Simon Hathaway

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Simon Hathaway
Biographical information
Species	Human
Political information
Affiliations	Abstergo Industries Historical Research Division Templars Inner Sanctum

Professor Simon Hathaway is a British Templar historian and, as of October 2016, the head of Abstergo Industries' Historical Research Division and member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order.

Biography

Early life

Simon was born into the Templar Order; his parents were both members of the Order, as was his grandmother, who worked in the background of Winston Churchill's war office. He followed the footsteps of those before him as he pursued on his career as a historian. He attended Cambridge and afterwards worked in Abstergo Industries' Historical Division under his fellow Cantabrigian Isabelle Ardant. He also had a romantic relationship with his fellow Templar Anaya Chodary, who was a field agent at the time. However, their work and devotion to the Order eventually kept the two apart and ended their relationship.

Later, Ardant became impressed by his work and mentioned him several times in her files, catching the attention of the CEO and Grand Master Alan Rikkin. This served crucial during the Inner Sanctum's hunt for Ardant's replacement.

Induction to the Inner Sanctum

"I have learned that genuine knowledge only comes to those who truly hunger for it. I have learned that power must be wielded by those above the fray, for only they can see the interweaving of the pattern. And I have learned that wisdom is the execution of power guided by knowledge and understanding."

―Hathaway's answer to the Induction's question of what he had learned as a Templar

Hathaway was inducted to the Inner Sanctum in October 2016. Upon taking his position in the Inner Sanctum, Hathaway gave a presentation to its other members in which he put forward his belief that the Animus was not being used to its full potential in their search for Pieces of Eden and Assassins. Seeing the methods such as those by Abstergo Entertainment–which utilized people largely ignorant of the significance of what they witnessed in the past–as more data gathering rather than application of knowledge, Hathaway argued that greater work could be done in less time by sending a Templar like himself into the past who could appreciate the greater context of what they saw and therefore discover clues that others simply didn't know to look out for.

To that end, he put forth a theory that the Sword of Eden which had become damaged as it was passed down through history from Grand Masters Jacques de Molay and François-Thomas Germain to the Assassin Arno Dorian and eventually into the office of Alan Rikkin himself was the very same weapon wielded by Jeanne d'Arc during the Hundred Years' War. It was Hathaway's belief that by exploring the memories of his ancestor Gabriel Laxart, who fought besides Jeanne d'Arc, he would be able to observe the sword's abilities firsthand and thereby have the opportunity to reactivate them in the present day.

Rikkin gave Hathaway a deliberately tight one-week schedule to test this new direction that the professor wanted the Historical Research Division to take and assigned Victoria Bibeau to assist him, a move which immediately reduced the timeline to six days as Bibeau needed to fly in to London from the Aerie. He was officially introduced to her during their meeting in Simon's favorite restaurant, Tempest in the Teapot, where they discussed the Bleeding Effect. He also had to summarize the Hundred Years' War and Joan of Arc's involvement to the uninformed Bibeau, much to his annoyance.

During their ride to the Historical Research division, the pair encountered Anaya Chodary, who was now Abstergo's ethical hacker, in the lift. Initially shocked, the two later shared a friendly conversation and parted ways. This was commented upon by Bibeau, who Simon learned shared the same views on romance as him. They continued on to the technician Amanda Sekibo to strap him in the Animus.

Reliving Laxart's memories

With his first attempt in the Animus, he violently desynchronized during Gabriel's first meeting with Joan. Bibeau later realized, from the chemicals released from Hathaway's brain, that the cause was not Simon himself, but the teenage romantic attraction of his ancestor to the maiden. After more observations, he realized that Gabriel and Joan had extraordinary amounts of Precursor DNA and that their ally, Jean de Metz, was an Assassin. Desynchronizing from the Animus again after his excitement of finding an Assassin overloaded the signal. Aware of the growing potential of his project to both the history of the Assassin-Templar War and DNA tracking, Simon became more confident that Rikkin would start having interests. Simon and Bibeau also discuss the ancestor of the late Warren Vidic, Geoffroy Thérage, Jeanne's executioner. Simon noted that not many people liked or missed Vidic. Bibeau then advised Simon to go home and rest, to which he initially complained about but eventually complied.

The next morning, Simon came in early to work after a restless sleep. After Bibeau arrived, Simon then gave her exposition on Joan getting an audience with Robert de Baudricourt. When reliving Gabriel's journey to Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, Simon had a hunch where the sword was. While on break, Simon and Anaya met up and she told him of the new job she applied for. Simon is happy for her, but couldn't help lingering feelings coming back to him. Back to work, Simon theorized to Bibeau that Joan may have been in contact with the Isu Consus. When reliving his ancestor's memories again, Simon caught a quick glimpse of what he assumed to be the French Assassin's Mentor, but could not identify them.

