Consus

"I am known by many names: Consus, Prometheus, the Erudite God..."

- Consus

Consus, also known as the Erudite God, Prometheus, and the Voices, was a famed Isu scientist and a creator of Pieces of Eden.

Towards the end of his natural life, Consus, afraid of death, transferred his consciousness into his prototype Shroud of Eden. From there Consus developed an affinity for the human species, impressed with their ability to become more than what the First Civilization had ever intended, and communicated with various individuals in different forms throughout history. In the early 1500s, he became a guardian of sorts to Giovanni Borgia, an Assassin born into the notorious Borgia family.

While he could converse when the Shroud was activated, it was theorized that Consus was also able to communicate to and through individuals with a high percentage of Precursor DNA.

Isu scientist
"I was old. I wanted more time. Bodies constructs, minds are programs. Uploaded my program into the Shroud, to cheat death. Succeeded. Failed. Trapped in my prototype."

- Consus to Álvaro Gramática, 2012.

In the days before the Toba catastrophe, Consus was known as a great scientist among the Isu. In 1923 Isu Era, during the War of Unification, Consus helped his master, Hephaestus, to create devastating weapons for their side, the Swords of Eden.

After Hephaestus' death, Consus also answered the need for combat medicinal equipment, by creating the first Shroud of Eden, a prototype device designed to return the wearer's body to predetermined, healthy, specifications. Later, when Consus became aware of his impending natural death, the one thing the Shrouds could not heal, he instead numerized and transferred his consciousness into the prototype Shroud, in order to live on. The transfer was successful, though Consus found himself trapped in the artifact, unable to speak or let anyone know that he was still alive, being forgotten for centuries.

Found by Juno
"Juno. Schemer. Three centuries after my death, she found me. Usurped my work. Used it for her own ends."

- Consus to Juhani Otso Berg, 2013.

Three centuries after Consus' physical death, another Isu scientist, Juno, found the prototype Shroud left in Consus' abandoned lab. Discovering that Consus had developed the consciousness transfer, Juno learned everything about it from the old entity, planning to use it for her own ends. Juno was also the one who informed Consus about the creation of the Human species as the servants of the Isu, a feat that Consus didn't believe possible.

After the outbreak of the Human Rebellion in 2296 Isu Era, Juno became part of a group of Isu trying to prevent the impending Toba catastrophe but four times their attempts failed and Juno developed a fifth solution. Using the knowledge she acquired from Consus, Juno planned to transfer the conciousness of the Isu into stronger artificial bodies, but she failed and her husband, Aita, fell into coma after he volunteered to be her test subject, and was euthanized shortly thereafter.

Eventually the Isu scientists found a viable solution but it was too late, their civilization was doomed. In order to save the next one from a second catastrophe due to come 75,000 years later, they used an object called "the Eye", manipulating the patterns of existence to be sure, that in time their successors will find the Grand Temple. But Juno, who had hated Humanity since the war, could not bring herself to let them inherit the Earth, so she tampered with the Temple patterns. Following in Consus' footsteps, she numerized her own conciousness and transferred it into the Temple network, ensuring that the activation of the Temple would release her from her prison.

Known contacts
"You are marvelous creations. Exceeded your programming. Made something from nothing. Flawed but bold. I approve."

- Consus on humanity, speaking to Álvaro Gramática, 2012

Before the Grand Temple was sealed, however, the Shroud left Juno's possession and during the subsequent millennia it passed from owner to owner, Consus helping and conversing with humans with whom he came into contact. Through these contacts he became at some point known as Prometheus and his story fell into legend.



According to Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan who created mankind and stole fire from Mount Olympus to allow humans to create their own civilization. As punishment for rebelling against the gods, he was to be chained to a rock for eternity, where an eagle would eat his liver daily.

In ancient Greece, Consus came in contact with Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. A Greek hero, Jason was sent by King Pelias to retrieve the Golden Fleece, a mythical object of great healing; in reality, the prototype Shroud shielding the conciousness of Consus.

At the beginning of the 15th century, an entity believed to be Consus was communicating with Jeanne d'Arc and guiding her in her battles for France against the English towards the end of the Hundred Years' War. Consus spoke to Jeanne in the guise of Saints Michael, Catherine and Margaret, who she called her "Voices", and thought they were telling her God's will. The Voices led her to the location of a Sword of Eden but Consus' time with Jeanne came to an end after the Assassins faked her death in 1431.

Giovanni's guardian
"Consus is standing next to me. He is watching. He does not speak much. Papà tells me he is not real, but I see him."

- Giovanni, regarding Consus.

In 1498, shortly after his birth, Giovanni Borgia was discovered to be malformed and likely to die within a few days. His father, the Assassin Perotto Calderon was able to heal him after stealing the Shroud, which was at the time being held by the Brotherhood.

Throughout his childhood thereafter, Giovanni would have delusions of seeing a non-existent being, Consus, whom he befriended. Consus often spoke in Giovanni's head and gave him advice, even once allowing Giovanni to read a letter given to him, though the boy himself did not know how to at the time.

