Assassins Creed

Desmond Miles, a bartender, is kidnapped by the Abstergo Corporation. There, Desmond is forced to interface with
the Animus, a device that is able to replay the genetic memories of the user's ancestors. In Desmond's case, they
seek information about his ancestor Altar ibn La-Ahad, an Assassin during the time of the Third Crusade. Within the
Animus, Altar's memories reveal that he was attempting to stop Robert de Sabl from taking an artifact from a temple,
but broke all three of the Assassins' Brotherhood's tenets in the process. The Brotherhood leader, Al Mualim, demotes
Altar to the rank of Novice, and assigns him the task of assassinating nine people to regain his former status.

As Altar completes the assassinations, he finds that each was a member of the Templarssearching the area for
"Pieces of Eden", artifacts similar to the one de Sable attempted to steal. Altar eventually faces de Sable in front
of King Richard, and kills him; with his dying breath, de Sable reveals the existence of a tenth Templar: Al Mualim.
Returning to the Brotherhood, Altar finds Al Mualim in possession of a Piece of Eden that is able to control people's
minds. Altar is forced to fight his way through innocents to reach Al Mualim, and engages him in battle. Altar
eventually sees through Al Mualim's tricks using the artifact, and kills him. Upon approaching the artifact, Altar is
surprised to find it displays a projection of the Earth marking several spots around the globe.

At this point, Desmond is brought out of the Animus, his purpose served. He comes to learn that Abstergo is a front for
the modern-day Templars. Abstergo is now set to use the locations on the map seen by Altar to find more Pieces of
Eden, believing that they must collect the artifacts to control the world's population in order to stave off the projected
end of the world in 2012. Desmond's life is spared by Lucy Stillman, one of the Abstergo scientists who is actually an
Assassin mole. Left alone in his locked room, Desmond discovers (through "the Bleeding Effect" from his time spent in
the Animus) that he can observe numerous messages in blood on the walls and floor left by a previous test subject
(Subject 16) that foretell the end of the world

Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II begins immediately after the events of the first game in 2012; Desmond Miles is still trapped by
Abstergo Industries (the modern-day face of the Knights Templar) after being forced to use the Animus device to
revisit genetic memories of the Assassin Altar Ibn-La'Ahad, and has discovered prophetic warnings from Subject 16 (a
previous captive) describing the end of the world. He is soon rescued by Lucy Stillman, a mole for the Assassins
within Abstergo, who takes him to meet two other Assassins, historian Shaun Hastings and computer expert Rebecca
Crane. They request that Desmond use their version of the Animus, the Animus 2.0, to relive memories of another
Assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to train Desmond in the ways of the Assassins through the "Bleeding Effect" of the
Animus. During his exposure, Desmond finds himself briefly struck by a puzzling memory of Altar and his lover, a
former Templar named Maria Thrope, who became pregnant with his child. It is also revealed that apart from training
Desmond as an Assassin, the Assassins also wish to find out more information about the foretold "Vault". Desmond
also finds various glyphs left by Subject 16 in the Animus, which, when decoded and assembled, form a brief video of
a man and woman, "Adam" and "Eve", running through a futuristic setting called "Eden". The video ends with the
binary for "Eden" (01000101 01100100 01100101 01101110).

Ezio's memories begin during the Renaissance in the 15th century, where his family is ensnared in a political plot, and
his father and brothers are hanged. Ezio, following his father's last advice, finds his father's Assassin tools, and flees
the city with his mother and sister to the safety of his uncle Mario's villa in the countryside. Mario assists Ezio in
discovering the people behind the conspiracy, the search leading Ezio from Florence, to San
Gimignano, Forl, Venice and eventually to Rome. As he identifies and assassinates more and more political figures,
Ezio also gains several allies, includingNiccol Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter of whom helps Ezio
improve his equipment using schematics found in Altar's Codex pages. Eventually, Ezio identifies the mastermind of
the plot: the Spaniard Rodrigo Borgia, who ultimately sought to bring down the Medici family in Florence with the help
of the Pazzi family and the Doge of Venice. Ezio finds Borgia in possession of the Applea similar Piece of Eden that
Altar had recovered centuries agoand learns that Borgia believes himself to be "the Prophet" that will lead the
Templars to a fabled "Vault". Ezio is able to confront Borgia with the help of his allies and recover the Apple, and
Borgia flees before he can be killed. Ezio's allies reveal they are all Assassins, and see Ezio as their Prophet, allowing
him to join their ranks.

After this memory, the modern Assassins discover that several years of Ezio's memories are inaccessible from the
Animus. Desmond can only revisit those starting in 1499, where Ezio and the Assassins plan to attack Borgia
(now Pope Alexander VI) at Vatican City. Ezio corners Borgia and strikes him down, but refuses to kill him, as he
knows that it will not bring back his family. Ezio uses the Apple and thePapal cross (which is also a Piece of Eden),
and discovers the entrance to the Vault. Inside, he is astounded when a holographic figure, calling herself Minerva,
appears. Speaking directly to Desmond and those monitoring him in 2012, she explains that she was part of a far
more advanced society that initially co-existed along with the early humans on Earth before they faced each other in
war. A global catastrophe occurred that nearly wiped out both sides, and the survivors joined together to construct
"temples" across the Earth to allow humans to prevent a similar catastrophe in the future. Before the hologram
disappears, she warns Desmondby namethat "the rest is up to you".

