| Erica Boyd | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
25 October 1989 |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations |
Initiates |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in |
Assassin's Creed: Heritage (modern day) |
Erica Boyd (born 1989) is a member of the Assassin Brotherhood. She was formerly a member of the Initiates until she became a full-fledged Assassin. Erica also aids Shaun Hastings with tactical support across the globe.
As of late 2016, Erica is a member of Hayley Yasutake's team and acts as a historian, providing database entries for whatever historical figure, location or event he comes across, as well as tactical support to help Hayley and Horatio Pierce in the field. Erica, alongisde Jason Hart aids Horatio in his training through the Bleeding Effect.
Biography[]
Initially, Erica was a member of the Inititates as she worked to discover and expose information regarding the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order.
In 2014 when the Initiates allied themselves with the Assassins, Erica joined the Assassins as a tactical support.
Source of Eden[]
Erica Boyd in 2017.
In 2016, Horatio Pierce's father mysteriously went missing. Hayley Yasutake was tasked with finding him and William Miles tasked Erica and another Assassin, Jason Hart to help her. In 2017, the team began keeping tabs on Horatio Pierce and eventually discovered that he had been kidnapped by Abstergo Industries.
Hayley devised a plan, she'd willingly allow herself to be captured by Abstergo so she could rescue Horatio. Jason was tasked by Hayley to contact the Assassins to attack the Abstergo facility in Ontario in exactly 1 month while Erica was tasked with providing them with tactical support during the attack..
When the time had come, Jason contacted the Assassins and informed them of Hayley's plan while Erica provided tactical support. Hayley's plan was executed smoothly and Erica and Jason headed to Minnesota to meet with Hayley and Horatio. Hayley then informed the two of the existence of Project Omega and the Sources of Eden, Horatio would later join the Assassins.
Horatio began reliving the memories of his ancestor Kenneth Ravensdale in the year 1768. Hayley and the other's monitored Horatio's health during these sessions. A few days later, during an Animus session Horatio pulled himself out of the Animus, confused, he asked what had just happened and if the Animus was glitching. Jason went on to tell the team that in 1769, Kenneth and Coahoma had conceived a child and due to genetic memory, the Animus focuses on the next ancestor in the bloodline. Hayley asks what happens now, if they can't view Kenneth's memories how would they find the next Source of Eden.
This would lead to Erica pulling up a historical record on the Assassin, Osyka and states in the 1790s he and his father came across the exact same Source that Kenneth and Richard were searching for in 1770 and that there was clearly more to the story. Hayley also states that they could use this to kill two birds with one stone and use the memories of Osyka to train Horatio through the Bleeding Effect.
Escape to New York[]
A few weeks later, Horatio completed the first sequence of Osyka's memories from 1770 to 1787. Because of this, Hayley pulled Horatio from the Animus, Horatio was confused as to why she took him out of the Animus session. Hayley informed Horatio that staying in the Animus for too long is dangerous and that he needed a break, Hayley also stated that he should test out the new skills he's learned from Osyka.
Erica and Jason would stay in the hideout. During this time, the two would discuss each other's personal lives and what they did before joining the Assassins, Erica went on to tell Jason that she used to be a member of the Initiates before joining the Assassins. Jason told Erica that he used to work for Abstergo Industries and had a boyfriend during that time, although he wondered what happened to him. Erica asked him if he was homosexual, Jason laughs and states everyone always comes to that conclusion but informs her that he is in fact pansexual, someone who is not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity.
Suddenly, Horatio and Hayley return from their training session in a panicked state. The two inform Jason and Erica that Abstergo's discovered them. It was only an amount of time this would happen, the team pack up their things and put them in the van and leave Minnesota. Hayley tells the team that there is a hideout in New York and that's where they'll be headed, Erica suggests that Horatio continue digging around Osyka's memories in the meantime.
During the 20 hour drive to New York, Jason is monitoring Horatio's vitals inside the Animus 5.0 interface while Hayley and Erica converse. Erica shows her skepticism and wonders if this is all just some wild goose chase, Hayley states that they need to have faith, Erica expresses her worry that Abstergo is exploring Horatio's genetic memories and that they may find the Sources before the Assassins.
When arriving in New York, Horatio finishes his Animus session. Hayley books a motel which confuses the team, Hayley states that while it's not what they expected the motel is still a hideout either way. Before going to bed, Jason asked Horatio accompany him to get supplies while Hayley and Erica stay in the motel and keep watch.
The next day, after breakfast. Horatio continues exploring Osyka's genetic memory.
