THE ABSTERGO INDUSTRIES TESTING CENTER

The Abstergo Industries Testing Center is known around the world as one of the largest pharmaceutical testing firms. This is where Abstergo and many of its interests send their products to be tested. While it may seem innocent on the front and have a genuine interest in improving the world, climb to the higher floors and the Center starts to tell a much more sinister tale.

After the invention of the Animus and the discovery of the Bleeding Effect, Abstergo commissioned a team to study its effects and its possible uses. This expanded the testing center beyond pharmaceuticals and the top floors became dedicated to this research.

The test subjects at AITC can be both voluntary and involuntary. Most are given the opportunity to come willingly and are offered money, power, and other rewards if they comply with Abstergo’s wishes. Others deemed important to the Templar cause are snatched from their lives and forced into the testing program without a choice.

The main purpose of these test subjects is to study the different stages of the Bleeding Effect and learn when it is useful and when it becomes dangerous. The secondary goal of the testing program is to search for any information regarding the Pieces of Eden or the Civilization that Came Before.

The year is 2007, the Animus project has been running for twenty-two years with only small successes. As studies continue with the Bleeding Effect, obvious benefits of the effect have started to become apparent. This is the dawn of the Animi Training Program but before this program can become a reality, it must be deemed relatively low risk. This can be a problem when most subjects exposed to the Bleeding Effect eventually go mad. Abstergo is trying to fix that but are still making little headway.

The Abstergo Testing Center sits on the shores of Lake Michigan, only minutes away from downtown Chicago. The summers are warm but the winter can be brutal except the relatively modern building has little to worry. What the Abstergo Testing Center has started to worry about though is the Assassins. The Templars are aware that there is an Assassin stronghold nearby but they have been unable to locate it. While most employees remain unaware of this nearby threat, those that are informed prepare for the day the Assassins choose to strike.