Melanie Lemay

"Join us, and a bright future will be all yours."

―Melanie encouraging the Helix analyst to join the Templar Order, 2014.

Melanie Lemay is the Chief Creative Officer of Abstergo Entertainment, a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries, the Sample 17 Project Supervisor, and a member of the Templar Order.

Biography

Sample 17 Supervisor

"I feel terrible about all this. About everything. All our evidence pointed to you... but it was John all along. God, the things we found on his computer."

―Melanie apologizing to the research analyst following John Standish's death, 2013.

On 29 October 2013, Melanie inducted a new employee into the company, and introduced them to the then-CCO of Abstergo Entertainment, Olivier Garneau. Afterwards, Melanie showed the employee to their Animi station and left them to explore Edward Kenway's genetic memories.

On 13 November, Melanie unknowingly found a picture of Juno in a copy of Pirates of Nightmares. She questioned the Abstergo Entertainment development team about it, but none of them knew what it was. The investigation into the image was subsequently taken over by Laetitia England.

Melanie speaking with Olivier in her office

Not long after this, Olivier went missing while en-route to a shareholder's meeting with Laetitia in Chicago, and Melanie was forced to assume control in his stead. Simultaneously, Melanie found herself dealing with a series of hacks across the company's servers, security systems, computers, and Animi. All the evidence seemed to suggest that the recently inducted employee was responsible, prompting Melanie to keep a closer eye on them.

Eventually, the hacks escalated to such a level of severity that Melanie was forced to isolate several members of the Sample 17 team in the Bunker, a basement level of the Montreal facility. There, the researchers were able to continue their work but were not allowed to leave their rooms, as to avoid compromising the rest of the facility. Once Melanie concluded that the newly inducted employee was the hacker based on all the existing evidence, she went to the analyst's room accompanied by armed security.

As they entered the room, they witnessed John Standish, the head of the company's IT department, attempt to poison their suspect, forcing the guards to shoot him down. Melanie then had the analyst treated for their injuries and had them placed in her office as they recovered. Once the employee woke up, Melanie apologized for everything that had happened to them and revealed that information found on John's computer implicated him as the hacker, clearing the analyst of all accusations against them.

Melanie working in her office

After showing the employee a sneak-peek of the trailer for Pirates of Nightmares and congratulating them for their work researching Edward's memories so far, Melanie allowed them to return to their Animus station. Following this, Melanie reported to Laetitia about the recent events, informing her of John's death and asking Laetitia if she had heard from Olivier since his disappearance.

Abstergo Entertainment CCO

Melanie: "What the hell is happening?"

Violet: "A file labeled "Shay Cormac" was booby-trapped with some kind of virus."

Melanie: "Your job is to prevent things like this!"

—Melanie and Violet da Costa discussing the virus contained within Shay's genetic memories, 2014.

At some point following Olivier Garneau's disappearance, Melanie took over as Chief Creative Officer of Abstergo Entertainment and was inducted into the Templar Order.

On 21 January 2014, Alan Rikkin, the CEO of Abstergo Industries, wrote a letter to Melanie congratulating her on her promotion, offering a raise, and informing her that her duties as CCO will commence on 3 March 2014. A few days later on the 24th, Melanie was contacted by the Head of the Phoenix Project, Álvaro Gramática, who congratulated her on her promotion and sent her documents in regards to the project. He also told her of his upcoming trip to Montreal and convinced her to write a memoir about John, who was revealed to be a Sage and was of interest to Gramática.

On 27 February, Gramática again contacted Melanie, informing her of his current location in Toronto and that he would be arriving in Montreal later that night. Melanie brought up the documents that had been shared with her in their previous contact, remarking that she was stunned by the footage recovered from John's genetic memories. Melanie then informed Gramática that she would task her researchers to look for more information in regards to Sages.

On 30 May, Melanie contacted Gramática, giving him an update on several Sage references she had found: one during the Hunnic Empire, one that had crossed paths with the French Assassin Arno Dorian, as well as a singer by the name of David Jones in 20th-century England. Sometime later, Melanie gave him a list of several Sages that her research team had found.

By June, Melanie focused on creating new games, especially about different Assassins and Templars throughout history, asking for the opinion of several employees, including Robert Fraser. While looking at Robert's progress on the Arno Dorian project, Aidan St. Claire, the Project Manager, handed her one of Robert's sketches, and she wittily left a posit on the sketch congratulating Robert for his work. On 25 June, Melanie sent Robert an email telling him to stop playing "games of chance" like pharaoh since it would create tension among the employees, and encouraged him to find other ways to spend time with his colleagues.

Sometime later, Aidan gave her Robert's psychological evaluation that was made to see if he had the Bleeding Effect, and Melanie thanked him for keeping her informed. She also asked him to watch Robert's behavior closely.

On 18 July, Melanie sent Robert some rough sketches for Arno's and Élise's figurines and asked him what he thought about them. On 29 July, Robert, after spending a week with Abstergo's psychiatrist Victoria Bibeau, sent her a reapplication letter for Arno's project, claiming that he was now in perfect conditions to continue his work. After speaking about it with Aidan, she decided to reapplicate Robert. Unexpectedly, some days later, both Robert and Victoria started burning documents and deleting every file related to Arno Dorian. They also leaked the unsequenced memories to the Assassins before they were terminated.

Melanie ordered Aidan to recover what was left from the files to give it to Templar initiate Percy Westcreek for him to review, and to help him finish Arno's memories. Since Percy had Eagle Vision, Melanie would often give him some artifacts for him to examine, like Arno's pocket watch, the chalice from his initiation into the Assassin Brotherhood, and a Templar badge of office.