Giovanni's grandfather would ask Giovanni about Consus and if he could speak with him, but Giovanni would simply answer that Consus was not there, as he "does not play when Nonno is around."

In 1503, Consus attempted to convince Giovanni to give the Apple of Eden to Fiora Cavazza, when she had come to retrieve it for the Assassins, and later advised Giovanni to go with Francesco Vecellio to join the Assassin Brotherhood.

Though these hallucinations did not appear to occur later in his life, Giovanni did not forget them. Upon bringing the Crystal Skull to Bombastus in 1520, he met a madman by the name of Johan who, upon seeing him, called out to Consus, causing Giovanni to demand him for an explanation of using the name. However, the Assassin received none, as Johan fearfully mumbled that he had mentioned "consent".



When Giovanni and Maria Amiel traveled to the Temple of Pythagoras in the late 16th century, the Vault within it reacted to Giovanni as it would to a descendant of the First Civilization, shining with symbols and glyphs.

When Giovanni fell unconscious and awoke soon after, his face had changed into that of a seemingly ancient entity. He spoke in a distant and unfamiliar voice, where he announced himself as Consus, the Erudite God.

Presence in Salem
In 1692, somehow bonded to a young girl named Dorothy Osborne, Consus was able to speak through her, in what appeared to be visions. His presence sparked the events that led to the Salem witch trials, with the Assassins and Templars fighting to gain control of Dorothy and through her Consus. Eventually after the Puritans led by Templar William Stoughton captured her, Dorothy commited suicide to prevent the Templars from using her connection with Consus to cause more innocent deaths.

In actuality, Consus was attempting to make contact with Charlotte de la Cruz, who was relieving the genetic memories of her ancestor Thomas Stoddard in the 21st century, cryptically advising her to seek "the ones with greater knowledge". Later, de la Cruz understood that Consus was telling her to find Erudito, an organization of truth seekers.

In the hands of Abstergo
"I have so many questions, but let's stick with you. How is it that your mind resides in this artifact?"

- Gramática to Consus, 2012.

By 1944, the prototype Shroud, which had been in possession of William Robert Woodman during the previous century, had ended up in Milan, in the hands of the Baguttiani family. On Christmas Day that year, Templar agent Keith Scipione purchased the Shroud from the family, and sent the device to an Abstergo facility.

In 2011, Templar Isabelle Ardant found the Shroud through the ill-fated Project Legacy. Believing it to be broken, she gave the Piece of Eden to Abstergo scientist Álvaro Gramática for repair in order to satisfy Alan Rikkin. After months with no success, Álvaro ultimately reactivated the Shroud by shooting himself, thus summoning Consus, who possessed Álvaro's body and spoke through him, before finally healing him. All this happened in front of a horrified Isabelle.

This led Álvaro to discover that whenever the Shroud healed what would normally be a fatal wound, Consus could temporarily take over the wearer and speak through them. Álvaro started using the Shroud on his new test subject Violet da Costa, repeatedly shooting her in the head so he could communicate with Consus and learn his secrets.

On 21 December 2012, as he was talking to Gramática through Violet, Consus instantly became aware of the release of Juno from her imprisonment in the Grand Temple, after Desmond Miles sacrificed his life to prevent the world's destruction by an incoming solar flare. Greatly disturbed by the event, Consus declared that all was now lost.

Violet and Juhani Otso Berg, who had grown concerned by the threat posed by Juno and her growing number of followers, traveled to Álvaro's Parisian lab on November 17, 2013, in order to make contact with Consus and gain insight on Juno's motivations. Consus warned them of Juno's dangerous and scheming nature, and informed them that, as a non-corporeal being, she had infiltrated the global network.

The prototype Shroud, and apparently Consus' consciousness, were unwittingly destroyed in late 2014, when the Assassins Shaun Hastings and Galina Voronina attacked Álvaro's lab to end Abstergo's experiments there. Realizing all too late that Álvaro was wearing the Shroud, Shaun was unable to prevent Galina from detonating a grenade which took out the lab and the artifact with it. As his final act, Consus used what remained of the Shroud's damaged power to heal Álvaro, who had been fatally injured by the explosion.

Last hope against Juno
In 2016, following instructions received from Consus while relieving her ancestor's memories in Salem, Charlotte de la Cruz made contact with Erudito. The organization which had learned about Juno's plan to create a new body by manipulating the Templars' Phoenix Project through moles inside the Instruments of the First Will, decided to ally themselves with de la Cruz and her Assassin team to stop the Isu.

Believing that Consus was Humanity's last hope and the antithesis of Juno, Erudito decided to use Charlotte's connection with the entity to learn more about him via the Animus, allowing the young Assassin to witness Consus' various appearances throughout the centuries.

Trivia

 * Consus was a Roman deity assigned to protect the grain. Later, he also became known as a deity of secret counsel.