie and Gramática a month later) that, according to the scientist, date back to one or two months after the Toba Catastrophe.
Dealing with this information, however, doesn’t exempt her from carrying out her work at Abstergo Entertainment. Melanie, then, in the months preceding June, deals with the preparation for the VEX (Virtual Reality eX position), which takes place in Los Angeles in mid-June. In this case it’s a not so subtle reference to E3, so much so that, in the Unity files, there is a document in preparation for the exposition in which the marketing team, represented by Jennifer Tam, explains which phrases to say (an example is “History is YOUR playground”, a reference to the AC marketing campaigns) and which phrases to avoid (“Data Tracking", “Hippocampal Shock", "Brain Death" or "Erudito" just to name a few).
Specifically Abstergo Entertainment brings Helix to VEX, showing it ahead of the official launch at the end of 2014. Helix’s launch, intended as a domestic product for new-generation consoles, had to coincide with the release of Unity for next-gen consoles in order to increase the sense of “Alternate Reality Game”.
While working on these "trifles", Melanie deals with the report on John Standish and she sends it on March 15. In this document, Melanie explains that, during the 7 months and 3 days in which she knew him, their relationship was strictly professional except on two occasions. The first time, in June 2013, took place at the Abstergo Entertainment general assembly, during which John said he was coming from a small town in Maryland, he had a rather lonely childhood and during the first part of his life he often travelled with his family. The conversation moved to the work and John asked Melanie if Abstergo Entertainment had access to an old Animus 1:28 because he wanted to take a trip into his past, but she responded negatively because that model was not compatible with Helix. John, then, was maybe trying to revisit the memories of Aita with a model that wasn’t connected to the Cloud Abstergo. In this way he’d be close to his Juno but without having to share everything with Abstergo and the Templars. The second time, in the late summer of 2013, was mostly a "sighting". In fact, in a bar in Montreal, Melanie saw John sitting in a corner staring intently at a small laptop and he seemed to be talking to someone online. Melanie says that while his words seemed filled with joy and happiness, his expression seemed that of a person tortured to the limits of endurance. Probably John was able to find a way of communicating with Juno and so he was overjoyed. Perhaps it is on this occasion that he prepared with Juno the plan to cooperate with the Assassins, to attempt to transfer his consciousness into the protagonist of AC4 and perhaps also to "surrender" to the Templars, by getting himself killed.
In May of 2014 Melanie started operating as a Templar and carried out a detailed research on the possible Sages to be investigated for the Phoenix Project. That’s from her, therefore, that comes the list mentioned earlier in this article.
One of Melanie's comments in the Handbook
From mid-June to late July, Melanie monitors (from a distance) Robert Fraser, the first researcher of Abstergo Entertainment who dealt with the memories of Arno Dorian. Melanie follows his study of the memories of the French Assassin, his progressive suffering from the Bleeding Effect, and his end (which you can read about in this article), especially through the eyes of his supervisor Aidan St. Claire, the new Project Coordinator who took the position she occupied before the disappearance of Olivier Garneau.
Time passes and it’s August now. This is the period of the first problems with Helix's launch. In fact, Melanie informs Alvaro about the first attacks to the servers, months before the official launch of the platform. It’s not specified who is conducting these attacks, but the modalities are clear: there are some attacks that Abstergo Entertainment is able to fend off through basic security systems that are carried out periodically, but those are actually just a cover for the real cyber attack aimed to search for and sequence the genetic memories on Helix (so probably the Assassins are behind these attacks). For this reason Gramática recommends and implements on Helix the new intruder detection system, which searches for illegal users and removes them from the platform while their session is still active, something that may cause irreparable damages to the brain or even sudden death (full protection at any cost, in other words). This is, therefore, the system that we see "chasing" the Initiate during the sessions of Unity before Shaun and Bishop create "bridges" to jump from the simulation of the French Revolution to the others and vice versa.
However, the infiltrations in Helix continue, although not at the hands of Assassins. In this case it’s Juno who, although in Unity she’s just a supporting character, makes her move anyway, communicating (as we shall see later) with her Instruments of the First Will through audio, video and text files coded and masked using a complicated algorithm that makes them seem as mere “background noise".
Specifically, Juno conducted at least two attacks: the first one is the aforementioned attack, which we will discuss later, while the second one, which occurred almost blatantly and involved most of the data in possession of Abstergo Entertainment. In particular, in the latter, Juno (and perhaps the Instruments of the First Will) launched 17 separate attacks on 17 targets in unison, at the same time, dedicated to the targeted scan of any type of data: genetic memories, analysis about the Precursors , data from the old but still popular DDS.
