The individual known only as Subject 16 was captured by the [[Knights Templar|Templar]]-front organization [[Abstergo Industries]] at some point during the 20<sup>th</sup> or 21<sup>st</sup> Century for use in the genetic memory recall program<ref name="Assassin's Creed" />. Kept within the [[Abstergo Laboratory]] at all times by [[Warren Vidic]], 16 was kept connected to the [[Animus]] for dangerously long periods, sometimes even days at a time<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />. This led to 16 suffering from a severe condition known as the "[[Bleeding effect|bleeding effect]]"<ref name="Assassin's Creed" />.
Suffering the bleeding effect, 16 began to explore the memories of his ancestors without the use of the Animus <ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />, however his inability to actually control these visions forced Subject 16 into a downward spiral of insanity, eventually culminating in his suicide<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />.
Before his death, 16 was forced by Abstergo to explore the memories of an ancestor named [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]]<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />, who the Templars knew had located [[the Vault]] during his lifetime<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />; 16 never relived the memories of his ancestor visiting the Vault. Draining his body of its blood to paint several cryptic puzzles upon the floor and walls of the [[Abstergo Laboratory]],<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" /> 16 committed suicide to prevent the Templars reaching their goals.
Many of the Glyphs have hidden messages in them. All of the decoded ones are stated in this page.
It is possible that Subject 16 could have been part of the Assassins, as he refers to the Assassin symbol as "our mark" during one of the Glyph puzzles.