Modern times

2012-07-25T01:50:03Z

24.60.121.73: /* Desmond Miles */

{{Era|AC1|AC2|ACB|ACR|AC3|TF}}
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{{Revamp}}
'''Modern times''' refers to the period between (and including) 1900 and 2012 {{Wiki|Common Era|C.E.}}. This era saw the overall decline of the [[Assassins]] and ascendance of the [[Templars]], including [[Desmond Miles]]' capture for use in the [[Animus]] project.

==Thefts and Murders==
The Templars were able to recover several [[Pieces of Eden]] during this period, typically by murdering the previous owner. Amongst their victims were [[Harry Houdini]], [[Mahatma Gandhi|MK Gandhi]] and [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|John F Kennedy]].<ref name="ac2Glyph9">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #9</ref> [[Nikola Tesla]] also lost his [[Fourth Apple|Apple of Eden]] (though not his life) to the Templars;<ref name="ac2Glyph1">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #11</ref> an incident which motivated Tesla to help the Assassins in destroying [[the Staff]] (below).<ref name="ac2Glyph16">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #16</ref>

The {{wiki|Apollo 11}} mission to the {{Wiki|Moon}} surface was in fact a Templar expedition to recover an [[Fifth Apple|Apple of Eden]] that was on the lunar surface.<ref name="ac2Glyph10">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #10</ref><ref group="Note" name="spares">Although the Templars are shown to hold other Pieces of Eden, it is unclear why they could not use any of them to power the Eye-Abstergo satellite.</ref>

==The Staff==
[[File:Falluser2.jpg|thumb|Destruction of The Staff of Eden]]
At some point before June 1908, [[Grigori Rasputin]] stole [[The Staff|The Staff of Eden]] from Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]]. Without the Staff, Nicholas could not control his people and this ultimately led to the [[Russian Revolution]].<ref name="ac2Glyph8">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #8</ref> It is unclear if Rasputin himself was a Templar, but by June 1908 the Staff had been taken to a Templar research station in [[Tunguska]]. Before the Templars could take advantage of the artifact, however, the Assassins and [[Nikola Tesla]] [[Tunguska Explosion|destroyed the facility]].<ref name="ac2Glyph16"/>

==World War II==
{{Main|World War II}}
The Templars orchestrated [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power by granting him an [[Fourth Apple|Apple of Eden]].<ref name="ac2Glyph12">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #12</ref> Although the aim of Templar hegemony was accomplished, Hitler himself was killed by the Assassins in 1945, as he left his bunker in Berlin.<ref name="ac2Glyph17">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #17</ref>

==Philadelphia Project==
{{Main|Philadelphia Project}}
It is unclear if the Templars had direct involvement in the Philadelphia Project, but the data they gained from [[Animus Subjects#Subject Twelve|Animus Subject Twelve]] confirmed that an American Naval ship was briefly thrust into a future timeline. Fearful of temporal paradoxes, the Templars contained the artifact responsible.<ref name="ac1mailConference">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' - [[E-mails#Conference Room Email|Conference Room E-mail]]</ref>

==The Great Purge==
[[File:Mentoredies-infobox.png|thumb|The death of The Mentor.]]
{{Main|The Great Purge}}
In November 2000, the Templars were able to plant a [[Daniel Cross|sleeper agent]] amongst the Assassins, who plunged them into disarray by killing [[The Mentor]] of the Order.<ref name="theFall3">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Fall]]'' - Issue #3</ref> By September 2012, the Templars had managed to locate and destroy virtually every Assassin encampment around the world.<ref name="ac1Conversation">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' - [[Conversations]]</ref>

==The Second Plague==
In September or October of 2006, a virus named L-11 broke out in {{Wiki|Africa}}. After a mere three months 96% of the continent's population were dead. Even after six years, Africa remained essentially empty.<ref name="ac1VidicMail">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' - [[Vidic's e-mail]]</ref>

==North America==
In March 2012, violence erupted between {{Wiki|Mexico|Mexican}} border guards and illegal immigrants from the [[United States]]. Despite hundreds of American refugees killed and thousands more wounded, record numbers of Americans continued to cross the border.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/>

On 3 September 2012 the Global Weather Association simply abandoned the phrase 'North Atlantic Hurricane Season'. Hurricanes in the North Atlantic had become so powerful and frequent that coastal cities lived in constant fear of the storms.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/><ref name="hurricane">Wikipedia article on {{Wiki|Tropical Cyclone#Times|Hurricane Season}}</ref>