That is not, however, the last cyber attack that Melanie has to face, considering that in the last few months before the launch of Helix she seems to devote herself to the matter full time. In fact, on October 27th Melanie tells Gramática about a further series of intrusions, which this time led not to the scan but to the theft of “media” files, personal data and elements coming from the Abstergo database. In addition to that, hackers have scanned the entire list of Sages and this leds Gramática to think that the Assassins are involved. Probably, this happened after the assault to the laboratory at La Défense, and so it’s actually possible that the Assassins have scanned the list of Sages and that, learning about the presence of a French Sage born at the beginning of the 18th century, they have tried to sequence the memories of Arno as soon as possible through the Initiate, protagonist of Unity.
For the same reason the Templars made their move, although with a delay of a few days, caused by the fact that Abstergo Entertainment didn’t have researchers able to sustain the study of Arno’s memories (because of the Precursor genes of the French Assassin). Gramática states that the Abstergo agents will take care of the Dorian project and so it’s in that moment, or shortly after, that the research is entrusted to the "Agent" shown in the Abstergo Entertainment Employee Handbook.
The Agent's task
Finally, October is also the month in which the story of Rogue takes place, in which Melanie at Abstergo Entertainment follows the activities of Otso Berg and Violet Da Costa in an attempt to eliminate the virus released at the company by the “Numbskull”, the protagonist of the game. Melanie is also present in the final scene, showing that she has no problems in attending the initiation ceremony of a new member of the Templar Order... or his death.
Otso Berg and the Sigma Team
In 2014 the famous and rebuilt Sigma Team of Otso Berg "devotes" its experience and skills to the Phoenix Project, following the decision of Laetitia England in November 2013. Specifically Violet da Costa is reassigned to Abstergo Entertainment while Berg deals with the search for relics and artifacts belonging to the First Civilization, although he clearly complains about the fact that his team should take care of hunting down the Assassins instead.
First picture about Otso Berg, from ACInitiates
For this reason we have, therefore, found Berg in AC: Brahman, in Mumbai, searching for the Koh-I-Noor, a search that, as we have seen, wasn’t successful.
In February Berg is in Rotterdam with the whole Sigma Team, in pursuit of the Assassins Harlan T. Cunningham and Arend Schut, as stated at the beginning of this article. In this situation Cunningham had stolen a Precursor box but Berg was able to recover it, although the capture of Cunningham failed due to the intervention of Schut.
In May 2014 Berg went to Essen, Germany, searching for the Ankh, a Piece of Eden appeared mainly in the French comics (which proved to be canon only as for the part in the past) and that apparently would have been able to revive the dead. Specifically Berg is in Essen because that is the city that, according to Discover Your Legacy, saw the birth of Assassin Lukas Zurburg, who disappeared together with the "Brothers of the Cross" (a pro-Templar organization) while they were looking for the Ankh around 1350.
Also in this case, however, according to the information provided by da Costa, Berg decided that the existence of the Ankh could have been purposely created by the Assassins and could be a stalking-horse, a trap.
Faced with another failure, Berg leaves Germany to travel to Jamaica. His new mission is the excavation of the Observatory and the search for potential remains useful for the Phoenix Project.
For the first two days of the expedition (May 23th-25th), therefore, Berg is in charge of searching for the location of the Observatory, with the help of the videos about Edward Kenway. From then on, however, for another two days, Berg’s team was responsible for the excavation and removal of debris and dirt needed to enter the Observatory. The extent of this work has made Berg understand that the Observatory was intentionally buried (as a result of a collapse of the structure) in the 18th century, probably by the Assassins, who had controlled the area from the time of Edward Kenway.
Concept art about the Observatory by Martin Deschambault
IIn one way or another, this mission failed too because, having a very limited team in terms of resources and having to deal with the excavation of a collapsed structure and its later burial, Berg is forced to end it, postponing everything to when it will be possible to do a more numerous and organized expedition.
Later Berg reappears during October, facing, with members of the former Sigma Team, the assault by the Assassins to the Abstergo laboratory located in the "La Défense” district that we mentioned at the beginning of this article. Once again Berg fails because he arrived too late. The Assassins manage to escape because Berg had not been informed of the existence of the laboratory and so he was too late.
