Abstergo Philadelphia Facility

The Abstergo Philadelphia Facility is an Abstergo facility next to the Delaware River in Philadelphia, United States. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, it housed several of Abstergo's divisions, including Historical Research, Lineage Discovery and Acquisition, and Abstergo Medical. The facility also houses the Library & Archive Hall, said to store all of Abstergo's knowledge under impenetrable security.

As of 2017, the facility was overseen by Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg, a member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order.

History

The prodigal son's return

On 21 November 2000, a confused Daniel Cross arrived at the Philadelphia facility, demanding to be placed in the Animus. It was only after he attacked ansecretary that Dr. Warren Vidic became convinced of the urgency. Regardless of Daniel's erratic behavior, Vidic felt almost a fatherly pride for Daniel for having killed the Assassin Mentor.

Shortly after his return, Abstergo initiated the "Great Purge", a global hunt for Assassin hideouts that Daniel, under the influence of his sleeper agent programming, had uncovered in an attempt to get closer to the Mentor. On 6 December, Daniel was strapped to a medical bed in front of a television screen, his condition monitored by senior Templar executive Alfred Stearns of the Inner Sanctum, who oversaw the Purge. He ordered Dr. Sung to extract more information from Daniel, regardless of the risk to his life.

Once the global purge had succeeded, nearly wiping out the Assassin Brotherhood, Daniel was hailed as a symbol of hope for the Templar Order. As a reward, Warren Vidic granted him unlimited time in the Animus, allowing him to be with his "family" for as long as he desired.

Daniel Cross being awoken from the Animus

By 2002, Daniel had spent thirteen uninterrupted months in the Animus. He was finally removed by Dr. Sung when his brain activity became erratic. Introducing herself as his physician, she guided him through the Philadelphia facility, explaining that he was seen as a hero by the Order for killing the Assassin Mentor. However, she could not bear to watch him waste his life reliving his ancestors' memories. She led him to his new apartment, hoping he would move forward. Once alone, Daniel was overwhelmed by the Bleeding Effect, seeing blood on the walls before slipping into one of his ancestor's memories.

Later that evening, Daniel approached Dr. Sung as she was about to leave the facility. Due to the Bleeding Effect, he saw her as Anna Orelov, the wife of Nikolai Orelov, and briefly confused the two women. He asked if he could re-enter the Animus, but she refused, correctly deducing that he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms. She left, unaware that Daniel had stolen her keycard. Using it, he accessed the facility's new Animus room. Walking past several Animi used to relive the memories of captured Assassins, he was shocked to see Paul Bellamy strapped to one of them but chose to ignore him. Lying down in an Animus, he noted its renewed appearance before reliving more of Nikolai's memories.

To Daniel's surprise, Dr. Sung soon awoke him, expressing her disappointment and pointing out that the machine had not even been turned on. Daniel apologized and asked if Abstergo had any files on his connection to Nikolai. After admitting they did, she reassured him that he did not need to revisit his past to feel connected to his family, as everyone at Abstergo cared for him. She told him he could consider Abstergo his second family.

That night, Daniel woke up in his apartment after reliving more of his ancestor's memories, revealing Nikolai's parental abuse toward his son Innokenti. Looking at Nikolai's picture in his files, he scornfully crumpled it.

Master Templar initiation

Daniel injecting Otso Berg with a tracer

On 6 December 2012, Juhani Otso Berg was taken to a hidden chamber in Abstergo's Philadelphia facility, where he met Laetitia England, the head of Abstergo Industries' Operations Division and a member of the Inner Sanctum. There, she revealed her intention to make him a Master Templar and place him at the forefront of the Templars' efforts to eliminate the remnants of the modern-day Assassin Order. On her orders, Daniel Cross injected a microchip into Berg's arm. Laetitia then explained that the Templars needed to ensure they had trustworthy agents worldwide and that the chip would allow them to monitor Berg's every move.

Four days later, Berg met with Warren Vidic, Laetitia, Daniel, and several other Master Templars in the same chamber, where Laetitia announced that Abstergo had located the leader of the Assassins, William Miles, in Cairo, Egypt. Soon after, Berg was deployed with a team to capture him.

Search for the Koh-i-Noor

In 2016, André Bolden, a member of the Bolden family which counted numerous Black Crosses, was brought to the facility on the pretense of having his Vietnam War PTSD treated. In reality, the Templars sought to locate the Koh-i-Noor, a Piece of Eden that his ancestors had encountered during their lifetimes.

Otso Berg introducing André Bolden to Caitlin Gift

After being greeted by Juhani Otso Berg and his team consisting of Violet da Costa, Dr. Caitlin Gift, and Freddy, André entered the Animus, where he relived the memories of his 19th-century ancestor Jan van der Graff. This surprised the Templars, who expected André's ancestor to be Solomon Bolden, the known Black Cross at that time. Nevertheless, the simulation continued until André, realizing he had been deceived, attacked two guards and fled the facility. Caitlin ordered the guards to apprehend him, but Berg overruled her and allowed the man to escape.

Later, Berg convinced André to return to the facility willingly by promising not to lie to him again, and the team continued exploring Graff's memories. During André's Animus session, Violet and Berg discussed the notion of trust along with secrets of the Assassin-Templar War, with Berg explaining why André was helping. Violet noted she had never known him to be so trusting, to which Berg remarked that he trusted her. As they witnessed Graff's imprisonment, Violet asked Berg whether he planned to reveal everything to André, as he had now also heard about the Koh-i-Noor, though Berg answered that he did not know whether he would.

After both Berg and André left the facility for the day, they were nearly killed in a drive-by shooting, during which Berg saved André's life, earning his trust. The two men then returned to the facility to continue their Animus sessions, though Berg found it suspicious that Violet had also brought Freddy, to which she explained that she believed Berg might have been hurt in the attack.

The facility in 2016

Following a relatively short Animus session, André could not continue due to being forced to relive Graff's torture by Sultan Selim III's guards, so Berg allowed him to leave for the day. Later, he called the proxy he had used to arrange the attack that won him André's loyalty, only to be informed that there had been an incident at the Philadelphia facility. When Berg and Violet arrived to investigate, they found that Caitlin had been murdered; while Berg suspected the involvement of a third party, in reality she had been strangled by Freddy, who was a mole for the Instruments of the First Will alongside Violet.

Although Freddy had killed Caitlin because she had discovered the Trojan horse installed by Violet to syphon the data from André's Animus sessions, the Instruments deemed him a liability and silenced him not long after. Berg discovered Freddy's body in his office, leading him to conclude that Abstergo had been infiltrated by a fifth column and that he could not trust anyone. Thus, he decided to become the new Black Cross to uncover the mysterious group, with André secretly aiding him.

Behind the scenes

The design of the Abstergo Philadelphia Facility building is seemingly based on the headquarters for LegalShield built 2003 in Ada, Oklahoma by Nabholz Construction Company and designed by Minneapolis architectural firm MSR Design. It also shares some design elements with the 2006 reopening of the Guthrie Theater which was in fact designed by Jean Nouvel alongside another Minneapolis based firm, Architectural Alliance.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: The Fall (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates
• Assassin's Creed: Templars
• Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)