Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained was a virtual representation of one of Ezio Auditore's genetic memories, relived by Desmond Miles in 2012 through the Animus 2.0.
Description[]
Ezio Auditore sought the aid of his friend Leonardo da Vinci to help him enter the Palazzo Ducale and suggested that he use Leonardo's Flying Machine.
Dialogue[]
Ezio entered Leonardo's workshop.
- Ezio: I need your help, Leonardo. Does it work?
- Leonardo: What? What are you asking?
- Ezio: Does it work, Leonardo? Can it really fly?
He walked over and indicated the Flying Machine hung from the ceiling.
- Leonardo: I don't know. It's only a prototype, an idea. It's not ready yet.
- Ezio: Have you tried it?
- Leonardo: No! It's too dangerous. To test it, you'd have to leap off a tower. Who would be mad enough to do a thing like that?
- Ezio: Leonardo, I think you just found your madman.
Leonardo and Ezio took the Flying Machine to the top of a tower.
- Ezio: So, how does she work?
- Leonardo: Have you ever watched a bird in flight? It's not about being lighter than air, it's about grace and balance. You must use your body's own weight to control your elevation and direction. Good luck, Ezio.
Ezio manned the Flying Machine and leapt off the tower. Following this, he shortly began to lose altitude and started drifting to the ground.
- Ezio: Ugh! Why am I crashing?! This is ridiculous!
The palazzo is too far away!
Diavolo (Damn) I give up! I'm going to end up killing myself before I ever kill another Templar.
Ezio crashed the machine. Frustrated, he returned to Leonardo.
- Leonardo: I can't believe it! It really worked! You flew, Ezio! You flew!
- Ezio: Sì, (Yes) but not very far.
- Leonardo: Well, what were you expecting? The machine wasn't designed for distance. Alright, look, let me go over my plans here. Maybe I can find some way to extend the duration of the flight.
Antonio de Magianis appeared.
- Antonio: Ezio! My men tell me Carlo has the poison! We must hurry!
- Ezio: Antonio, this is Leonardo, the master inventor who built this... this... pezzo di merda (piece of shit).
- Leonardo: Hey! It's not the machine's fault, it's mine. I've checked and rechecked my blueprints. It's just impossible! I don't know how to extend the flight! Ah, che idea del cazzo (crazy fucking idea)!
Frustrated, Leonardo threw a piece of the blueprints into the fire. He was surprised to see that the heat made it float.
- Leonardo: Eureka! Of course! Genio! (Genius!)
- Antonio: What is he doing now?
Ezio only shrugged his shoulders in response.
- Leonardo: Heat rises... it needs fire. Heated air under its wings will lift the machine.
- Ezio: Leonardo, what good is one fire going to do?
- Leonardo: Not one fire, Ezio. A dozen, built all across the city. Enough to carry you from here to the Palazzo Ducale!
- Antonio: How? Oh, capisco (I understand)! My men could do that, but you're forgetting about the guards.
- Ezio: Don't worry, I will take care of them.
- Antonio: I'll give the order to have my men move in behind you and hold the locations. They'll light them all up the second the sun goes down over San Marco.
Outcome[]
The Flying Machine was tested for the first time ever, and the Assassins gained hope that bonfires would enable Ezio to fly to the Palazzo Ducale.
Trivia[]
- The Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton would later attempt to use a Flying Machine just as Ezio did, and, not knowing how flight was achieved with fire, would crash it after leaping, in a similar manner to Ezio.