The Truth
- "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."
- ―Clay Kaczmarek.[src]
The Truth referred to a video hidden in the Animus by Animus Subject 16, Clay Kaczmarek, with the intent to enlighten and warn his successor in the project, Desmond Miles.
Its twenty pieces could be unlocked by solving the puzzles hidden behind the twenty Glyphs scattered throughout the Animus' projection of Renaissance Italy.
Similarly, the puzzles also contained the coordinates where Clay had hidden ten Rifts. Solving the cluster puzzles behind these unlocked another video labelled the Truth, as well as a hidden executable file referred to as the Miracle.
The Truth
In the Truth video, Adam and Eve were dressed in skin-colored or translucent bodysuits, making them appear as if they were naked, and were seen running through an open area, followed by something.[1]
The scenery was a mixture of flora, a reflective blue material that resembled glass, and a white surface that sounded like stone. The garden was decorated in a futuristic style, contrary to the expected Biblical setting. Moving through a circular automatic door, Adam and Eve used free-running to scale a large, futuristic building.[1]
While they were climbing up the building, they stopped momentarily at a large window, through which a silhouette of a humanoid figure could be seen holding a Piece of Eden, along with several human slaves. These workers appeared 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.[1]
Adam and Eve continued climbing until they reached the roof of the building, with other futuristic buildings visible surrounding them. Further in the background, a mountain was clearly visible, while there was little other elevation in land elsewhere. The terrain was lush, and a large forest's boundaries were visible.[1]
Eve could then be seen holding a Piece of Eden before saying "Adam, I have it!" Adam then called out to Eve by name, as both turned to look at what was presumably chasing them. She then shouted to Adam "Look out!", before the video cut to black, and a binary code flashed up.[1]
The binary code, "01000101 01000100 01000101 01001110," translates to "EDEN." Another point of interest is that there are 20 zeros and 12 ones, a reference to the supposed doomsday year of 2012.[1]
The Miracle
- "I am with you 'til the end. Find me in the darkness."
- ―Clay to Desmond.[src]
Along with the video clips hidden behind the Glyphs, small strings of numbers were included at the end of each.[1] Upon Desmond reliving Ezio Auditore da Firenze's later memories, Shaun discovered the numbers to correspond to further coordinates in Rome; where ten Rifts were hidden.[2]
These rifts could only be seen with Eagle Vision, and needed to be climbed into, rather than simply being found and scanned. Behind each was one of ten Cluster puzzles that, when completed, unlocked a small video clip that displayed a series of seemingly corrupted data with unintelligible words on the top left corner.[2]
Immediately after solving the final cluster, a short video was unlocked that stated "The miracle is in the execution" while the ultrasound of an unborn child was shown. At this point, Rebecca Crane noted that (unlike the Truth video) the Cluster puzzles actually concealed an executable file.[2]
Upon accessing the file, Desmond was then uploaded to an unknown area within the Animus, where he was free to run through a somewhat long virtual maze similar to those within the Animus Virtual Training Program. At the end of the maze, Desmond found a hologram (partially broken and made of computing code) of Clay, who told Desmond that all hope was lost, and that he must go to Eden to find a woman named Eve.[2]
Before leaving, Clay instructed Desmond to find him in the darkness. The program ended with the ground collapsing from under Desmond's feet, and a loading screen showing Desmond in free fall.[2]
Trivia
- The mountain in the Truth 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.
- The Codex map also shows that a Piece of Eden was located in the vicinity of Kilimanjaro.
- Lucy Stillman mentions that Warren Vidic tags several memories in ancient Africa.
- Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad has seen the Truth in some shape or form, since, in the Codex, he mentions the buildings and mountain that are in the video. In the pages, he is clearly horrified by what he has seen.
- The music being played during Adam's and Eve's escape (entitled "Wetlands Escape" in the Assassin's Creed II soundtrack) is the same that plays while Desmond and Lucy are escaping Abstergo Industries, and when Ezio is running from the guards after the Auditore execution.
- In the PS3 version, Eve does not say "Look out!" At that point, it is silent, and the binary for "Eden" appears.
- The DLC pack The Lost Archive, which follows the story of Clay, contains a mission titled "The Truth".
- On a wall in the Miracle's obstacle course, the climbing cubes form the Assassin insignia.
Videos
-
The Truth video.
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The Miracle file.