D: Whoa... where am I?V: You're inside the Animus.
D: Which is...?
V: It's a projector which renders genetic memories in three dimensions.
D: Genetic memories...
V: Seems you'll need a bit of a tutorial... very well. Let's start simple.
What is a memory, Mr. Miles?
(A brain shows on the visor.)
D: It's the... recollection of a past event.
V: ...specific to the individual remembering the event.
(A woman's silhouette.)
D: Yeah, sure.
V: What if I told you the human body not only housed an individual's memories but the memories of his ancestors as well? Genetic memory, if you will. (A bird is shown.) Migration, hibernation, reproduction... how do animals know when and where to go? What to do?
D: That's just animal instinct.
V: Now you're arguing semantics, Mr. Miles. Whatever you call it, the fact remains. These creatures hold the knowledge absent the first-hand
experience. I've spent the last thirty years trying to understand why. (A symbolic genetic strand is shown.) Our DNA functions as an archive. It contains not only genetic instructions passed down from previous generations, but memories as well. The memories of our ancestors.
D: And the Animus lets you decode and read these DNA files.
V: Precisely.
Lucy: But there's a problem. This is the specific memory we're trying to
access. (The Animus highlights a memory at the end of the strand.)
Unfortunately, when we try to open the memory, your mind withdraws. You lack the confidence to step into your ancestor's body. That's what happened earlier. You got knocked out of the target memory and pushed back into a more stable state.
D: Why?
L: It's your subconscious. It's resisting. We found similar reactions among patients who undergo hypnosis to relive traumatic events. They can't jump directly into the specific memory. You need to be eased in. Even then there can be problems.
D: So how do we fix it?
L: We find a memory you CAN synchronize with. And we move forward from there. You'll get used to it. This is the closest we can get. (The Animus highlights the first memory "block.") So it's where we'll have to start. I'm uploading the tutorial program now.
D: Desmond
V: Vidic
