Warren Vidic

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"I believe there was a book that claimed the world was created in seven days. Best-seller too!"

―Warren to Desmond Miles regarding the Bible.

Warren Vidic was a member of the Templar Order and a scientist employed by Abstergo Industries. He was also the head of research for Abstergo, which put him in charge of the genetic memory research and the Animus project.

Warren was the one responsible for finding new subjects for the Animus, whose genetic memories he would then explore to gain information on both the Assassins and the Pieces of Eden.

Warren was a high-ranking employee of Abstergo Industries, being one of the few members of the Inner Sanctum, a group of Templars with full awareness of the Orders' plans for their New World Order. He also played an important role in those plans, being tasked with finding a Piece of Eden to power Abstergo's satellite.

Biography

Early life

Warren Vidic has been working for Abstergo Industries since at least 1982. He was often unpleasant to work with, and was constantly engrossed in his work and concentrated on the progress he and his employees made.

Warren's ideas allowed for the creation of the Animus, though he left the assembly and engineering of the created Animi to his co-worker, Lucy Stillman, as well as several other Abstergo engineers. Nevertheless, Warren oversaw the entire Animus project upon its inception.

Sometime before this, Warren had recruited Lucy into Abstergo. Though Lucy was attempting to finish her doctorate in the university she studied at, her professors disliked the subject of her doctorate, calling it a "pseudo-science" that would discredit and embarrass them if she were to pursue it.

Lucy approached several other universities and companies after this, receiving the same reactions ubiquitously, until she eventually received a letter from Warren. Warren claimed that he had been following her work since she was an undergraduate, and that he found great promise in it, as well as her. Flattered and being left with little other choice, Lucy accepted the position she was offered at Abstergo. Later though, she wondered whether Abstergo had been behind the widespread rejection of her theories from the beginning.

Warren kept a close eye on Lucy when she joined the Animus project, and once rescued her from an attempt on her life by three men, who were her co-workers. After Warren saved her, he promised her that they would never bother her again.

Early subjects

"I admit, I felt a certain sense of almost fatherly pride, seeing our boy grown and carrying on our work."

―Warren to Alan Rikkin, regarding Daniel Cross.

Vidic operating on Subject 4 in 1985.

Around 1985, Warren began to experiment on Subject 4, a young boy who would later be named "Daniel Cross."

Warren placed Daniel in the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor, though he also experimented on him using a replicated Piece of Eden. Before setting him free, Warren also embedded Daniel with a subconscious impulse to assassinate the Mentor of the Assassin Order if he would ever meet him.

Warren and Lucy both worked on Subject 15, who was a pregnant woman. They had difficulties with the Animus, which began reading the genetic memories from both Subject 15 and her baby's father.

Warren soon grew impatient with the time it took for his subjects to gain enough synchronization with their ancestors and access further memories. This, along with receiving much pressure from his superiors, led him to ignore Lucy's warnings, and force Subject 16 into the Animus for days on end.

As a result, 16 began to suffer severely from the Bleeding effect, causing him to hallucinate and confuse the lives of his ancestors with his own. This eventually led to a breakdown, wherein he inscribed several cryptic messages on the wall of his room using his own blood, and his subsequent suicide.

Afterwards, Warren requested Lucy to assign a linguist and a historian to research and decipher the messages Subject 16 had left behind.

Subject 17

"I'm about ready to pull the plug on your Subject Seventeen. So either get me results or get another person into that Animus."

―An e-mail from Alan Rikkin to Warren.

Warren and Lucy overseeing Subject 17.

In the year 2012, Warren authorized the capture of the seventeenth test subject, a bartender named Desmond Miles from New York City. After his retrieval, both Warren and Lucy personally oversaw Desmond's interactions in the Animus at the Abstergo laboratory in Florence, Italy.

At first, Warren found the new test subject both unwilling and, subconsciously not confident enough to explore his ancestor's memories. He only managed to gain his cooperation after threatening to medically induce a coma, force Desmond into the Animus, and discard his body afterwards.

However despite Desmond's cooperation, progress was slow. After the fate of Subject 16, Lucy was overly protective of Desmond's health, and insisted on short sessions within the Animus to avoid the Bleeding effect. Warren consented to her requests, though irritably.

As the week went on though, and as Desmond made progress within the Animus, Warren's mood swung from short-tempered to calm and collected. During one such day, whilst looking out over the skyline outside his laboratory, Warren unknowingly left his access pen in plain sight in his pocket, allowing Desmond to steal it without him noticing.

