Angels and Demons

Kohler insists that Langdon, as an Illuminati expert, must help them solve the mystery of the murdered man. Kohler tells Langdon that he has sent a plane to bring him to his facility, which is only an hour from Boston. Langdon, intrigued by the symbol on the man’s chest, agrees.

Two men meet in a dark chamber. One of the men—a killer—confirms that a task was completed successfully and hands over a heavy electronic device to the other man.

Langdon drives to a hangar at the airport as instructed, and he is taken to a futuristic-looking jet. Once aboard, Langdon unhappily considers the lack of windows—he is claustrophobic. Langdon is shocked to learn that they are flying to Geneva, Switzerland. The plane travels at Mach 15.

The killer walks down a crowded European street, remembering details of the phone call—allegedly from a man called Janus—where he was instructed to carry out the murder on behalf of the Illuminati brotherhood. The killer was thrilled to hear that “the brotherhood” still exists. He reflects that his ancestors, who fought invading crusaders, would be proud of him.

Langdon arrives in Switzerland. The pilot drives him to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) laboratory. He is greeted by Kohler, a gaunt and bald man in a wheelchair.

Langdon admires CERN’s clean and impressive architecture. He sees a sign awarded to CERN scientists for inventing the world wide web. They pass a vertical wind tunnel—a free fall tube where scientists are skydiving for stress release. Kohler explains that a larger skydiver wears extra fabric so that the fan can lift her. Langdon is amazed and disoriented.

Langdon and Kohler move through green spaces between campuses and dorms that remind Langdon of Harvard. Langdon is surprised when Kohler discusses CERN’s mission to answer existential questions about the meaning of life and the universe—Langdon does not equate these questions with scientific research.

They enter a decoratively furnished apartment that belonged to Leonardo Vetra, the murder victim. The room is freezing; Kohler has chilled the flat to preserve the body. Langdon is shocked when Kohler tells him that the police have not yet been contacted. Kohler reveals that the Vetrases—Leonardo and his adopted daughter, Vittoria—guarded the lab privately and that Vittoria should access the space before the police do.

Langdon feels nauseous and disturbed to see the body. The symbol branded on Vetra’s chest is an ambigram—a word identical and legible when read right side up or upside down. Langdon briefly explains the history of the Illuminati—a group of Italian scientists and mathematicians who sought to discover scientific truth but were systematically pursued and killed by the Catholic Church. The Illuminati became a passionately anti-Christian organization after these incidents; in turn, the Catholic Church branded the Illuminati a satanic cult.

The killer, or Hassassin, visits a brothel. He selects a woman from a book and is led to a room where the woman is bound to the bed, as he requested. He feels excited; he considers his time with the woman his “reward” for his successful murder and theft at CERN.

Langdon clarifies that satanic in this context means enemies of the Church rather than devil worshippers. Langdon explains that the Illuminati are now likely defunct. Kohler angrily points out that this seems to not be the case, given the brand on Vetra.

Langdon points out that even if the Illuminati did still exist, they would not kill a scientist. Kohler explains that Vetra was an unusual scientist and leads Langdon into Vetra’s office.

In another country, a guard monitoring live video feeds notices that camera 86 is not showing the hallway it is supposed to be showing.

Langdon is impressed by the religious artifacts in Vetra’s office, including a 14th-century Spanish crucifix. Kohler explains that Vetra was a Catholic priest as well as a physicist—a theo-physicist. Vetra’s New Physics hoped to bring people to spirituality through particle physics. Langdon considers that if the Illuminati did exist, they would oppose this agenda.

Kohler instructs Langdon to look at Vetra’s face, which is twisted unnaturally. With horror, Langdon sees that one of Vetra’s eyes is missing. The two men leave to meet Vittoria Vetra, who has just landed at CERN.

Kohler suggests that removing Vetra’s eyeball serves a very specific purpose. They meet Vittoria, who is a Bio Entanglement Physicist. Langdon is impressed with her poise and beauty.

Kohler insists that Vittoria take them to the lab that she shared with her father. She insists that the research is secret and could not have anything to do with her father’s murder, but Kohler insists.

They descend to the subterranean lab, which houses an enormous particle accelerator.

The guard monitoring the cameras (referred to in Chapter 12) talks on a walkie-talkie to another technician, who is looking for camera 86. There is no sign of it. The camera projects a live feed of a modern-looking device in a dark space, rather than the hallway where it is usually located. The device is like nothing the technician has ever seen. The guard calls his superior.

