The Grey

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"Civilizations crumble. Flesh decays. Everything is impermanent. Except, the grey area inside of systems. The connections."

―Consus

Juno's digitized appearance from within the Grey

The Grey is the name given by the Isu, predominantly Juno, to the state of living inside a digital afterlife-like realm where consciousnesses could be uploaded and severed from their corporeal form. This is also the most common reference to her own status as a superior being.

History

At some point during the Isu Era, the Isu Vejovis transferred his consciousness into the Grey after creating human reincarnations of himself as part of a plan for a future physical resurrection which also involved the use of a double-bladed dagger. Eons after the Great Catastrophe, however, his future Sages foiled his machinations and Vejovis was cast back into the Grey.

In 877, the Vikings Eivor Varinsdottir and Sigurd Styrbjornsson discovered the Isu supercomputer known as Yggdrasil, which allowed users to upload their consciousnesses into the Grey and experience a simulation of Valhalla. The two Vikings did so, though Eivor eventually became disillusioned with living in a simulation and convinced Sigurd to return to the real world. Upon doing so, the two were attacked by the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, but managed to defeat him and used Yggdrasil to trap his consciousness inside the Grey.

Following her release from the confines of the Grand Temple by Desmond Miles on 21 December 2012, during his attempt to save the world from a solar flare, Juno entered the worldwide digital networks as an artificial intelligence. Using these networks, Juno became capable of interfacing and taking over various forms of digital technology, and launched several attacks against Abstergo Industries and the Helix servers.

After her failed attempt to overtake the body of the Abstergo Entertainment employee "Noob" with the help of the Sage John Standish, Juno intended for humanity to "enter the Grey" only as a reward for the people who have served her and to live under her leadership blissfully. In a digital correspondence between Juno and her husband Aita decoded by Abstergo employees, she claimed that Clay Kaczmarek and Desmond Miles were among those who "will [not] leave" and "live in bliss" inside the Grey.

In October 2018, Layla Hassan described the Grey as "a virtual existence in some kind of spiritual-tech hybrid afterlife" in her files. Two years later, Layla would upload her consciousness into the Grey after finding Yggdrasil through Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories. Within the simulation, Layla met Basim Ibn Ishaq, who helped her reverse the process of Desmond Miles' activation of the global aurora borealis device in 2012, in order to restore the Earth's magnetic field to normal proportions and save the planet.

Layla joining the Reader in the Grey

However, in doing so, Layla freed Basim's consciousness from the Grey, and the former Hidden One used the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus dropped by Layla to rejuvenate his physical body. Meanwhile, Layla met Desmond's consciousness, which had become "the Reader" after years spent in the Grey. Learning that her mortal body would soon die due to the lethal radiation emitted by Yggdrasil, Layla accepted her fate and chose to remain in the Grey with the Reader, helping him read various calculations to find ways of preventing future disasters.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)