Piece of Eden

"They're gifts, Mr. Miles. From Those Who Came Before."

- Dr. Warren Vidic on a Piece of Eden

The Pieces of Eden (also known as P.O.E ) were technologically advanced pieces of equipment created by the First Civilization; each possessed unique properties, and all were known to be capable of bending the thoughts of one or more individuals to the will of the user.

History
"Current examination of Subject Seventeen indicates that aside from the Piece of Eden, all other artifacts related to Christ-figure are literary devices derived from the Piece of Eden, and not actual objects."

- Alan Rikkin e-mail on the Pieces of Eden adoption as biblical and historical artifacts

Those Who Came Before, also known as the First Civilization, were an ancient yet advanced race of beings that lived on Earth long before humanity. The creators of the Human race, the First Civilization had used the Pieces of Eden to control their slaves through hypnotic trances. Whether humanity was created to be susceptible to the effects of the Pieces of Eden, or if the Pieces were created after humanity remains unknown; Minerva attributed the peace between humanity and their "gods" to the effects of the Pieces of Eden.

Eventually however, two humans, Adam and Eve became immune to the hypnotic effects of the Pieces of Eden, and stole one of the Pieces – the Apple of Eden – from their masters. Soon after a war broke out, pitting humanity against their gods. Despite their strength in technology, the Pieces of Eden failed to protect the creators from the slaves, who heavily outnumbered the masters. The war ended catastrophically for both sides, and both humanity and their gods were forced to work together to rebuild their world. Eventually though, the gods became extinct, and their Pieces of Eden were lost to the annals of history.

Over the centuries, the Pieces of Eden resurfaced; seen as religious artifacts or holy relics, the foremost among them being the Apple of Eden. However, as time continued, groups of individuals began to see the Pieces of Eden for what they truly were, advanced technologies to be exploited. As early as the 12th Century, the Knights Templar were actively seeking and obtaining numerous Pieces of Eden, in the hopes of uniting the world in peace much like Those Who Came Before had done, and in 1191, they sought the Apple itself.

Led by the Grand Master of the Order, the Knights Templar used the cover of the Third Crusade to infiltrate the catacombs of Solomon's Temple, in the city of Jerusalem, where they knew the Apple was located. Unfortunately for them, Al Mualim, leader of the Order of Assassins and secretly also, a Knights Templar, had sent his best to capture the device. Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and the brothers A-Sayf intercepted the Templars, and despite the death of Kadar and Altaïr being thrown from the battle early on, the Assassins prevailed and spirited the Apple to their fortress in Masyaf. For a year the Assassins and Knights Templar fought one another for control of the artifact, until finally the deaths of both Robert de Sable and Al Mualim at the hands of Altaïr ended the conflict. Originally intending to destroy the Apple, Altaïr found himself unable to do so, and instead decided to seal the Apple in the Limassol Archives after he had liberated it from the Templars; circumstances worked against this however, and he decided to keep the Apple himself, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Ultimately, the Apple did find its way to Cyprus, where it was buried away until its discovery and exhumation by the Knights Templar in 1488. The Apple was shipped to Venice, but Ezio Auditore da Firenze managed to procure it before it could go into Templar hands. However, during the events of Battle of Forlì, the Apple was taken from Ezio by Savonarola, and Savonarola used it to cause the Bonfire of Vanities in Florence. Ezio went to Firenze to kill Savonarola and take the Apple back.

In 1499, Ezio used the Apple, combined with the power of Papal Staff (also a Piece of Eden) to open up the Vault underneath the Vatican. However, shortly afterward  , during the Siege of Monteriggioni, Cesare Borgia took the Apple from Mario Auditore. In 1503, after liberating Rome, Ezio took back the Apple hidden in St. Peter's Basilica. After figuring out the power of the Apple, Ezio hid it in a Temple underneath the Colosseum.

Centuries later, whilst hacking into the Animus, the mysterious Subject 16, discovered that throughout history, the Pieces of Eden had an extensive history of changing hands, with historically notable figures, many Templars or Assassins, laying claim to them; Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, Mahatma Gandhi, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler to name but a few. By 2012 however, many had fallen into the hands of the Knights Templar; seeking to obtain the rest, the Animus project was set up with the intention of locating and securing the remaining Pieces of Eden.

This Animus project was also an important component in the Knights Templar goal of ensuring world peace, through use of the Pieces of Eden. By using the Pieces of Eden known as "the Apples", the Templars sought to manipulate the neuro-transmitters in the entire human race to achieve their goal. Eye-Abstergo, a branch of Abstergo Industries, planned to launch an "all-in-one telecommunication" satellite into orbit around the Earth; unbeknownst to humanity and indeed, many employees of Abstergo Industries, the satellite would contain at least one Apple, and spread its power out on a global scale.

In 2012, the modern-day Assassins, Desmond Miles, Lucy Stillman, Shaun Hastings, and Rebecca Crane use the Animus to locate the Piece of Eden hidden by Ezio Auditore beneath the Santa Maria Aracoeli 1507.

