Layla Hassan’s laptop is rich in data from various branches of the story, be it well-known deceased characters, recaps of past events from the Assassin’s Creed Movie, Layla’s own personal projects and online discussions or emails exchanged between Layla and her friend Deanna Geary and Sofia Rikkin. Many of those documents are trivial or feature information that we already know, others emphasize on in-game discoveries while some feature some quite interesting information such as the following.

In one of the e-mails, Layla Hassan discusses the possibility of reliving genetic memories using inorganic matter. So far, the Animus requires organic matter in order to recover genetic memories. Layla proposes that while codons would be missing from inorganic matter, yet molecular structures would be present. She adds that Dr. Warren Vidic’s research might have stopped too fast and that they should further explore these ideas adding that while it took Vidic years to crack genetic memories, yet once he managed to accomplish that, he was able to progress with immense speed and efficiency, so she speculates that once they’re able to accomplish that, the possibilities will be boundless.

Layla also adds that the information could not only be at a molecular level, but a subatomic level, as there’s no good reason why memories would only latch onto organic molecules.

Below is a transcript of the E-mail between Deana and Layla. Unfortunately, there was no response from Deanna to this e-mail to follow up the conversation:

From Layla Hassan

To: Deanna Geary

From: Layla Hassan

Date: Oct. 21 2017 4:45 am

Subject: What if Dee,

Wow. Why is my head still spinning? I barely had more than a few drinks?

But, I just thought of something. You know how the Animus sequences DNA to run simulations based on genetic memories?

What if (and this might be the fifth Old Fashioned talking here) what if we could actually find a way to do the same through inorganic matter?

Sure, we’d be out of codons, but we’d still have molecular structures to work with. I mean, it took years for Dr. Vidic to crack genetic memories and once he got to them, he went nuclear on decoding them. What if he stopped too fast?

What if isomers are packed with molecular memories?

Ok, maybe molecules are too big, maybe we need to consider that the information might be stored deep down at the subatomic level. Why would memory latch uniquely onto organic molecules? I mean, I’ve seen stranger things but somehow I just can’t find any plausible reason why it wouldn’t. I wish my middle of the night emails were more about a date I just kicked out or an obnoxious neighbor. Sorry… I guess you’re stuck with me. Lucky girl. L.

Now this could lead us to a few speculations. First of all, there’s no universally agreed upon difference between organic and inorganic compounds. Some scientists consider inorganic compounds to be those free of carbon atoms, others consider inorganic compounds to be those free of carbon and hydrogen atoms bonded together. Diamonds, which are made of pure carbon are often considered inorganic. There are few organic compounds that don’t contain carbon-hydrogen bonds. Examples of these exceptions include: carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and urea [CO(NH2)2]. The bodies of living organisms -including humans- while largely comprised of organic compounds, still include and/or require certain inorganic compounds.

The idea of using inorganic components from a living organism’s body to relive there genetic memory could open more possibilities as you won’t necessarily need organic material from the subject’s body to view there memories and that basically any remnant of the subject could be used in an evolved version of the Animus to explore their genetic memory.

The other possibility is even more exciting, and a bit more unbelievable. However, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is known for its scientific and pseudo-scientific theories and often blurring the lines between both, and eventually setting the motion for the events and occurrences story. Being able to find memories latched onto inorganic matter on subatomic levels could mean that it might eventually be possible to somehow experience memories, or even flickers of events that took place in a specific place at a specific time, from wholly inorganic objects such as furniture, walls and any objects in a room where a certain event happened. A similar concept is explored in the TV show, Fringe, where the protagonists are able to listen to a conversation that took place in a room a while after it happened by examining the glass in the room, as according to the show’s own pseudo-scientific theories, it is possible for sound to latch onto objects, especially glass and play like a vinyl record afterwards using a specific type of technology.

Of course, still objects do not have a conscious mind of their own, nor the capacity to think in order to form a memory and preserve it in the first place, yet if the science within the franchise’s lore can somehow prove that memories somehow can latch onto other objects in some sort of radioactive way that they can be captured by a specific device and vaguely be simulated, it would be a groundbreaking discovery and gives our new protagonist and her allies endless potential to simulate events that no one could’ve witnessed or no one with an existing lineage or organic material still present. It will certainly not replace the traditional way of viewing genetic memories (within the franchise lore), yet it can help a great deal in small segments, perhaps in present day missions, without the need for the conventional Animus to portray them.

Special thanks to Mathieu Boisville, a great friend of The Codex, for the inception and exploration of this observation and theory with me.