Vittoria reflects on the first day she met her father. She was eight years old and living in a Catholic orphanage. Vetra befriended her and taught her about natural occurrences from both scientific and religious viewpoints. When Vetra went to study physics at the University of Geneva, he offered to adopt Vittoria, and she joyously agreed. When she grew up, she became a physicist like him.

The group proceeds into the lab. Langdon watches Vittoria use a retina scan to enter the lab, and he understands the significance of Vetra’s removed eyeball.

The Hassassin reflects, as he considers the sleeping sex worker, that women in Europe feel a power and autonomy that he does not feel they deserve. He believes women are “subhuman” and “chattel to be traded like livestock” (65). He once again revels in the thrill of being selected by “the ancient brotherhood” to serve their higher cause (66).

Langdon is awed by the Vetra’s futuristic lab. Vetra tells the men about her father’s research; he found a way to explain creationism in a way that satisfied both science and religion’s creation stories. Science previously could not explain or mathematically justify the singularity: The moment at time zero when no matter existed. By colliding two ultrathin particle beams in the accelerator tube, particles of matter appear out of nowhere. Vittoria explains that her father’s work proves that the Big Bang theory, as well as Genesis, can coexist by accepting that God was the original source of energy.

Vittoria explains that two kinds of matter were created in the experiment, matter and antimatter. Vittoria produces the first-ever specimens of antimatter, held in high-tech canisters.

The Hassassin moves through a dark tunnel, wondering at the fact that he is “walking naked into a lion’s lair” (74).

Vittoria briefly explains antimatter to Langdon, and Kohler, concerned, asks how it can be stored in canisters made of matter—matter and antimatter explode when they collide. Vittoria explains that the canister technology, which they designed, traps the antimatter in its center.

Vittoria demonstrates the power of the antimatter by allowing it to react against matter, and Kohler panics.

Kohler, terrified, tries to stop Vittoria from removing the canister from the charging port. Vittoria assures him that the antimatter trap has a backup battery. She removes the canister and uses a steel drawer and lever to manipulate it into the middle of a tank. Through a thick, Plexiglas window, they watch as pure energy is produced in an eruption of bright light by the antimatter encountering matter—a process called annihilation.

Kohler is angry that he wasn’t told of the technology sooner. Vittoria hopes that the technology can be used as a sustainable energy source, whereas her father’s agenda was to unite science and religion. Vittoria reveals that there is another large canister of antimatter stored in the hazmat room below. She reassures Kohler—who is angry that such a large amount of antimatter was produced without his knowledge—that there is a second retina scan to access the room.

They travel by elevator down to the hazmat room. In front of the retina scan on the floor, Vittoria sees her father’s discarded eyeball.

The security technician’s commander inspects the droplet held in the canister that camera 86 displays. Four letters are visible on the base of the container.

The recharging podium in the hazmat room is empty: The canister containing the antimatter sample has been stolen. Vittoria feels awash with guilt, remembering that it was her idea to create the quarter-gram of antimatter. She knows that in the wrong hands, it is a deadly terrorist weapon. Vittoria wants to call Interpol, but Kohler insists that they need to think of a solution themselves rather than involve the authorities and risk CERN’s reputation.

The Hassassin waits in the dark tunnel. A large door opens.

Vittoria and Kohler continue to argue about whether Interpol should be contacted. Kohler reminds her of her father’s reputation and of the thousands of scientists who would lose their jobs. He tells Vittoria about the Illuminati connection and shows her a picture of her father. Vittoria is shocked to learn that Langdon is an art history academic.

Sylvia Baudeloque, Kohler’s personal secretary, feels worried when he hasn’t returned for his injections. She is even more motivated when she gets a call from someone needing to speak to Director Kohler urgently. She uses the CERN-wide intercom to contact him.

Vittoria remembers her father teasing her that girls aren’t allowed to do math, enticing her into demanding that she learn math. She despairingly wonders where the antimatter is.

The trio emerges from the lift. Kohler hears his name being paged by his secretary. He answers and discovers that the canister is in Vatican City, visible on a missing internal camera but not yet located.

Paramedics arrive to assist Kohler, who has descended into a coughing fit and is clearly unwell. Kohler struggles to speak; Langdon conveys that he understands the situation—CERN has been contacted by the Swiss guards.