The Golěm approaches Crucifix Bastion, convinced Gessner’s hilltop lab is now deserted and that he can quickly retrieve the last element he needs before traveling to his final target, “Threshold,” which he intends to destroy. Carrying Gessner’s RFID key card, The Golěm reflects on the legend of Prague’s original golem and his own chosen doctrine: to unveil truth and accept death.

The Golěm reveals how he “dies” without it being permanent: by erasing the Hebrew letter aleph from his forehead, he can shift from “Truth” to “Death,” making his hulking form vanish and leaving him invisible and inconspicuous. He frames his earlier violence as protecting innocents and punishing the guilty, and he enters the bastion foyer toward the lab access stairwell, confident he can bypass the biometric panel because Sasha previously—and unknowingly—gave him what he needs.

Inside, Field Officer Housemore, exhausted and on solo security duty for Everett Finch, hears the crunch of glass and snaps to alert. She rounds the corner and spots a hooded figure forcing entry to the lab stairwell, orders him to stop, and fires; the shot strikes the door as the intruder slips through and the security door reseals.

Peering through the reinforced window, Housemore sees the cloaked figure close up: an earthen, symbol-carved face and icy eyes that lock on her before he rushes downstairs. She concludes the intruder is likely Russian, using “cosplay” makeup to beat cameras and possibly 3D-printed fingertips to defeat biometrics. Knowing Finch will be furious but needing to report the breach, she backs down the hall while dialing him.

Before Housemore can call, the intruder appears behind her as if from nowhere, hits her with a searing electrical blast, and pins her to the floor. Paralyzed, she can barely fight as he chokes her; when she finally tries to shove him off, his body feels unnaturally solid. Tightening his grip, he leans close and identifies himself: “I am The Golěm.”