The wave of failures angers Berg, who once again points out to his boss, Laetitia England, how his team was prepared for hunting down and killing the Assassins and not for searching for the Pieces of Eden and material for the Phoenix Project. Incredibly, England admits her mistakes and she gives him the permission to rebuild the Sigma Team ... with the exception of Violet Da Costa, still busy in Montreal dealing with the security and protection of Helix from external attacks (Assassins, Instruments of the First Will, Juno). To get her back in his team, Berg asks to be sent to Montreal, so as to speed up Da Costa’s work and in the meantime to increase the security of the Abstergo Entertainment building and it is, therefore, for this reason that we find Berg in the present day of Rogue .
From this moment on, Berg stays in Montreal for the whole duration of the events of Rogue, from the beginning of the study of Shay Patrick Cormac’s memories to the removal of the virus that infected the Helix servers. Shay's, story in particular, allows Berg to create a video that sums it up and to upload it to the new Assassin’s Network, in order to send a clear message to the Assassins, both because of Shay's story and the fact that often the hooded people betray their own organization, and also to show them that their network is no longer secure.
JUNO AND THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE FIRST WILL
For those who do not remember them, the Instruments of the First Will are an unidentified organization which appeared for the first time in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag through the sticky notes left by the Sage John Standish, who was a member of them.
"WE ARE INSTRUMENTS OF HER WILL - INSTUMENTS OF THE FIRST WILL"
the Manifesto of the Instruments of the First Will, as the set of notes was called, indicated how this organization planned the submission of men to Those Who Came Before and, specifically, to Juno, since they originally had been created by their will, the First Will precisely. For the Instruments, in the same way the man uses objects he created (houses, cars, mobile phones etc.), he should let himself to be "used" and thus be an "instrument" of the First Civilization that created him.
In addition to that, the Instruments are aware of the Assassins and the Templars and, as for the latter, they have much to say. In fact, according to the Instruments, the Templars of the present day, who are also called "the new Order”, are wrong in trying to find satiety and pleasure / comfort for the men through mindlessness (I presume coming from the control of Templars through the illusions of the Pieces of Eden). By contrast, for the Instruments, a mysterious "Old" Templar Order (probably a reference to the primordial stages of the Templar Order, even before it was called like that) must be brought to light, a group of "True Templars” devoted to order, stability and peace through the “iron" will of Juno. A more direct control, then, although not better clarified.
Finally, the Instruments of the First Will are aware of the fact that Juno was released from the Grand Temple and she’s now in what they call "The Grey", the global digital network in which Juno can move freely and around the world. According to the Unity guide that quotes the Manifesto, the Grey is "a space between dark (death) and white (life), and a necessary transition in Juno’s existence. It is a space where Juno is virtually omnipotent and omniscient, where she effectively merges with humanity’s memories and knowledge". Since the Instruments are subdued to Juno and her will, it is natural that their mantra is "May She guide us into the Grey" and therefore they long for joining her in this place, especially considering that "reaching" her implies the transfer of their consciousness in the global network and so (again according to the guide of Unity) becoming immortal.
Logo for the Instruments of the First Will
In 2014, thanks to the Rogue files, we find out that the Templars are not only aware of the Instruments of the First Will, but also that they work with them. It is a wobbly collaboration, because both organizations "use" the other one for their own interest: Abstergo and the Templars, according to Otso Berg’s words, “use” the Instruments as a cheap way of acquiring the Pieces of Eden and other relics, and in exchange, even though Berg is not sure, the Instruments use the Abstergo technology to locate "objects that will help them further their own goals." In this situation it seems that neither of the two organizations prevails on the other but, not trusting them, Berg has seen to it that Da Costa kept an eye on their activities.
Simultaneously to the existence of the Instruments, it's important to take into account another element before trying to outline the status quo related to Juno and the Instruments before Syndicate, in other words the "theatrical" death of John Standish. In fact, as you may remember, John almost left himself be killed by the Abstergo agents at the end of AC4, which left many fans theorising and suggesting how this had been intentional and so part of a plan by Juno. As stated by the ACUnity guide the fact that the Templars are in possession of John's body means that they have a very important tool for the Phoenix Project which finally launched the research on Precursor DNA. Such a move, therefore, seems to be part of the grander plan by Juno, who maybe wanted the Templars to find or create something through this research, perhaps even the creation of an appropriate body in which transferring her consciousness, for example. Another motivation, suggested by Unity’s guide, is that Juno supports the Phoenix Project so that the Templars can recreate the Pieces of Eden and, through them, she can finally subjugate again the human race.