Attributes
"This&hellip; piece of silver cast out Adam and Eve. It turned staves into snakes. Parted and closed the Red Sea. Eris used it to start the Trojan War; and with it, a poor carpenter turned water into wine."

- Al Mualim, speaking to Altaïr about the Apple

Amongst the greatest tools known to man; by interacting with a neuro-transmitter located deep in the brain of the human body, the Apples of Eden could control the human mind. Other Pieces of Eden were capable of warping reality, creating illusions and ensuring total obedience; both the Knights Templar and the Order of Assassins believed that the Pieces of Eden were the sources of many historical tales and miracles, such as the Parting of the Red Sea, the Trojan Horse, and the miracles enacted by "the Christ-figure" who foreshadowed the Christian faith, and the Biblical plagues that ravaged Egypt, among other supernatural happenings. Some were known to interact with and change the passage of time, possibly creating paradoxes; these potential outcomes were deemed too risky by Abstergo, deciding that these Pieces should be sealed away for the time being. Finally, at least one provided an impenetrable barrier that would protect the wearer from any attempt at penetration.

The Pieces of Eden, or at the very least the Apples, were capable of extending a pulse of energy when activated, that would drive those targeted to insanity and death. Doing so however, had a detrimental effect on the health of the wielder. However, as stated in the Codex, using a Piece of Eden (notably the Apple) in short bursts would minimize the negative effects dealt out by the artifacts; though to what extent, it did not say.

Following the destruction of the second Piece of Eden during experimental use at Denver International Airport, the Knights Templar found themselves in need of another artifact with similar properties. Needing access to a map that indicated the location of all Pieces of Eden, the Templar front company Abstergo Industries kidnapped the descendant of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad – Desmond Miles – in order to view the memories of his ancestor. This would allow them to view the very same map Altaïr had viewed in 1191.

Each of the Pieces of Eden contained a great deal of energy stored within, and the destruction of one would cause an explosion on the same scale of a nuclear blast. One such blast occurred in 1908, in the region of Tunguska, Russia, when the Piece of Eden known as "the Staff" was seemingly destroyed by Nikola Tesla as a strike against the Knights Templar. Also as revealed in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy some pieces such as The Shroud can communicate with humans telepathically.

Resistance
"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID. I SAW HIM. HE HAD A METAL BALL. IT OPENED. THEY WENT CRAZY. SHOOTING. STABBING. TORE EACH OTHER TO PIECES. I KNOW IT WAS YOU PEOPLE. SAW THE LOGO. HEARD THE NAME. I'M GOING TO TELL. ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN. YOU'LL BE EXPOSED. THEY'LL KNOW THE TRUTH. AND THEN YOU WILL PAY. YOU CRAZY BASTARDS. YOU'LL PAY."

- An unidentified individual's e-mail to Dr. Warren Vidic Although the First Civilization created humanity with a neuro-transmitter that forced them to accept the will of the Pieces of Eden, eventual cross-breeding between the gods and their slaves bore a hybrid species. These new humans possessed some of the natural abilities of their gods, but most notably, were free of the neuro-transmitter that bound them to the will of the Pieces of Eden. The first two known individuals to be born immune to the effects of the Pieces were Adam and Eve, who later stole the Apple of Eden and precipitated the war that followed. Members of the lineage also inherited these natural abilities and immunity to the mind-control of the Pieces, although the Pieces' ability to physically control them remained. Individuals such as Altaïr and his descendants Ezio Auditore, Subject 16 and Desmond Miles all possessed these enhanced abilities, and presumably, an immunity to the Pieces of Eden.

By the early 21st Century, the Knights Templar were aware of both the existence of Those Who Came Before and the fact that some humans were immune to the mind control of the Apples of Eden, and as such actively sought other devices to compensate for this. On at least one occasion Dr. Warren Vidic, an employee of Abstergo Industries, recieved an email from an unknown individual who had not been affected by the powers of the Apple, and threatened to expose what he had seen.

Confirmed Pieces of Eden
Besides the Apples of Eden, the First Civilization created many more Pieces of Eden. Some of these affected humanity in similar ways, whilst others affected nature and even time itself. The first, second, third, fourth and fifth Apples were all capable of controlling the minds of men, creating illusions and, to a degree, permited physical control over said minds ; the Apples could all be used in conjunction with the Staff of Eden, which increased the abilities of both Pieces. Other Pieces included the Shroud, which would become famous to modern day humans as the "Shroud of Turin" – that which covered the body of Jesus Christ, it's properties including the ability to heal the wounds of those it touched, and the Sword, a Piece that would pass through the hands of many great rulers through the centuries, including King Arthur, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan. The Crystal Skulls were also Pieces of Eden and these would be scattered throughout central America, one of which would later be taken to Europe by Giovanni Borgia.

