Desmond Miles is captured by Abstergo and forced to use a machine called the Animus to explore Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad's memories during the time of the Third Crusade. Desmond begins to witness events after Altaïr breaks all three tenets of the Assassin Brotherhood while attempting to stop Robert de Sablé from taking a Piece of Eden. Al Mualim, the Brotherhood's leader, demotes Altaïr to Novice and tasks him with assassinating the nine Knights Templars, including de Sablé, to regain his former status. Altaïr's quest eventually leads him to face de Sablé in the presence of King Richard I of England warning the King of de Sablé's plot to kill him. Altaïr defeats de Sablé, but with his last words, de Sablé reveals that there were ten Templars, the last being Al Mualim, who now holds the Piece of Eden. Altaïr returns to face Al Mualim and struggles to fight through illusions created by the Piece, but eventually kills Al Mualim. When Altaïr recovers the piece, he and those watching the Animus view a holographic map showing where other artifacts are located across the globe. Desmond is pulled from the Animus, and was going to be killed, but his life is spared by Lucy Stillman, an Assassin working as a mole within Abstergo, as she claims they might need to further examine his memories later. He comes to learn that a former test subject had left messages only Desmond can see, foretelling the end of the world in 2012.
