Warren Vidic

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

- Dr. Vidic on 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 the genetic memory and the Animus project.

Early life
Little is known about Warren's life. Vidic had been working for Abstergo since at least 1982. He was not a typically happy man, and was driven by his constant work. Warren led the Animus project, but left the assembly and engineering of the Animi up to his co-worker on the Animus project, Lucy Stillman, and the Abstergo engineers.

Subject 4
Around 1985, Vidic started to experiment on Subject 4, a young boy who would later be given the alias "Daniel Cross". Vidic put Cross in the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor, though he also experimented on Cross with a replica "Piece of Eden". Cross also had a secret impulse embedded into his subconscious that would drive him to assassinate the Mentor of the Assassin Order, should the opportunity to do so arise. In 2000, Cross met with the Mentor of the Assassin Order in their headquarters located in Dubai, where he unwillingly killed the Mentor. He returned to Abstergo Industries' headquarters in Philadelphia, where Cross' own memories were used to find all the Assassin camps and exterminate the Assassins.

Subject 15
Vidic and Lucy Stillman both worked on Subject 15, who was a pregnant woman. They had difficulties with the animus because it was trying to read the fetus' fathers genetic memories as well as Subject 15’s memories.

Subject 16
Vidic grew tired of the slow progression of synchronization to access further memories, so despite Lucy's warnings, he put Subject 16 in the Animus for days on end in search of answers until he started suffering from the bleeding effect. Subject 16 suffered from constant mingling of lives of his ancestors to the point of insanity, where he allegedly committed suicide.

Subject 17
In the year 2012, Warren Vidic held the position of head of genetic research at Abstergo Industries; part of his role included looking after test subjects for his Animus project. That year, he authorized the capture of the seventeenth test subject; a bartender named Desmond Miles. At first, Vidic found the new test subject both unwilling and, subconsciously, not confident enough to explore his ancestor's memories. Vidic only managed to gain his cooperation after threatening a coma and an inevitable death.

Despite Desmond's cooperation, however, progress was slow. Vidic's assistant, Lucy Stillman, was overly protective of Desmond's health because of what happened to Subject 16, and insisted on only short sessions within the Animus, lest their latest test subject begin to hallucinate as the previous subject did. Disheartened but compliant, Vidic ordered Desmond to his quarters and left the laboratory.

As the week went on, and Desmond made progress within the Animus, Vidic's mood swung between calm and collected to irritable and short-tempered. During one such day, whilst looking out over the skyline outside his laboratory, Vidic unknowingly left his access pen in plain sight; Desmond managed to acquire it without Vidic becoming aware. Towards the end of the week, as Desmond began to approach the conclusion of his journey within the memories, Vidic started to become much more insistent on a quick closure.

After witnessing the death of Al Mualim and activation of the Piece of Eden in Desmond's genetic memories, Vidic recorded the map displayed within the memory, commenting "We've got it". As Desmond awoke, he saw three suited individuals in the laboratory's conference room. The three begun discussing with Vidic the results, and insisted upon Desmond's execution; Vidic agreed, but was cut short by Lucy, who insisted that Desmond's use had not yet ended. The two argued to the point of Vidic claiming that Lucy was undermining his authority, and Vidic stubbornly agreed in Lucy's assessment to let Desmond live; to "leave nothing to chance". Ordering Desmond back into his room, Vidic left the laboratory.

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

- Dr. Warren Vidic to Desmond, during his attempt to capture him

The next day, Vidic received word of Desmond's escape, and the direct assistance Lucy had given him in executing it. Abstergo quickly set about tracking down the Assassins, and within three days had found the two in a warehouse and attempted to recapture them.

Locating the Hideout, Vidic took a contingent of Abstergo security guards to apprehend Desmond and Lucy, arriving just as Desmond finished exploring the memories of another of his ancestors – Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Cutting off the Assassins' escape, Vidic attempted to coerce Desmond into coming peacefully whilst berating Lucy for her apparent betrayal. The two rejected him, and so Vidic ordered his guards to apprehend them. Minutes later, following the death or incapacitation of his entourage, Vidic was confronted by Desmond at the rear of his vehicle. Desmond challenged Warren to step down from the vehicle and to stop his cowardice, but Vidic replied by commenting that the Assassins should enjoy their temporary victory, and fled, leaving the Assassins to find a new hideout.

After that, Vidic went on to initiate and train a team of Abstergo's loyal agents into more "subjects" like Desmond, through the use of several Animi, and the bleeding effect.

Personality and characteristics
Dr. Warren Vidic was a hardened scientist and fanatical member of the Knights Templar during the early 21st Century. Although an intelligent man, Vidic was somewhat forgetful, and would often need reminding of pass-codes and the likes; he also tended to leave his access key on display, and had on more than one occasion lost it outright.

An atheist, Vidic believed wholeheartedly in the nonexistence of God, suggesting that many religious artifacts such as the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and the Apple of Eden were simply technology left behind by Those Who Came Before as gifts to the Templars; a belief which he thought to be fact. Ruthless, yet clumsy, Vidic had a short temper and showed little care for the welfare of his test subjects.

On at least one occasion, as in the case of Subject 16, Vidic's insistence that his test subject remained in the Animus for dangerously long periods of time, sometimes even whole days, led to the subject's suicide. Despite this, Vidic was unfazed, merely requesting another test subject. This seventeenth test subject – Desmond Miles – eventually succeeded where his predecessors had failed, and obtained the map indicating the location of the Pieces of Eden. This success, however, did little to ingratiate him in the eyes of Dr. Vidic, who agreed with the assessment of his superiors that Desmond should be executed. His mind only changed after being convinced by his assistant, Lucy Stillman, that Desmond could still be of further use.

Warren's relationship with Lucy was frosty at best. Despite saving her life and taking her under his wing, Warren seemed to barely tolerate her presence, and found her insistence on prolonging the project irritating. Despite this however, he did care for Lucy, and would withhold information from her that he knew would force his hand had she known; such as the circumstances surrounding the death of her friend Leila Marino. Following her and Desmond's escape, Vidic located and intercepted the two assassins as they attempted to flee their hideout; he commented on her treachery and how she had helped him cause pain and misery to his test subjects.

Trivia

 * His first name means "Guarded" or "Of la Varenne" (La Varenne is a suburb of Paris) in Old English.
 * Vidic is a common Serbian surname (Serbian latinic: Vidić, pronounced: ˈʋiditɕ) and roughly translates to "the one who sees" or "of those who see".
 * Desmond taking Warren's access pen is (so far) the only example of pickpocketing shown in modern times. Whether this is a manifestation of the Bleeding effect, or Desmond is simply skilled at picking someone's pocket is unknown.
 * In the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer, Vidic 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.
 * He is voiced by Phil Proctor, who the character is also imaged after as well.

Video
thumb|480px|left|Real life storyline: Desmond Miles, Lucy Stillman and Warren Vidic. 