Warren wakes Desmond.

At the beginning of each day, Warren was often the one to wake Desmond and order him into the Animus. At these times, Warren would also converse with Desmond, speaking a little about the Templars' achievements, and their pursuit of a New World Order.

Towards the end of the week, as Desmond began to approach the conclusion of his journey within his ancestor's memories, Warren started to become much more eager and insistent on a quick closure. After witnessing the death of Al Mualim, and the activation of the Apple of Eden in Desmond's genetic memories, Warren recorded the map displayed within the memory, commenting triumphantly, claiming "We've got it."

Warren looking down on Desmond in the Animus.

As Desmond awoke, he saw three suited individuals in the laboratory's conference room. The three begun discussing the session results with Warren, and insisted upon Desmond's immediate termination. Though Warren agreed, Lucy interrupted, claiming that Desmond could still be of use to them.

She and Warren argued to the point of Warren claiming that Lucy was undermining his authority, though he eventually consented to "leave nothing to chance." Ordering Desmond back into his room, Warren left the laboratory.

Soon after this, realizing the threat on Desmond's life, Lucy manifested herself to be allied to the Assassins, and helped Desmond escape Abstergo.

Pursuing Desmond

"We miss you terribly. There's still so much work for us to do together."

―Warren to Desmond, during his attempt to recapture him.

The next day, Warren received word of Desmond's escape, and Lucy's betrayal. Abstergo quickly started tracking the Assassins down, and within three days, Warren led an assault on the Assassins' warehouse hideout.

Warren confronts Desmond.

Accompanied by a contingent of Abstergo security guards, Warren attempted to apprehend Desmond and Lucy, arriving just as Desmond finished exploring the memories of another of his ancestors, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Warren attempted to coerce Desmond into coming peacefully, whilst berating Lucy for turning on him.

Both Assassins rejected his offer, and so Warren ordered his guards to take them by force, while he himself merely watched from the open back of a truck. Minutes later, however, following the death or incapacitation of his men, Warren was confronted by Desmond.

Desmond challenged Warren to face him, but Warren only told him that it was a matter of time until he and Lucy were "both back where they belonged." Then, after commenting that the Assassins should enjoy their temporary victory, he fled.

Animi Training Program

"You serve Abstergo well, and your skills in the Animus continue to impress."

―Warren to one of the Animus recruits.

File:Warren Vidic (ACR).jpg

Warren speaking to an Animus recruit.

Upon his return to Abstergo, Warren began to lead a mass training of several of Abstergo's loyal agents, using Animi in the same way as the Assassins had trained Desmond. Purposefully using the bleeding effect, he began to infuse them with the skills necessary to track down and defeat the Assassins.

Impressed by some of the recruits, Warren progressed them to the next training program and awarded them with wealth and a privileged status in society. Warren even appeared to greet one agent with a toast upon arriving at their new mansion. These recruits eventually became Master Templars, and were soon sent after the de facto leader of the Assassins, William Miles, who had finally been located.

Personality and characteristics

"Corruption is no different than cancer. Cut out the tumors, but fail to treat the source and... well, you're buying time at best. There's no true change to be had without comprehensive, systemic intervention."

―Warren to Desmond.

Warren was a hardened scientist and fanatical member of the Templar Order, doing all he could to make progress in his work. Although he was an intelligent man, he was also somewhat absent-minded, and often needed reminding of passcodes. He was also careless with his access pen, which he often allowed to hang loosely out of his pocket; this resulted in him losing it once in the parking lot, and again, far more seriously, to his test subject Desmond, at the Abstergo laboratories.

As an atheist, Warren believed wholeheartedly in the nonexistence of a god, claiming that many religious artifacts such as the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Apple were simply technology left behind by Those Who Came Before.

Ruthless, yet clumsy, Warren had a short temper and showed little care for the welfare of his test subjects.

Trivia

• "Warren" means "guarded", and is a name of old Germanic origin.
• "Vidic" is a common Serbian surname, and roughly translates to "the one who sees" or "of those who see."
• An e-mail from Alan Rikkin confirms that Warren is in possession of a Crystal Skull.
• In the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer, Warren features in the introductory video, and as the narrator for the training program.
• A letter within the Rift Cluster discussing the partial reproduction of the Pieces of Eden's mind control signal over a television network puzzles is signed with the initials W.V.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Warren.
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  Warren Vidic's I.D.
• Warren toasting a prominent Abstergo recruit.
  Warren toasting a prominent Abstergo recruit.