assassinations. Although sceptical over the existence of 47, who is deemed an urban myth, Rick decides to listen to Cayne's story, reading documents he provides about a number of contracts committed by 47. The documents reveal that after 47 had committed an assassination against a bankrupt amusement park owner in Baltimore, Maryland, he went abroad to conduct jobs in Chile and France, assigned to him by his handler Diana Burnwood, before taking on several across the United States. During this time, the ICA found itself being targeted by a rival outfit called "the Franchise", who soon began killing ICA agents while hunting down 47. Although 47 avoids being killed by rival assassins, Diana is forced to shut down the ICA, and divides up its remaining resources between him and herself. Cayne eventually goes on to talk about the White House attack, claiming 47 was involved in the chaos that occurred, but was ultimately brought down by his handler as the law closed in on him. Unknown to Cayne, 47 had been made aware that the Franchise was working for a political organization that sought to monopolize on Ort-Meyer's cloning technology. As the current US President was planning to legalize cloning, the Franchise was hired to assassinate him so that their puppet, the U.S. Vice President, would replace them. 47 found himself hired by a CIA agent, whom he rescued in a previous contract, to prevent this. With the Franchise exposed, Diana decided to bring down the outfit with a risky plan by pretending to double-cross 47 and injecting him with poison - in reality a serum to induce a hibernatory state that mimics death, so that he could be brought close to those involved in the Franchise. As 47's bone marrow could be used by the organization's rivals, Cayne, the head of the Franchise, was ordered to find him and kill him. To ensure his marrow cannot be recovered, Cayne had him prepared for cremation, and brings Rick to watch the ceremony. However, Diana takes an opportunity in the ceremony to give 47 the antidote to the serum, allowing him to wake and kill everyone present. With his anonymity preserved, Diana steals the Franchise's assets to reopen the ICA, while 47 proceeds to take on his next contract. Development Hitman: Blood Money was announced in November 2004, with a scheduled release for spring 2005. However, the date was later delayed