Langdon’s uncontrolled elevator slows and stops on a lower level of Gessner’s sealed lab. When the doors open, he steps into a fortress-like stone corridor incongruously finished with elegant hardwood flooring and recessed lighting, and he calls out for Katherine and Dr. Gessner.

Moving from door to door, Langdon searches an upscale office suite with computers and paperwork, then a smaller assistant’s office marked by Cyrillic writing on a water bottle, suggesting the Russian assistant Gessner mentioned. Receiving no response, he continues down the hall.

Langdon opens an imaging lab labeled with a pictogram and finds unattended CAT scan and MRI machines. He then tries a “VIRTUAL REALITY” room—an eerie, single-chair setup with cabled head-mounted goggles—but finds it empty as well, heightening his fear that Katherine is not anywhere nearby.

After passing an empty restroom with emergency safety equipment, Langdon reaches the final door marked “TECHVELOPMENT.” Inside, harsh fluorescent lights, roaring fans, and a relentless alarm-like beeping surround a chaotic workshop of tools, parts, and blueprints.

Following tubing and wires from a large humming apparatus, Langdon discovers a low, transparent pod glowing faintly and fogged with condensation. He peers through the mist and recoils in horror at the motionless outline of a human body inside, fearing it may be Katherine.