On 6 September 2012, the last American film studio permanently closed down. Rampant film piracy and competition from the video game industry had rendered the American cinema industry unviable.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/>

The USA and {{Wiki|European Union|EU}} continued to build jointly-owned oil platforms in the {{Wiki|Weddell Sea}}, despite protests that the platforms violate the {{Wiki|Antarctic Treaty System}}.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/>

==Desmond Miles==
[[File:WVidic 1.jpg|thumb|200px|Warren Vidic, Lucy Stillman, and Desmond Miles in the Abstergo Animus lab.]]
On 6 September 2012, the media announced [[Abstergo Industries]] was being investigated for manipulating a small town's water supply in order to test a synthetic drug referred to as New Fluoride.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/> This pressured Abstergo to launch their Eye-Abstergo satellite (secretly a [[Piece of Eden]]-powered mind-control device<ref name="ac1LucyMail">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' - [[Lucy's e-mail]]</ref>) on December 21st, sooner than planned. Unfortunately, the Piece of Eden intended to power the satellite was destroyed in the [[DIA satellite accident]] and Abstergo did not have a spare.<ref name="ac1VidicMail"/><ref group="Note" name="spares"/>

To that end, Abstergo kidnapped Desmond Miles on September 3 and took him to their facility in [[Italy]].<ref group="Note" name="locale">The signs in the Abstergo parking lot (and the [[Hideout]], which is less than a day's drive from Abstergo) are in Italian. [[Florence|Florentine]]-style buildings can be seen through the Hideout's windows. [[Monteriggioni]] is also within driving distance of the Hideout. Despite the Italian setting, the Abstergo staff speak English with American accents.</ref> Here Desmond relived the memories of his ancestor [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] so that Abstergo could obtain a map showing the location of the [[Pieces of Eden]] on Earth.<ref name="ac1">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>

Desmond escaped Abstergo with the help of fellow Assassin [[Lucy Stillman]], who was working undercover in Abstergo. With the Assassins losing the war against the Templars, the decision was made to train Desmond as a true Assassin in the fastest possible way: use the Animus (which the Assassins had [[Animus#Animus 2.0|copied]]) by taking advantage of the Bleeding Effect by reliving the memories of an ancestor (in Desmond's case, [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]]).<ref name="ac2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>

While reliving these memories, Desmond encountered an entity known only as [[Minerva]], who warned of a [[First Disaster|natural disaster]] that would soon recur. In order to avert planet-wide decimation, the [[Pieces of Eden]] needed to be brought to a series of temples built by the [[First Civilization]].<ref name="ac2"/>

[[File:Assassin_hideout_AC_II_1.png|thumb|200px|Vidic and the Templars catch up with Desmond]]
Desmond and his companions were located by the Templars but were able to escape once more.<ref name="ac2"/> They fled to the Assassin safehouse of [[Monteriggioni]], where Desmond continued to relive Ezio's life in order to locate the [[Ezio's Apple|Apple of Eden]] that had come into Ezio's possession.<ref name="acBrotherhood">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

The search led Desmond to the [[Colosseum Vault]] in [[Rome]], which contained a secret passage leading to [[Santa Maria Aracoeli]]. Here the Assassins located Ezio's Apple within a hidden vault and attempted to retrieve it. When Desmond touched the Apple, his body was somehow possessed by [[Juno]], one of the First Civilization, and was used to stab Lucy Stillman in the stomach. Desmond then went into shock and slipped into a state of unconsciousness.<ref name="acBrotherhood"/>

[[William Miles]]'s team arrived and had Desmond placed into the Animus.<ref name="acBrotherhood"/> Desmond relived the memories of Ezio during the search for [[Leonardo da Vinci|Da Vinci]], and the coordinates given in the [[Pythagorean Vault]] directed them to the [[Grand Temple]].<ref name="acbDaVinci">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' - ''[[The Da Vinci Disappearance]]''</ref> After burying the deceased Lucy outside Rome, the Assassins flew to the [[United States]] while posing as a medical team. When Desmond completed Ezio's memories, he entered the [[Sync Nexus]] and awoke outside the Grand Temple, claiming that he knew what they had to do.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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Modern times