Shortly after recovering this memory, Desmond and the others are forced to flee with the Animus 2.0 from their
location as Abstergo troops surround it. There, they encounter Warren Vidic, who flees when Desmond and Lucy deal
with the troops. As the team heads towards a new safehouse, Lucy explains that there is a newly-discovered
weaknesses in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare striking this weakness would cause a similar level of global
destruction as described by Minerva. Desmond resolves to help the Assassins find these temples, and prepares to
reenter the Animus, knowing that Ezio may hold the answers they seek.

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

The continuing story is set in 2012. After escaping the Templars' attack at the end of Assassin's Creed II, Desmond
Miles, Lucy Stillman, Rebecca Crane andShaun Hastings flee to Monteriggioni, establishing a new hideout in the ruins
of the Villa Auditore. After restoring the electricity in the old tunnels under the villa, the player once again takes control
of Ezio Auditore through the genetic memoryof Desmond Miles using the Animus 2.0 (which is the game's memory
interface). Their mission is to find the Apple of Eden, an important and mysterious artifact that could prevent
the impending disaster that is coming in that same year, believed to be perpetrated by the Templars.

Ezio's story continues in 1499, where he exits the Vault, confused by what he saw inside. He escapes Rome with his
uncle Mario Auditore and arrives at Monteriggioni. Once home, Ezio is comforted by the prospect that his personal
vendetta is over and that his days as an Assassin are done; however, Niccol Machiavelli challenges Ezio's decision
to leave Rodrigo Borgia, now Pope Alexander VI, alive. The following morning, Monteriggioni is besieged by Cesare
Borgia, son of Rodrigo. Mario is killed at the hands of Cesare himself, and the Apple lost to Cesare and the Templars.
Ezio escapes with his family and travels to Rome, the center of the Templar Order inItaly, once again seeking
vengeance against the Borgias. There, he discovers that the Assassins are failing in the fight against corruption.
Determined to redeem the Guild, Ezio convinces Machiavelli that he has what it takes to lead while assembling a
Brotherhood powerful enough to destroy the Templars and his new archnemesis, Cesare Borgia.

During the next four years, Ezio executes tasks meant to cripple the Borgias' hold in the capital, sabotaging Cesare's
resources and assassinating key people close to and/or working with him in the process, and slowly restoring Rome to
its former glory. Ezio is then made head of the Order and promoted to the rank of Il Mentore (Italian for "The Mentor").

Cesare, learning of Ezio's actions, confronts his suspicious father and desperately asks for more money and the Apple
itself. Rodrigo refuses and attempts to poison his son, realizing that Cesare's lust for power can't be held at bay.
Cesare, however, turns the tables on his father and kills him instead. Ezio witnesses this and, after learning of the
Apple's location, retrieves it from within St. Peter's Basilica. Ezio uses it to overwhelm Cesare's forces and withdraw
the backing of his supporters; Cesare is finally arrested by Pope Julius II's Papal Army.
Ezio uses the Apple once again to check on Cesare, who breaks out of prison and has lain siege on a small city
in Navarre, Spain. He encounters Cesare on the battlements of a crumbling castle and fights him. Cesare claims that
he cannot be killed by the hand of man, thus inciting Ezio to "let fate decide" by dropping him off the battlements. Ezio
then takes the Apple and hides it in another temple built underneath Santa Maria in Aracoeli.

Using the coordinates taken from Ezio's memories, Desmond, Lucy, Shaun and Rebecca travel to the temple,
intending to use the Apple to locate the remaining temples to keep the other Pieces of Eden out of the Templars'
hands. As Desmond makes his way into the temple, he is confronted with holographic apparitions of a being
called Juno, who appears to be of the same race as Minerva; however, she is neither audible nor visible to Lucy,
Shaun, or Rebecca. Most of her comments center around humanity's lack of knowledge. She states that humanity is
"innocent and ignorant"; that people were not built to be wise, having been given only five of the six senses: sight,
smell, taste, touch, and hearing, but lacking knowledge. Her careful cadence then drops as she suddenly becomes
angry, yelling "We should have left you as you were!" [citation needed]

As Desmond approaches the Apple and touches it, time freezes around him, though he can still move and speak.
Juno cryptically says Desmond is descended from her race and their enemy; she also says there is a woman who is
supposed to accompany him through "the gate", but she is not with him. She takes control of Desmond's body and
forces him to stab Lucy in the abdomen. Both fall to the ground, Lucy apparently dead, Desmond entering a coma. As
the credits roll, two men, one of them Desmond's father, are heard discussing whether to put Desmond back in the
Animus.