Meanwhile, Juno didn’t stand watching. 2014 for her seems to have been a year of planning after the unsuccessful transfer of her consciousness into the Abstergo researcher, protagonist of AC4. Since mid August, when Helix entered the beta stage, and maybe even earlier, Juno has launched several high-level cyber attacks aimed primarily to scan and search for information, rather than the theft of genetic memories (which is something the Assassins would do).
The first attack we are aware of (considering that some of them are not dated) occurred in the weeks prior to August 21st, the day when Violet Da Costa sends to Melanie Lemay a report on the attack. It was an exchange of data packets that entered and left the Helix servers and that contained unauthorized encoded and encrypted communications. Nevertheless, Da Costa and her team were able to decode and decrypt everything and find audio, videos and even text files, an example of which is this one:
"Host Cipher Not Feasible At Present" (Source: AC Wiki)
It is, as you can see, an extremely important file, showing the dialogue between Juno and a Sage or more probably one of the Instruments of the First Will and, specifically, it outlines the plan by Juno through the questions of her interlocutor, who is so respectful and compliant that even the string “\122\145\147\151\156\141\112\165\156\157” means “ReginaJuno” (Queen Juno) using the octal numeral system.
From this document, therefore, we can understand Juno's new strategy: being unable, at the time, to move into a human vessel, the new plan is to draw everyone to the Grey, and to do so by force. According to Juno the real world will soon "decay" and the only salvation for the people will be to move into the Grey. To do so, however, as stated in the Juno scene in AC4, to achieve the Juno’s goals, it is necessary that the Instruments get more samples, analyze more data and find a greater number of artifacts.
Altar representing the 12 major deities (picture appeared in the AC:Revelation multiplayer)
It’s also interesting to note the objectives that Juno sets for herself. Maybe for the first time, she says she wants to recreate the First Civilization and her own world. Specifically, Juno aims to revive the so-called "Hidden Twelve". Unfortunately for now there are no further information about them, but it's possible that she’s referring to the Dii Consentes or their Greek equivalent, the Olympians or Dodekatheon. These are the twelve major gods of the Greek and Roman mythologies, namely Zeus / Jupiter, Hera / Juno, Poseidon / Neptune, Demeter / Ceres, Athena / Minerva, Apollo, Artemis / Diana, Ares / Mars, Aphrodite / Venus, Hephaestus / Vulcan, Hermes / Mercury, Hestia / Vesta (sometimes replaced by Dionysus / Bacchus). In support of this hypothesis is the fact that the group of the twelve gods has already been mentioned in the file “0:20\FC_Entities” of the Revelations multiplayer that dealt with the First Civilization. If the theory is correct, it will be interesting to see how Juno intends to revive the other "gods", especially considering that two of them are Jupiter / Tinia and Minerva.
The last point, that maybe made several fans discuss in 2014, is the mention of Clay and Desmond. Juno says that no one will leave the Grey, “not Clay, not Desmond", as if their consciousnesses were still in the Grey. While now ALL the AC developers keep confirming everywhere that Desmond has died, such statement actually suggests that the consciousnesses of the two beloved characters are still somewhat present in the Grey, under the control of Juno . All that would be possible, given that Clay had transferred all his memories to Desmond during the events of Revelations and that Desmond interacted with the TWCB technology of the Grand Temple while saving the world and died doing it. It is possible that on this occasion Desmond's conscience (and perhaps Clay's one) had been transferred into the Grey, under Juno's control. Nevertheless, however, there aren’t other elements in support of this theory. Once again, in the AC tradition, we will have to wait to see if this element of the plot will be resumed.
Juno’s cyber attacks don’t end here, though. In an unspecified date the Helix servers received 17 attacks carried out on 17 different targets in unison. An attack that Violet Da Costa does not ascribe to the Assassins because they don’t divide their priorities and are not so "brash" in their moves. In all likelihood, therefore, the culprits are Juno and the Instruments, who have scanned archives of genetic memories, analysis about the Precursors, data from the DDS and who, according to Da Costa, have reorganized and probably altered them.
Later, and now we’re approaching Unity's release Juno reappeared through three audio / video files (in one way or another connected together) appeared on November 6th and that we collected at this link. In this case too, in preparation to the events of Unity, we see Juno contacting the umpteenth "cipher", that she immediately considers as another Instrument of the First Will. She talks to him/her knowing that he/she works for Abstergo, so much so that she assumes that his/her "benefactors" liken the discovery of triple-helix DNA to the splitting of the atom - the exact same words used in the video dedicated to the Phoenix Project - and she also asks important questions: are discoveries such as the splitting of the atom (and therefore also the discovery of the triple helix DNA) that lead to both fission and thus the generation of energy and nuclear bombs a good or bad thing for humanity? A question that echoes the words of the Manifesto written by John and to which Juno answers saying that there is no definitive answer and that, therefore, it’s up to the temperament of who faces them.