According to e-mails read by Desmond Miles, at least one Piece of Eden existed that granted the ability to manipulate time. Concerns over possible paradoxes however, lead to Abstergo Industries locking it away.

Known locations of Pieces of Eden


Following the death of Al Mualim and the Apples projection of a map indicating the location of all Pieces of Eden, Altaïr copied the map and included it in his Codex, hidden away so that only one of his bloodline might see it. Based off of the locations given on the Codex map, the following locations can be identified as containing a Piece of Eden ;


 * 1) Giza, Egypt
 * 2) Lake Victoria, Africa, more on the Kenyan side
 * 3) The Gambia River, Gambia
 * 4) Timbuktu, Mali
 * 5) Taza, Morocco
 * 6) Canary Islands, Spain
 * 7) The Southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, curiously near the volcano of Opala
 * 8) Odessa, Ukraine
 * 9) Kharkiv, Ukraine
 * 10) Rennes-le-Château, France (shinter de la bollcks)
 * 11) Salisbury Plain, England (presumably at Stone Henge)
 * 12) Loch Ness, Scotland
 * 13) Maroantsetra, Madagascar
 * 14) Nara, Japan
 * 15) Somewhere close to Goodhouse, South Africa, near the border between South Africa and Namibia
 * 16) Inside or nearby Boston, Massachusetts
 * 17) Delhi, India or the Taj Mahal in India, just a short distance south of Delhi
 * 18) Persepolis, modern day Shiraz, Iran
 * 19) Jerusalem, Israel
 * 20) Colombia, South America, around the area of the Igara Parana River
 * 21) Nazca, Perú
 * 22) South-western Sri Lanka
 * 23) Hellissandur, Iceland
 * 24) The area of Sabiene Island, Nunavut, Canada
 * 25) Phoenix, Arizona, or somewhere outside the city
 * 26) Washington D.C.
 * 27) Juneau, Alaska
 * 28) An area close to Pulau Ratewo, Papua
 * 29) The middle of the South Pacific Ocean
 * 30) The Pacific Ocean, close to the coast of Mexico
 * 31) The South Pacific Oceann aparrently near the coast of the Easter Island and Chile
 * 32) The Atlantic Ocean, in an area where Atlantis was believed to have existed
 * 33) The Atlantic Ocean, a few hundred miles off the coast of Brazil
 * 34) The Antarctic Ocean, on the side of Antarctica facing up towards the Atlantic
 * 35) The Indian Ocean, almost cross sectioned with the tips of Inda, Africa and the southwestern tip of Australia - a small island called Ile Amsterdam
 * 36) The Antarctic Ocean, the side of the Antarctic ocean that faces up towards the Indian Ocean
 * 37) Archangelsk, Russia
 * 38) Andorra le Vella, Andorra
 * 39) São Paulo, Brazil
 * 40) Barrow, Alaska
 * 41) La Rioja, Argentina
 * 42) An area close to Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
 * 43) An area around South Cross, in Western Australia
 * 44) Somewhere in Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
 * 45) Beijing, China
 * 46) Somewhere in the Altay Mountains in southwestern Mongolia
 * 47) Somewhere along the northern Coast of Chukotka province, Russia
 * 48) An area close to Tiksi, Russia

The other two that made up the last of the 50 pieces, one of the Apples and the Staff, were destroyed in the DIA Satellite Incident and the Tunguska blast respectively.

Trivia

 * According to the glyphs and Truth files, many legends and myths throughout human history are actually historically accurate. The supernatural or paranormal parts of each legend can be explained by the protagonist in each having acquired his or her own Piece of Eden (i.e.: the Greek myth of Perseus, King Arthur, etc).
 * In Assassin's Creed II, during the battle against Borgia in the Sistine Chapel, Ezio creates copies of himself, much like Al Mualim did against Altaïr. If Ezio is customized, or if Altaïr's Armor is enabled, his copies will appear with different sets of armor and colors whereas when if he is not customized, each copy will be perfectly identical to the real Ezio, besides his weapon.
 * Both the Codex map, and the Map projection at the end of Assassin's Creed show that there are only fifty Pieces of Eden at a time, but Subject 16 says the Shroud is Piece of Eden 'number 66'. This discrepancy has yet to be rectified.
 * In the French and German version of Assassin's Creed II, the Shroud is referred to as number 36, not 66. Whether this is a mistake in the translation or not, remains to be clarified.
 * It is possible that the history of Stonehenge may have connections with Those Who Came Before as a Piece of Eden is located in the Salisbury plains where Stonehenge is located and the whereabouts of the Piece of Eden is presumed to be at Stonehenge.
 * Juno refers to the Pieces of Eden as "our tools". This may or may not be a reference to a similar story in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, by Phillip Pullman.
 * The Chalice was initially thought to be a Piece of Eden; however, besides the Shroud, all other artifacts linked to the Christ-figure were confirmed to be only literary tools, as stated in Assassin's Creed I.