When Percy relived Arno's memories up to his encounter with the Sage and Grand Master François-Thomas Germain on 21 January 1793 at King Louis XVI's execution, Melanie gave him a promotion within the Templar ranks, as well as the title of Journeyman, which gave him access to confidential information on the Isu, their technology, and Abstergo's Phoenix Project. After Percy had finished reading the information, Melanie revealed to him the true purpose of his project: finding Germain's remains before the Assassins.

Thanks to Percy's swift work with Arno's memories and his abilities with Eagle Vision, Melanie provided Percy with a trip on an Abstergo Entertainment private jet to examine the French Assassins' hideout underneath Sainte-Chapelle, hoping that Percy's Eagle Vision would help him discover some secrets others might have missed.

On 6 August, Melanie informed Gramática of several intrusions faced by the facility, to which he responded by saying that the intruders were using the Helix software to sequence genetic memories like them. He sent one of his technicians to help her with the intruders, which she accepted. On 21 August, Melanie was contacted by Violet da Costa in regards to the several breaches they had encountered. She sent her a sample of the text that her team had decoded, believing that the group who breached the facility had relations to John Standish. Sometime later, Violet briefed Melanie on a breach that she had not encountered before, and that an 'entity' was possibly 'living' in the network.

On 15 September, Gramática sent Melanie a report on the Phoenix Project that he was involved in, in light of the recent security breaches that she was facing.

On 2 November, Melanie was contacted again by Gramática, who wished to check on her team's progress with Arno Dorian. She shared that Arno was a gifted Assassin and his memories were difficult for her researchers to relieve. Gramática advised her not to stress her researchers and told her that she was invited by Alan Rikkin to attend a small party at his home in Cape Cod, which she accepted.

Melanie speaking with Violet

Later that month, a Helix analyst triggered a virus embedded in the genetic memories of Shay Cormac, causing the entire facility to become compromised. In response, Melanie ordered the evacuation of the building, leaving Violet da Costa and Juhani Otso Berg in charge of restoring the systems and security. Melanie later called the analyst to her office, telling them of Olivier's disappearance and granting them the necessary security clearance to continue exploring Shay's memories.

After the analyst finished researching Shay's memories, Melanie and Violet were present when Berg gave the analyst a choice of joining the Templar Order. Melanie presented a Templar ring to the analyst and encouraged them to accept the offer, especially since the alternative implied death.

Around the same time, Melanie was working on the Dvija A.I. project, but needed a digital version of Monima Das to finish it. She also sought to work with MysoreTech to create virtual historical tours, concerts, and sporting events. Arend Schut was one possible figure to be featured in a virtual MMA fight.

On 30 October 2015, Melanie had scheduled a conference with Isabelle Ardant. The following year, she met with fellow Templar Anaya Chodary for an interview for the position of Director of Information Security at the Abstergo Entertainment Montreal building. Melanie called her an hour after the interview to offer her the job.

Personality and traits

"You haven't forgotten your boss, have you? Melanie Lemay? Super chipper over-achiever?"

―Violet da Costa describing Melanie to the Helix analyst, 2014.

Melanie introducing the research analyst to Olivier

A fair, cheerful and amiable woman, Melanie was quite good-natured and genuinely cared for those working under her. She argued several times with Olivier Garneau about the pressure that Abstergo Industries had put on them, and their high priority in locating the Observatory.

Melanie often became concerned when any of her employees were subjected to harm or duress, as demonstrated when the newly recruited research analyst ran into trouble in several instances. She even argued with Olivier when he planned to overwork their employees to find the Observatory.

Following Olivier's disappearance, Melanie was reluctant to use the full extent of her powers to isolate the Sample 17 Project team, noting that although she had the contractual right to detain them indefinitely, she would rather not do so.

Melanie meeting the Helix analyst in her office

However, after her induction into the Templar Order, and once her true affiliations were revealed to the Helix analyst, Melanie's real personality was shown to be that of a stoic and almost sociopathic woman. She seemed to have no qualms about letting Juhani Otso Berg kill the analyst if they refused to join the Templar Order. Nonetheless, she actively encouraged the analyst to join the Order, believing that the Templars would offer them a better life.

Behind the scenes

Melanie Lemay is a character introduced in the modern-day sections of the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. She was voiced by the Canadian-American actress Cristina Rosato, who reprised the role in the 2014 game Assassin's Creed: Rogue.

Trivia

• The name Melanie, as well as its French variant Mélanie, are derived from the Greek name μελαινα (Melaina), meaning "black, dark".
• Melanie referenced being married in the database entry for The Queen's Staircase, saying that she had seen them during her honeymoon in Nassau. However, in a conversation later recovered from Abstergo's servers, Melanie mentioned needing only one plane ticket in order to attend Alan Rikkin's party "unless something exciting happens", implying that she was single or divorced.
• Melanie had a great-great-grandfather who fought in the American Civil War; he was noted to have met President Abraham Lincoln a few times.
• Her name was spelled "Mélanie" in Question the Creed.
• Melanie has had contact with five members of the Templars' Inner Sanctum, namely Álvaro Gramática, Laetitia England, Alan Rikkin, Isabelle Ardant, and Juhani Otso Berg.
• The MMA fighters mentioned by Melanie in an email, Guilherme Venancio and Luis Otavio Duris, are the same men who fought in São Paulo, Brazil, during Desmond Miles' mission there to retrieve an Isu power source.

Gallery

• 
  Early concept art of Melanie's appearance in Black Flag
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  Finalized concept art of Melanie's appearance in Black Flag
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  Concept art of Melanie's appearance in Rogue
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  Melanie speaking with the research analyst
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  Melanie meeting with Olivier
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  Melanie contacting the research analyst in the Bunker
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  Melanie and John Standish in the Abstergo Cloud server corridor

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment – Employee Handbook
• Assassin's Creed: Unity (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Heresy (mentioned only)