Assassin's Creed

Story

Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries to serve as a test subject for the "Animus," a device that can simulate genetic memory. Abstergo wants to put Desmond in the device to retrieve the memories of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood in 1191 and lived in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. At first, Desmond has trouble getting used to the device, but eventually he relives Altaïr's exploits over the next few days. The game then switches mainly to Altaïr's point of view, with occasional transitions to Desmond due to problems with the animus or the onset of the bleeding effect. The game starts with Desmond entering Altaïr's memory, but soon he has problems with the synchronization. As a result, the voices of Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic can be heard arguing about Desmond's safety in the Animus. After some problems, Desmond exits the virtual machine and is instructed by Vidic on how the Animus works before starting the machine's learning program. After Desmond finishes with the learning program, he enters the next synchronizable memory of Altaïr. Lucy adds that Desmond must relive key moments of Altaïr's life to improve his synchronization before reaching the final memory that contains the information Abstergo seeks. Altaïr is first shown trying to retrieve one of the artifacts known as the "Pieces of Eden" from the Temple of Solomon with the help of Malik Al-Sayf and his brother Kadar, but they are stopped by Robert de Sablé, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and archenemy of the Assassins. In recovering the treasure, Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassin faith to kill Robert, but fails. In the ensuing turmoil, Malik's brother is killed and Malik's left arm is crippled and later amputated. When Altaïr returns to the Assassins' stronghold at Masyaf with an apology, Malik, who survived de Sablé, returns with the artifact and denigrates Altaïr for his arrogance. After narrowly fending off a Templar retaliatory attack, Al Mualim, the leader of the Assassins, demotes Altaïr to novice, but gives him another chance to rise in the ranks of the Brotherhood. Al Mualim tasks Altaïr with assassinating nine key figures in the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus to secure peace between the Crusaders and the Saracens. Each target is based on a real historical figure from the Third Crusade, including Majd Addin, Garnier de Naplouse, Jubair al Hakim, Abu'l Nuqoud, Sibrand, William of Montferrat and Robert de Sablé. Altaïr completes each task, learning how each objective is connected to Robert and the Templars, and how together they are trying to end the Crusades and bring the Holy Land under their control. After men on both sides are killed, he finds out that Robert's final plan is to unite the Christian and Muslim forces against their new common enemy, the Assassins. Altaïr defeats de Sablé in front of Richard the Lionheart. He fails to convince the king that an end to the war would be welcome to both sides, but he does put an end to Robert's plan. From de Sablé, Altaïr learns that Al Mualim himself was a member of the Templars and used the Assassin to kill the other members who knew the secret of the treasure's power so that he could keep the artifact for himself. Altaïr quickly returns to Masyaf and turns to his master, who reveals the truth to him: The piece of Eden, which he had recovered with Altaïr's help right before his transgression, creates illusions. He refers to religion and other seemingly supernatural events (e.g., the Ten Plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the presence of the Greek gods in the Trojan War) as illusions caused by the piece, and then declares his intention to use the artifact to force humanity into a state of brainwashing, thus putting an end to all conflict; Altaïr is eventually able to see through the illusions created by the artifact and kill Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the artifact, the Piece of Eden is activated, showing a holographic view of the world with numerous locations of other Pieces of Eden around the globe. At the end of the process, Desmond learns that Abstergo is a modern offshoot of the Templars and that they are already searching for other artifacts in locations listed in Altaïr's memories. He also learns that the modern Assassins tried to rescue him before the memories were completed, but they failed. As a result, Desmond was to be killed on the orders of a high-ranking Templar, Alan Rikkin, but Lucy Stillman saves him from death and at one point sticks her ring finger in her palm, referring to the Assassins' tradition of cutting off the finger. Although Desmond remains trapped in the Abstergo lab, his experience in the Animus has created a bleeding effect of Altaïr's life in his own, allowing Desmond to enter the Assassin world.