After learning that his ancestor was an Assassin ally, Simon was disgusted. However, after seeing the graffiti of Jacques de Molay in the Fort Coudray of Château du Chinon, he sour mood lightened. He marveled at the opportunity to have it analyzed by Zachary Morgenstern in Cryptology. After several hours in the Animus, Bibeau was ready to pull Simon out. His vital signs were starting to concern Bibeau. With the sword so close in sight, Simon was adamant to continue. Victoria reluctantly agreed but warned him she will pull him out at the first sign of danger. Simon resumed Gabriel's memories and found the Sword of Eden. At that moment, however, Simon passed out. He awoke to Bibeau, Sekibo, and two other technicians standing over him. Eager to resume he is stopped by Bibeau, who insists he have a rest day. Simon refuses although to no effect. Bibeau suggested to email Rikkin the next day asking for an extension and explaining the current situation. Left with no other option, Simon agrees to go home.

In the cab on his way to his flat in Kensington, Simon received a text from Anaya informing him that she got the job, he was happy for her. Closing his eyes to rest a while he started suffering from early onsets of the Bleeding Effect, seeing Latin and hearing French when he slept. He was jolted from his sleep when the cab driver called to him, expressing concern. Simon looked pale, and the driver offered to help him to his flat. Simon denied the need for assistance, and after tipping the driver, entered his flat. After a hot shower, Simon saw Gabriel's reflection in the mirror for a mere second. After a stressful night he had overslept, Simon met with Victoria expressing his frustration at not being able to send Rikkin the email. His interactions with Victoria become snappy, although he apologized for it. Trying to organize to meet with Rikkin via his secretary, it becomes impossible as he was planning a trip to Madrid, Spain. This news frustrates Simon who insisted that they continue working.

On 7 November, Simon met with Layla Hassan, a promising young Abstergo employee, praising her and giving her advice. A week later, she sent an email thanking him for his kind words and asked to be assigned to more Person of Interest assignments. A month later, while Layla was on an assignment, she became behind on logging operation reports. Simon threatened her tardiness with a formal complaint to Operations and more mediation training.

Inner Sanctum duties

Simon in Quebec

In March 2017, the Inner Sanctum invited the new Black Cross to a meeting in Quebec, during which Simon was present. Displeased that he auto-proclaimed himself their inquisitor, they threatened him and demanded to know his identity. The masked man responded that he came only as a courtesy, to inform them that he was investigating an hostile fifth column within the Order. After affirming his independence, the Black Cross dropped a smoke bomb and disappeared.

In October, Hathaway assigned a team consisting of Layla Hassan and Deanna Geary to Egypt to recover and artifact of utmost importance in the Qattara Depression. Layla's refusal to check in with Abstergo led to the company deploying Sigma Team to find them, although it is not known if this order was from Simon or not.

Personality and traits

"With information, we know what — enough to identify the specific artifact — and where. But with knowledge, we’ll know what it does, how it was used, and... how to fix it."

―Simon Hathaway explaining his approaches with the Animus Technology to the Inner Sanctum

As a scholar and historian, Hathaway was very eager to witness Joan of Arc's battles in his ancestor's eyes. Despite his excitement, he kept an objective and third-person viewpoint, almost giving him immunity from the Bleeding Effect. This also enables him to desynchronize on purpose.

Simon always valued authenticity. During his initiation into the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order, he noted that the ritual garb had been made by hand and not machines. This caught his admiration, as he loved that the Templars genuinely put in effort to replicate the ancient traditions. He still uses a whiteboard to present his points, something which, as noted by David Kilkerman, most people today do not do.

He also valued knowledge over information. He stated that while information tells where to find Pieces of Eden, knowledge will allow them to understand its workings and designs. He also believed that knowledge will give them a better advantage over the Assassins rather than just data collection.

Skills

In addition to English, Simon is also fluent in Russian, Spanish and Arabic. Learning Gabriel's skills via the Bleeding Effect, Simon was able to effortlessly perform a Leap of Faith and possessed enough stamina to run up more than nine flights of stairs. He also used some minor knowledge from Gabriel's sword-training to disarm two Abstergo security personnel.

Trivia

• Simon is a common biblical name, from Hebrew Šimʻôn (שִׁמְעוֹן), meaning "listen". It is also a Ancient Greek name, derived from the adjective simon (Σίμων) meaning "flat-nosed". Hathaway is a surname of Anglo-Saxon origin, it can be derived from the Middle English hath, meaning "heath", plus the Middle English "way."
• While not clearly confirmed, Assassin's Creed: Heresy hints that Simon is a descendant of Jeanne d'Arc, as after her faked execution the maid shared her life with Simon's known ancestor, Gabriel Laxart, who fathered children during that time.
• Hathaway adored tea and considered coffee as a "demon".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Heresy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising
• Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide (2nd edition)