Subterranean Chamber beneath Butler Library – 1:02 p.m.
Langdon descended the ancient stairwell with careful steps, the air growing colder with each level. Behind him, Lenka moved silently, weapon ready. Above, Dean Asher and his two silent companions followed at a calculated distance.
The final step opened into a domed chamber—unlike anything Langdon had seen.
It was an octagonal room lined with mirrors, angled to reflect a central column of light descending from an unseen aperture above. Carved into the walls were swirling noetic diagrams, ancient geometric scripts, and a golden frieze encircling the ceiling.
At the centre of the floor, sunk slightly below the marble, was a seat—simple, metallic, and oddly familiar. Electrodes trailed from it like veins.
Lenka whispered, "A consciousness amplifier." Langdon nodded grimly. "Katherine's true device. The one that could simulate—if not provoke—a collective psychic resonance." Suddenly, Dean Asher's voice filled the room.
"She completed it. Just before she vanished." Langdon turned. "Where is she?" Asher smiled. "She came here willingly. But when she refused to activate it— when she refused to surrender to the convergence—we had to intervene." "You mean imprison her," Lenka said flatly.
Asher's face darkened. "This machine could reset the human mind. Imagine eliminating hate, violence… even free will. An end to war. To suffering. She feared that power—but we were ready." Langdon took a cautious step toward the chair. "Katherine believed this device could link thought across time. Let people experience collective memory. Not control it." Asher didn't flinch. "Control is peace. We no longer need ancient stories. No gods.
No mythologies. Only clarity—only truth—as we define it." He pointed to the far wall, where a steel door stood ajar.
"She's in there. And she has one chance left to align herself with history." Langdon stared at the door, the light from the column casting his shadow across the mirrored walls. The convergence—the full moon, the mind's opening—was only hours away.
Katherine was alive. But for how much longer?
And if she activated the device… what exactly would awaken?