25

In the Haz-Mat area fifty meters underground, Vittoria reels after seeing Leonardo Vetra’s severed eye used to open the retina-locked chamber. Langdon supports her as the door opens, but the greater horror is inside: the antimatter canister’s recharging podium is empty.

Vittoria realizes Leonardo was murdered so the canister could be stolen. Grief gives way to guilt because Vittoria had persuaded her father to create the antimatter specimen despite his hesitation. She understands the danger immediately: once removed from its recharging platform, the canister has a limited battery life and will inevitably detonate if not returned or recharged.

Langdon covers Leonardo’s eye with a handkerchief while Kohler pulls him aside and demands to know what the Illuminati might want with antimatter. Langdon resists the idea that the Illuminati still exist or would commit mass terrorism, suggesting another possibility: theft for financial gain or industrial espionage. Kohler challenges this, arguing that no one could build a recharger in time.

Vittoria confirms Kohler’s point, explaining that a compatible recharging system would take weeks or months to engineer. This leaves the group with the disturbing conclusion that the stolen canister is likely intended as a weapon, because it cannot be safely preserved outside CERN within its twenty-four-hour battery limit.

Vittoria insists on calling Interpol, but Kohler refuses, arguing that public authorities cannot locate the canister in time and that involving them could damage CERN. Vittoria is outraged that Kohler appears to prioritize reputation over lives and tries to call CERN’s switchboard herself, only to discover her cell phone has no signal underground. Furious, she heads for the elevator.