"Ah, a visitor! A ghost in the Grey"
In these files Juno promises a bright future to her Instrument, and to anyone else who stays with her in the Grey, proving to be magnanimous and generous towards them ... but this noticeably clashes with what the Morse codes showed in the files. In fact, in these Morse codes there’s the usual propaganda of the Instruments, written, however, in a much more resolved way. The Instruments, before the Assassins accessed to the virtual experience of Jacques de Molay, indirectly allude to him, mentioning March 18th, 1314, when he was burned at the stake, stating shortly after that " her new prophet and husband is born again " (one of the few clues that suggested that de Molay was a Sage when Unity was released). Quoting the Instruments, the Sage (and specifically de Molay) is “born again" to bring times of faith and servitude and to carry the flame with which he clears the "thorny ground" and walk on "foreign fields" with blood and gore while "the Patrus Intellectus grins". Citing once again the Manifesto written by John, then, the Instruments mention the Father of Understanding of the Templars and once again reaffirm the fact that the order is corrupt and need to be rebuilt following the words of De Molay and following Juno's iron will of Juno. Not a bad aggressive marketing ...
Finally, as for the Unity files, we cannot help but mention another important document about Juno that comes once again from the Assassin Intel. It's the infamous dialogue between her and some of the Instruments of the First Will, which we were able to even find in the form of audio file:
In this conversation, which perhaps took place in the Grey, we see Juno still angry about the fact that the human genome has changed too much to be useful for her purposes (and therefore to transfer her consciousness into a human "vessel"). Once again Juno stresses that the future lies in the "Singularity", defined by Otso Berg in the Rogue files as a "fusion of humanity and machines", in other words the transfer of humanity in the Grey. For this purpose, her Instruments should use the Animus: people must enter the Animus and from there the Instruments must lead them in the Grey and not leave ever again.
Apparently, thanks to the conversation that took place in an unspecified date of 2014, we find out from the words of the Instruments that already "now" every day several people enter the Grey and they no longer want to go back. In this conversation Juno cryptically adds that soon people will realize that their annihilation is very close and panic, looking for the solution in the stars (this sort of prophecy reminds of what happened to the First Civilization during the Toba Catastrophe) and will discover that the salvation is in the Grey. Again, it is a prophecy we have little information about and we do not know if it’s a reference to another natural disaster ... or to a threat caused by her to lead humanity into the Grey.
In this file Juno also has sharp words for the Templars and the Assassins. The Templars, according to her, unknowingly built a door / portal by creating the Animus and Helix. Probably even here Juno refers to the fact that it is through the Animus and its simulations that one can enter the Grey, exactly like Robert Fraser did briefly in the plot developed in the Abstergo Employee Handbook.
The Assassins, on the contrary, according to Juno, must die. Now they have fulfilled their purpose (free her through Desmond in 2012) and they might be a danger, if they were to find "my others". Juno once again mentions the "others", maybe other TWCB entities and perhaps it is once again a reference to the 12 hidden entities. Just when the Instruments question her about who these “others" are, however, in the distance we can hear the sound of a siren, which interrupts the dialogue.
The beginning of Juno's prophecy (Source: PSNGirl)
Consistent with this file is another prophecy of Juno, once again without a date, but necessarily "transmitted" to the Helix researcher, protagonist of the game, in November in which the present day events take place. This prophecy could be obtained by collecting the Animus fragments in Rogue, which we listed in our database.
In those fragments, Juno mentions a “machine-human” interface that blurs to Grey, the rise of the Instruments of the First Will as her servants and, above all, the search and the attempt to recover what remained of her people. Juno, therefore, urges to unite humanity under her, in the Grey, for a greater good, although this time, not talking to an Instrument, she tries to charm the researcher with promises of ageless knowledge, glory and a civilization that flourishes in the Grey and, once again, she reminds him that he can find her in the cracks of the simulation.
This ends the no-spoiler roundup of events before Syndicate. For those who have not played Syndicate, what are your expectations? And for those who have played it, on the basis of these premises, did you like the game and the developments that it showed? We are still in the no-spoiler period, so be careful with your comments!
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