1. Your players don't use a device. They can do it due to <REASON> that hopefully you can tie into something else interesting that will distract from assassin's creed a bit. Like, they're Timedivers who due to blah blah green lantern force blah blah can go back in time and become people from the past to blah blah blah blah.
2. You're not looking for a macguffin, you're looking for clues to a demon-summoning in order to stop it happening in the world (big shadowey corporation/cult wants to armageddon the world in exchange for powah, no-one knows how to stop it/how to do it/clues about the cult which is a secret society.
3. For bonus points run the modern characters in D20 modern or Cthulhu, and run the past characters in DnD or Wushu/insert other heroic/wuxia/kickass powerful system of your choice.