Finding Arnold[]
Weeks later, during an Animus Session. While watching a feed through Horatio in Osyka's avatar, they would see that a member of the Isu communicated directly to Horatio explaining that he must find and keep the Sources from Templar and Assassin hands. Horatio pulled himself out of the Animus to tell his team but before he could say anything, the team informed him that they already knew as they were viewing the footage.
Hayley is frustrated at the fact that "1768" was their last clue to finding Arnold and they still had no idea where he was. Putting the information together, Horatio realized that Osyka hid the second Source of Eden in a Temple in Mexico and that must be where Arnold had gone to. Erica applauded Horatio for his puzzle solving skills and the team immediately left for Mexico.
Horatio led the team to the Temple by remembering the steps he took as Osyka. There, the team arrived at the Temple to find a man standing outside the entrance. The man turned around to look at Horatio and the team and uttered the words "Son, it's about damn time".
The reunion between the father and son was hostile born of Horatio's resentment for his perceived abandonment of his family seventeen years prior. However, the reunion was short lived when they were attacked by Abstergo agents led by the Templar Kyle North. Erica and Jason took cover while the three field agents engaged the Abstergo agents where they managed to repel the agents but not without Horatio sustaining an injury.
The hunt continues[]
The Assassins fled inside the Temple and lock it behind them. Now inside the Temple, the Assassins try to gather their bearings while Horatio is treated and the others look for the Source of Eden, which they believe to be inside the Temple. However, Erica and the others discover that the Source that Osyka had left behind was missing. The team then begin to search for new leads which eventually lead them to another one of Horatio's ancestor, a Nigerian Assassin who operated during the Civil War era.
Horatio would then begin to relive the memory of their ancestor Ugochukwu in order to locate the Source of Eden. Some days would pass and Horatio would progress adequately through his ancestor's genetic memory, however, they would need to temporarily halt the search as Erica and the others would learn that members of the Assassins were captured and held hostage by Abstergo during the attack orchestrated to break Horatio and Hayley out of Abstergo's Ontario facility some time prior.
Refusing to leave them there, the team agree to head to Ontario where Horatio and Hayley would free them. During the pair's assault, Erica, Arnold and Jason would aid them remotely. In the aftermath, Horatio would critically injure Kyle North, kill the high ranking Templar Alexandre Bacque, and erase his and Arnold's genetic memory data from Abstergo's cloud - stopping them from finding the Source.
Upon Horatio and Hayley's return, Erica and the others would head back to the Mexican Temple. Some more time would pass and Horatio would eventually synchronize with Ugochukwu's memories, learning the location of the Source of Eden. With the Source of Eden located in the Factory in Nigeria, the team agree to leave it there while they search for other Sources in order to keep them out of Templar and Assassin hands.
Kyle North's return[]
Five years later, Erica's relationship with the others significantly improved with her coming to see her team as an extended family. In March 2022, the team were contacted by Gavin Banks and informed of Kyle North's resurface despite believing him to have died in 2017. Hayley agrees to begin looking for him in order to find out what Abstergo have planned. Eventually, through Horatio stealthily infiltrating Abstergo's Ontario facility and downloading some files, Jason would learn that North had in fact gone rogue. In addition to this, Erica and the others also learned that Arnold's former lover and Horatio's mother Jennifer Westwood had become a person of interest.
Immediately making their way to Vancouver, they learn of Jennifer's current residence and go to her home. Horatio and Hayley learn that she had been kidnapped by North through security footage and are also attacked by Juhani Otso Berg and Sigma Team. Narrowly escaping the couple return to Jason and the others, informing them of what they discovered as well as a man named 'Ari' in the recordings.
Erica learns that the man mentioned by North was Ari Einarrson, a Viking Hidden One who operated in the eleventh century and was Jennifer's ancestor. Horatio begins searching through Ari's genetic memories in order to find out his connection to the situation, and hopefully find his mother. A day later, under duress over his mother's predicament, Horatio snaps at Hayley who refuses to allow him to re-enter the Animus after having previously already spent 38 hours in there. Horatio would then storm out out of frustration with Arnold following him in attempts to get his son to calm down.
Following Arnold's departure, an awkward silence filled the cabin before Jason tries to break the ice with a joke relating to what had transpired, Erica quickly reprimands him for making a joke so soon.
Hayley simply waves it off before sighing and sitting down, stress clearly getting to her. Erica then seats herself next to her and speaks on Horatio's behalf, stating he's stressed about his mother and that his behaviour was understandable. Hayley acknowledges this, empathising with Horatio's ordeal but she then confesses that she had lost so many people over the years that she couldn't lose him too.
