Deep inside the CIA’s Threshold facility, the Golěm feels physically and emotionally destabilized, as if he is “a ghost” of himself. In the innermost chamber, a familiar sensation builds in his temple as “the Ether” gathers, signaling an oncoming seizure.

He instinctively reaches for his metal wand to manage the condition but realizes it is missing, likely lost during his struggle with a woman upstairs. With no way to stop what is coming, the Golěm hurriedly chooses a safe place to lie down and is hit hard by convulsions that knock him unconscious.

When he awakens, disoriented and postictal, he slowly regains his bearings and studies the astonishing underground space. The scale and secrecy confirm to him that the people behind Threshold have immense influence and resources, reinforcing his resolve to destroy what he has found.

He returns to where he emptied his pockets and gathers his belongings: a Vipertek stun gun and a plastic box now containing Brigita Gessner’s black RFID key card and her severed thumb. He notes that pressing the thumb to the card authorizes access, and that this method has brought him into the inner sanctum.

Driven by the need to eliminate the facility, the Golěm passes through a glass door into a gated niche labeled SYSTEMS / UTILITIES. He steps onto a metal platform and presses a large red floor button; the platform hisses and drops about twelve feet, revealing a low tunnel packed with generators, pumps, air handlers, tubing, ductwork, and insulated wiring—a living “ecosystem” keeping Threshold running. He advances toward his final destination, believing the facility’s “heartbeat” will not remain alive much longer.