Desmond S3

Desmond Sequence 03

The third memory details the period of Desmond's past memories in which he departs from the Assassin Enclave (at 16) and makes his way east and then north, eventually ending up in New York City after working a series of meaningless jobs more oriented towards providing him with money than skills or useful experiences.  Bearing in mind that up to this point in his young life Abstergo was more of a boogeyman than a real threat, and because he viewed them in the abstract Desmond lacked the genuine fear that would have been helpful to him and may have caused him to remain below their radar and thus, never being kidnapped by them...

Clearly in the mind of the then 16-year-old Desmond he was escaping to something rather than away from something -- and as he details that process it is very easy to see the world through his scared but also desperate eyes. 

Back on the beach, you head to the gate that is in the middle and enter, and find yourself in the familiar entrance hall to the data storage area.  As you move forward you trigger the by now familiar image of the wall opening to allow you to pass, only this time instead of a chamber we enter the top of a data pit -- say, does this remind you of Star Wars (the movie)?

Using the blocks cross over the pit to the other side and go through the opening, turning left at the intersection and you find yourself at another pit -- but this one you will need to drop down.  When you get midway to the bottom pop some blocks to land on and in the process you should hear the sound effect of a Multi-Player Emblem (they make the same sound that the Animus Data Fragments did in Constantinople).  Look for the Emblem -- it is above on the beams -- and after you grab it make your way over to the glowing hand on the far wall and use it.

Note: if you end up with blocks you created being in your way just look at the blocks and hit the 'X' Button to delete them!

-- The First Glowing Hand --

Getting to the hand means crossing a wide area that collapses your blocks - but if you look carefully you will see that the large beams above near where you grabbed the Emblem can be used as a walkway to go around the edge of the room and avoid the pit that sucks your blocks down.  Once you use the Hand Switch it opens the door on the far wall, but you cannot just retrace your steps to get back because you cannot place a block to get up to the far beam.

If you look around (and up) you will see that the answer to your dilemma is height -- specifically the set of beams that run above the area with the hand!  Build a path up to them then walk out towards the far end of the room and jump down over the gap and land on the other set of beams -- thus avoiding the grid that otherwise likes to collapse blocks!

Walk to the far side of the beam and build a path to the door you just opened, heading through into the next chamber.

Desmond's Third Memory: Escape

-- Collapsing Grid Chamber --

When you go through the door you will likely find out the hard way that what looked like a hall is actually the entrance to a small data pit -- which you discover by falling into it.  You need to build a path over it and to the left, where there is a ledge -- and then you enter the next chamber that has a moving grid that represents those collapsing fields that mess with your blocks.

A few moments of examining the room should tell you want you need to do - wait for the grid to approach and then head away from you then build a path and follow it until you reach the safety of the small concrete pad in the left corner -- when you get to that drop onto it and wait for the grid to reverse direction and pass over you.  As it does this it will delete all of your blocks - but you were done with them anyway so no big deal right?

Jump on to the ledge here and move through themselves opening here and down the hall, going up the stairs and around until you find yourself in a huge chamber with many moving grids of collapsing forces.  This may be a bit confusing at first, but if you watch the pattern of the grids (and there is a pattern) you should see how you can use the pillars that thrust themselves up when you first entered the chamber as sort of safety zones in your journey to the other side of the chamber!

Basically wait until you ahve a mostly clear area, choose one of the pillars and go to the top of it.  When you get there drop or step onto it and wait for the grids to pass over you and reverse, and when you have relatively open space, head to the next pillar top.  By using this tactic you should easily be able to get to the exit without being killed and thus forced to reset..

If you look at the layout you will see that there are three pillar tops that are relatively easy to reach, but from there it looks impossible to make it the rest of the way and if you try to do it in one go it IS impossible -- you will likely get very frustrated in the trying of it...  But if you look closely waaayyy down low you will see a very wide square concrete platform almost all the way to the far side.

That you CAN reach quickly and with little risk -- but you are probably thinking "Great!  Now I am way in the hell down here and I need to be up there and there is no way to get up without the grid deleting my blocks and killing me!"  And you know what?  That is true -- you cannot try to build a path up and over to the exit without getting killed.  But you are not trapped.

Look at the two large pillars that you are between on the platform and look at the two grids that threaten you -- there is the one huge one that goes back and forth from one end of the room to the other, but it stops at those two pillars...  Three is the one that goes up and down at this end of the chamber -- and that is the reason you cannot build a path to the exit, but look at that!  It does not stretch beyond its side of the pillars!

So you can build a path up by going back and forth in the middle of the pillars, which gains you the altitude that we sacrificed in getting to this safety zone, and now it is simply a matter of waiting for the up-and-down grid to pass on its way down and we can calmly path right to the exit, and how about that?!


-- The Final Chamber --

When we enter the next area and create a set of blocks we discover we are standing in a data stream that is flowing very strong to the right.  The blocks we create get carried in that direction -- and when we carefully examine the path ahead it is a bit of a nasty route that is going to require us to drop down and land on blocks we create and, even more nastily, force us to move from block to block in mid-stream to avoid the walls, pillars, and data blocks.  Oh, it is doable, but it is not exactly a walk in the park!

Fortunately there are some platforms that serve as checkpoints every so often so that if we mess up we do not have to start from scratch at the beginning where we entered.

Ultimately what you want to do is make it to the other side and then work your way along, remembering to stay towards the right-hand side as the stream reaches the drop-off point of the massive data pit that is the final chamber of the flow.  The reason that we need to stay to the right is that the exit is on that wall, and if you go past it you are dead, simple as that because your blocks begin to drop and come apart as the forces pull you down, and there is no way back up after that point.

-- The Exit at the Data Falls --

Dropping down on to the safety of the exit platform to the right as the data falls appear and drop into the pit at the end of the stream must have been a major relief for you -- but your work here is not entirely done I am afraid...  As we stepped off onto the safety of the path to the right we heard that distinctive sound of an MP Emblem and oh dear!  It is nowhere in sight...

Look out over the edge of the path between the right wall and the clearly visible line of the collapsing field -- see that jumble of fallen beams?  Well the Emblem is actually below and behind them -- if you have any trouble figuring this out just watch the video right?

So head over there and grab the Emblem and then head back to the safety of the exit path, then head down the path (away from the stream) and drop down into the next area which is a series of collapsing fields that present a set of basic puzzles.  Just watch the way they move, the solutions are really really obvious.

At the end of these hallways and grids you will find a last clever trick -- that is part optical illusion.  As you head out into that last hall blocks appear that you can safely stand on as the grids pass, and at the end as you stand on the third block it looks like there is no exit.  That is the optical illusion bit -- just wait for the grid that is going up and down to go down then work your way up about fifteen feet and there is a ledge there where it looks (from below) like there isn't. 

Follow that around and voila!  There is the exit portal!  Good on ya mates!  Another memory down -- and you gained a pair of MP Emblems and the Achievement "Escape to New York" (20 GS) for your troubles.  Nice one!