Jason chimes in that they care about him too, that they were all the closest thing to a family unit. He then told her that she shouldn't be so harsh with him right now, the news of his mother is still so fresh. Eventually Horatio and Arnold make their return with Horatio apologising for his behaviour.
Some weeks later, Horatio would synchronize with Ari's genetic memories and learn of why his mother was kidnapped, as well as where she would be. Erica, along with the others would learn that Horatio and his mother are descendants of the Isu Magni and that he must prevent North from accessing the Isu temple, the Conservatory.
Finding the Conservatory[]
Erica and the others travel to Newfoundland and locate the Key that grants access to the Conservatory, buried with the Viking shieldmaiden Hilda Ulfsdottir's remains, a companion of Ari's. Having grown attached to her over the time exploring Ari's memories, Horatio laments over her remains but Erica comforts him, reminding him that she had been dead for over a millennia and her death wasn't his fault
Heading over to the Conservatory, Horatio accesses the Isu temple and they make their way to a sealed area that only Horatio is able to access. Jason and the others witness Horatio unlocking the seal which reveal a chamber of stasis pods housing members of the Isu, perfectly preserved.
North then arrives with Jennifer hostage, where he reveals he is a Sage and what he and his beloved had been planning for several millennia. How a select few Isu would undergo stasis while he reincarnated into humanity to release them from their sleep, then they could assume their rightful place as humanity's rulers. Magni, however, had interfered as they all knew and North had to 'waste' several lifetimes looking for Magni's descendants.
North then motioned to kill Jennifer but was quickly stopped by Hayley with use of a throwing knife, North then proceeds to throw Jennifer toward the ledge of the platform they were on. Horatio and Hayley rush to save her before she falls while North moves to activate the stasis pods, knocking Erica and Jason out along the way. While unconscious, Arnold is killed by North and the Sage succeeds in reawakening the Isu.
Mission to stop the Isu[]
After the skirmish, Erica awakens and sees Jason is still unconscious. After waking him up, they find Horatio cradling Arnold's body in his arms. The two watch in silence, both unsure of how to act and out of respect for Horatio. Later on, Hayley and Jennifer arrive and discover of Arnold's death. Later on that day, the Assassins bury Arnold a distance away from the Conservatory, restricting Abstergo from gaining access to his body and genetic memories. Their new goal is to now find and stop the Isu.
A few days later, Jason and the others head to Nigeria to locate the Factory and find the Source of Eden within. Cautious of any attempts by the Isu to use the Factory to make humanity docile. However, activating the Source and Factory triggers a bleeding effect for Horatio, forcing him to relive the memories of his Cree ancestor Küpeyakwüskonam. The Factory then suddenly powers down and Horatio is brought out of the animus, Jason explains this to him and Erica theorises that the Factory specifically showed him this ancestor for a reason and that it must be linked to North and the Isu. Horatio comments that the Isu were a crafy people, specifically Magni. Believing to have found a lead, the team exit the Factory but take the Source with them in case the other Isu come to use the Factory.
Erica and the others hole up in a hotel in Onitsha, Nigeria and Horatio returns to the animus while Jason monitors his progress. Meanwhile, the cell also waits for the Altaïr II to pick them up.
Erica alongside the others learn of the existence of the Eden Engines through Horatio's animus sessions, following this Erica and Jason begin searching for any records or references of Eden Engines in the Assassin database. A day later, the Assassins board the Altaïr II and resume their operation to find the Eden Engine. Eventually, Jason and the others find the Eden Engine's appearance through Küpeyakwüskonam's memories. Erica recognises this and reveals she had once seen it in a display some years prior at Santiago de Cuba.
The Altaïr II makes its way to Cuba and Gavin Banks makes contact with an Assassin cell in Santa Clara led by Meaghan Allard, the descendant of Arno Dorian and great-granddaughter of Isabelle Allard. Erica expresses her excitement to meet Meaghan as she looks up to her great-grandmother and her actions. Arriving in Cuba, Jason and his allies leave the Assassin ship and make their way to Santa Clara and meet Meaghan and her cell. They are met with hostility by the cell and almost come to blows but luckily, it is deesculated by Meaghan.
Following introductions, the two cells devise a plan to retrieve the Eden Engine. Erica and Jason remain behind to provide tactical and technical support for the field Assassins as they head over to Santiago de Cuba. Some hours pass and after aiding the Assassins in their skirmish with the Templars and Isu for the Eden Engine, Horatio, Hayley and Meaghan return alongside the others having successfully retrieved the Piece of Eden. Erica, along with Jason, congratulates the field Assassins on their success.
