Layla Hassan leads the modern-day team in Assassin's Creed Origins.
Layla is introduced as an Abstergo researcher who develops and uses a portable Animus. After discovering the preserved remains of Bayek and Aya in Egypt, she relives their memories and becomes increasingly opposed to Abstergo's methods. Her work brings her into contact with the modern Assassin Brotherhood.
Origins uses Layla's perspective to connect the ancient Egyptian story with the continuing present-day conflict. Her portable device allows her to study genetic memories outside the conventional Abstergo laboratory system seen in earlier games.
Desmond Miles is the central modern-day character in the first major arc of the series, while Rebecca Crane and William Miles are important members of the wider Assassin network. None of them leads Origins' modern-day sections. Layla later returns in Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Valhalla, making Origins the beginning of her modern storyline.