The Truth

"Hello. This is...they call me Subject 16. Listen, I don't have much time - there's something I have to show you. We have been lied to this whole time; everything we know, everything we've been brought up to believe - it's wrong."

―Subject 16

The Truth is a side-quest which appears in both Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. They were created by Subject 16 with the intent to enlighten and possibly warn Desmond. In both instances, The Truth files can been unlocked by uncovering a series of glyphs throughout the world and solving their corrosponding puzzles.

Assassin's Creed II

In Assassin's Creed II there are 20 glyphs in all, and successfully unlocking each one will give a bit more insight into the Origins of the Templars, the Assassins, and the Piece of Eden. However until all of the videos are unlocked, each of the individual twenty videos are extremely brief, barely a second long.

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A scene from the Truth video.

In the video, Adam and Eve, dressed in skin colored bodysuits seemingly making them appear as if they are naked, are seen running from something. They move through an open area which may be The Garden of Eden. The scenery is a mixture between flora, a shiny blue material that resembles glass, and a white surface which sounds like stone. The garden is decorated in a very futuristic style which is a strong contrast against the biblical setting. Moving through a circular automatic door, Adam and Eve use free-running (similar to that used by the Assassins) to climb a large, futuristic looking building. While they are climbing the building, the silhouette of a humanoid (who appears to be floating) can be seen holding a Piece of Eden to control several human slaves. These workers appear to be in an environment similar to that of a metal refinery, with one slave in the foreground clearly using a hammer to shape a metal object. The brief appearance of the silhouette is visually similar to Minerva, sharing the flowing clothes and glowing emblem on the headgear. Adam and Eve continue climbing until they reach the roof of the building. The camera zooms outwards, revealing many other futuristic buildings surrounding them. Further in the background, a mountain is clearly visible, while there is little other elevation in land elsewhere. The terrain is lush, and large forest boundaries are visible. Eve can then be seen to be holding a Piece of Eden. Eve then says "Adam, I have it!", Adam acknowledges Eve, calling out her name, both turn to look at what was presumably chasing them, and the memory ends with Eve warning Adam "Look out!" and binary code flashes up. The numbers read: "EDEN".

These glyphs are based upon the markings left behind in Assassin's Creed, which were left behind by Subject 16, and written in his blood. Many of these glyphs can be recognized as the Cryptic Messages from the previous game, and can only be seen with eagle vision.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

"I am with you until the end. Find me in the darkness."

―Subject 16 to Desmond

In Brotherhood the Glyphs return as Rifts, which can only be seen and interacted with in Eagle Vision. These Rifts are located near key locations within Rome, and must be climbed into rather than simply being found and interacted with. They retain some of the former puzzles such as the rotating pictures and image finding puzzles from the former Glyphs, but also include new puzzles:

• Chess: Desmond is shown a chessboard with all corresponding chess pieces as well as a riddle that tells him which piece to use and where to move it.
• Code Breaking: Desmond is given a variety of images and a riddle. The player can alternate between this screen, and a screen containg a 2 layered rotating wheel with symbols acting as a code sheet as well as 2 rows of 4 boxes bearing changeable symbols that act as a code entry box. By reading the riddle, the player can search through these images for the hidden object that reveals the "correct coordinates" located in a single image. When finding the correct coordinates, the player can rotate the wheel to break the code.
• Sound Wave Matching: Desmond is given an audio recording and multiple sound waves. By selecting the correct sound waves to match the correct one shown on the screen, the player is allowed to listen to the audio tape and/or move on to the next puzzle.
• Quarantine Zone: This is always the last puzzle of every Rift. Desmond is shown a blank screen with a relatively small circular crosshair that reveals red, blinking dots as well as a background image. These dots emit beeping sounds the closer the crosshair is, and all must be "activated" in a certain amount of time. If any of the remaining dots are not activated, they are reset and the player must find all of them again. These dots remain in the same exact spot every time, even after being reset or whenever the player decides to replay the Rift. After completing this puzzle, Desmond is given a video clip.

Each of The Truth videos is a series of seemingly corrupted data with "broken" words on the top left corner. When all videos are unlocked, they read The miracle is on the execution.

After unlocking all of the videos, a VR-like area will be loaded, and Desmond must run through it. When the players finishes the "obstacle course" they will encounter an "incomplete data form" of Subject 16 and have a brief conversation with him before he fades away to "rest" after he tells Desmond how to find him again.

• During later sequences the Animus starts to read some files and initiates emotion protocol, from then on it argues been in a lone and dark place and don't wanting you to let it alone, when you talk to subject 16 the computers starts to compile subsystems and infrastructure while mentioning tendons , heart and finally voice, leading to the theory that 16 actually transplanted his mind to the animus in some way.
• The VR-area after unlocking the videos
  The VR-area after unlocking the videos
• Subject 16 as he appears in The truth
  Subject 16 as he appears in The truth

Trivia

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Mount Kilimanjaro bears a strong resemblance to the Mountain in the Truth Video

• The mountain in the video bears a striking resemblance to Mount Kilimanjaro, thus placing the scene in Africa. This would make sense, as humanity is said to originate from Africa (specifically mid-Africa, the rough location of Kilimanjaro). The codex map also shows that a Piece of Eden was located in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro. Supporting this theory even further is Lucy's mention of Vidic tagging memories in ancient Africa.
• The video seems to take place immediately before the human rebellion and subsequent war. As Adam and Eve seem to have taken The Apple without permission, and are probably trying to escape with it, one can assume that they had started the rebellion.
• At the end of the video, a block of binary code can be seen briefly. The code is "01000101 01000100 01000101 01001110" which translates to EDEN. Another point of interest is that there are 20 zeroes and 12 ones, a reference to the supposed doomsday year of 2012.
• The viewing angle of the camera suggests that the video is a recording of one of Subject 16's Animus sessions. This in turn would indicate a direct lineage between 16 (and perhaps even Desmond), with Adam and/or Eve.
• The music being played during Adam and Eve's escape from Eden in the video is the same music that plays while Desmond and Lucy are escaping Abstergo at the beginning of Assassin's Creed II, and when Ezio is running away from the guards after the execution of Petruccio, Federico, and Giovanni at the hands of Uberto Alberti. It's also the "Open Conflict" song of Forlì. It is entitled "Wetlands Escape" on the Assassin's Creed II Original Game Soundtrack.
• In the PS3 version, Eve does not say, "Look out!" At that point, it is just silent and the binary for "Eden" appears.
• There are only 10 puzzles in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, though they are not hidden behind glyphs, but appear to be rifts in the memory that allow one to enter the programming of the Animus itself.
• On the back of the case for Assassin's Creed II, it says "The Truth Is Written In Blood". The side-quest is "The Truth", and Subject 16 is the cause for the glyphs which give you the side-quest, and he had written in blood at Abstergo.

Video

thumb|left|300px|The Truth - AC IIthumb|right|300px|The Truth - AC: Brotherhood