Horatio elects to leave the Eden Engine in Meaghan's care before they depart on their own. Taking shelter in a motel in Santa Clara, they plot their next move deducing that another Eden Engine and its whereabouts must be hidden in Küpeyakwüskonam's memories. With that, Horatio elects to return to the animus and continue exploring through his ancestor's memories.
Allying with the Templars[]
As Erica and the others tried to have Horatio access a later memory of Küpeyakwüskonam's, he expressed difficulty reliving the particular memory. Hayley eventually ordered Jason to pull him out as he was beginning to show signs of pain within the animus. It is revealed that in the current memory they are trying to access, Küpeyakwüskonam is exhibiting a memory within the current event he was in at the time and that the animus is having difficulty interpreting the Küpeyakwüskonam's simulated memories with the memories he actually experienced at the time. Because of this, Horatio is forced to enter an earlier memory and work his way from there.
Horatio progresses through Küpeyakwüskonam's memories, and Erica alongside Hayley and Jason witness the moment Horatio is contacted by Magni directly through Küpeyakwüskonam, urging the Assassins to ally with the Templars in their goal to stop North and Shakuru. When Horatio exits the animus, the Assassins discuss what to do about Magni's warning. Erica expresses her agreement with Magni's message, that currently, a temporary alliance would achieve results quicker as opposed to being in contention with each other as well as with the Isu. Hayley agrees, however, she expresses concern that the Templars may not see the bigger picture. Horatio then adds that they at least have to try. Jason volunteers to make contact. Hayley tells him to do it.
A day later, the Assassins are at the meeting spot located in Cuba. Erica expresses her apprehension to this with Jason adding that they could have just handed themselves to Abstergo on a silver platter. However, Horatio confidently rebukes this stating that the Templars are, in a sense, in service to humanity like they are and that the Templars know that the Isu are the greatest threat to humanity right now.
Berg appears out of nowhere, responding in agreement with Horatio as he emerges from the shadows alongside Leah. Berg informs the Assassins that this is not his first time working alongside their Order for the greater good. After some tension, the two groups agree to temporarily join forces.
Erica and the other Assassins are brought over to France where they are to begin working with the Templars. After sharing their discoveries within the animus, the two groups come to realise they have recovered similar information. Following this, Horatio and Leah return to the animus where their sessions are to be monitored side by side in the hopes of finding out information one or the other may not have access to due to the constraints of Küpeyakwüskonam and Ramona's memories.
During their animus session, Erica realises that the day Küpeyakwüskonam and Ramona are in Pachena Bay was the same day of the Cascadia earthquake of 1700. She reveals that the earthquake caused a tsunami which struck the west coast of North America and the coast of Japan, including Pachena Bay, wiping out the Huu-ay-aht village with no survivors. When the Assassin and Templar return to the present, Erica informs everyone of this.
Berg then states that if the Eden Engines are powerful enough to cause a 9.2 magnitude earthquake, North and Shakuru acquiring all three Eden Engines was more dangerous than they realised. When combined, they had the potential to wipe out all of humanity through creating large scale earthquakes across the world. Horatio then recalls Canaqueese telling Küpeyakwüskonam that the Eden Engines were sought for in order to "create a new world", Leah adds onto this and realises that the Eden Engines must have restorative properties as well as destructive.
Mesmerised, Jason comments on how the Eden Engines are one of the most powerful Pieces of Eden in existence. Hayley begrudgingly adds that Berg was correct in wanting to keep them out of both Assassin and Templar hands.
A friend's sacrifice[]
The next day, Horatio and Leah return to the animus and pick up where they left off in their respective research target's memories in 1700. The Assassin and Templar are able to successfully locate the remaining two Eden Engines following synchronising with both the memories of Küpeyakwüskonam and Ramona, respectively. Returning to the present, and without having to discuss what they found with the others, all prepare to split up and recover the Eden Engines.
The Assassins are accompanied by Leah, Berg and Sigma Team to Champ de Mars with the plan of flying over to the Algohoma District in Northeastern Ontario, once they recover the Eden Engine in France. The Assassins and Templars arrive in Paris 7 hours later at 1:00am, making their way over to Champ de Mars Horatio finds a dug up hole where the Eden Engine is supposed to be. The group are horrified to realise that they have been beaten in recovering the Eden Engine, Jason rationalises this and comments that the Eden Engine they recovered in Cuba was safely hidden but Berg refutes this, stating that the revived Isu are just as dangerous with two.
Suddenly, Horatio's precognitive Eagle Vision is triggered when he begins loud ominous whispering, alerting the others that the Isu are still here. Following this, Sigma Team members who suddenly kill themselves. They are then met by North, Shakuru and the remaining Isu clad in armor and wielding Swords and Apples of Eden. Shakuru mocks the two groups, calling their war pathetic and miniscule in the grand scheme of the Isu's resurgence, and it was this very reason as to why they needed to be wiped out.
Horatio asks how it is they located the other Eden Engines to which North reveals that D'aureville was a reborn Isu and he was able to access his past memories much faster than an animus. Leah comments on how that doesn't explain how they managed to find the Eden Engines specifically. North reveals to the Assassins and Templars that during D'aureville's fight with Küpeyakwüskonam and Ramona, the explosion that occurred when Küpeyakwüskonam separated the Eden Engines, D'aureville was granted a vision of the Eden Engines across time, including where they would be in 2022. Shakuru then adds that they also recovered the second Engine in Canada, confirming they have two now.
Shakuru then activates the Apple of Eden which she uses on the Assassins in an effort to make them kill themselves, however, due to Horatio's high concentration of Isu genes, he is able to resist its effects. Picking up a pistol from one of the dead Sigma Team members, he shoots at Shakuru but a Ring of Eden she is carrying prevents her from being shot, however, it was enough to break her concentration on the Apple. The others are broken from their compelling and Horatio urges them to rid themselves of all their weapons so the Isu cannot compell them to commit suicide.
Berg refuses revealing that Abstergo had created a prototype device that protected humans from the effects of Apples, using it on himself and Leah they aid Horatio in his fight against North and the others. Weaponless, Hayley aids them as well. Meanwhile, Jason and Erica are forced to remain on the sidelines as they aren't field operatives. During the skirmish, Horatio and Leah were able to remove an Eden Engine from North and Erica and Jason are able to recover it, fleeing toward Dupleix. North and Shakuru give chase with Horatio, Leah and Hayley following suit.
Erica and Jason are cornered in the subway station by North and Shakuru. Shakuru demands that they hand over the Eden Engine to which they refuse, North activates his Apple of Eden and begins to compel them to hand it over. Once they do Shakuru takes both Eden Engines and begins to fuse them together. Erica tells her that without the third, she will be unable to fully utilise the power of the Eden Engines. Shakuru agrees but states that once the fusion process is complete, she and North will be able to decimate humanity - it will only take a little longer.
Horatio, Hayley and Leah arrive and resume their fight against the reborn Isu and his lover. Hayley and Leah manage to disarm both North and Shakuru of their Apples, and Erica and Jason are able to kick them away, keeping them out of the Isu's grasp.
Erica and Jason then witness Leah kill Shakuru as well as Horatio assassinating North, avenging his father. During this, Erica theorises that the energy generated from the complete union of the two Eden Engines was enough to completely wipe out France. The Eden Engines are close to completing their unification when the surrounding area begins to rumble, showing signs of an impending earthquake. Horatio tells the members of his team to flee, reminding them that his Isu genetics will be able to separate the Eden Engines and if he was unable to, they would all have a head start at making their escape. Hayley, Jason and Erica initially refuse but Horatio manages to convince them that its the right thing to do, and that they need to go on to fight another day.
Erica and the others make their way to the exit with Leah telling the others to escape before Berg calls for reinforcements, offering to lie to the Master Templar and say that they escaped during the chaos. Jason asks why she, a Templar, would do this with Leah stating that she'd seen enough death for one day. With that, the Assassins flee into the night.
Erica, Hayley and Jason see the Dupleix collapse and know that Horatio has perished. Hayley begins crying and is comforted by Jason and Erica before they move to make their escape again.
A week later, a funeral is held for both Horatio and Arnold aboard the Altaïr II. A great many Assassin cells have rendezvoused to pay their respect to both Pierces. Hayley meets up with Erica and Jason who go to find Jennifer who is still distraught, Hayley comforts Jennifer as she assures her that her son's sacrificed helped save France from destruction as well as humanity. Commenting on how his unwavering faith and hope in humanity is what led him to his decision.
Personality and characteristics[]
Erica has a no-nonsense attitude and likes to get the job done. Due to her no-nonsense attitude she tends to buttheads with the young and witty, Horatio Pierce. Despite this, she does care for her team and doesn't want them to feel like she is a complete prude, so at times she does let her hair down albeit rarely.
Trivia[]
- The name Erica is Teutonic. It means meaning "powerful, regal, flower".
- Erica stands at 5'5" and weighs 115lbs.