"It took the Earth's population 100,000 years to reach a billion people." "And then just 100 more to reach two billion." "And only 50 years to double again." "Four billion people in 1970." "We're nearly at eight billion now." "We are destroying the very means by which life is sustained." "Every single global ill that plagues the Earth can be traced back to human overpopulation." "Why do we demand inaction?" "We clear-cut." "We dump." "We consume." "We destroy." "Half the animal species on Earth have vanished in the last 40 years." "But still we keep attacking our own environment." "Does it take a catastrophe to learn our lesson?" "To get our attention?" "Nothing changes behavior like pain." "Maybe pain can save us." "There's a switch." "If you throw it half the people on Earth will die." "But if you don't the human race will be extinct in a hundred years." "What will you do?" "Mankind is the cancer in its own body." "Do you love humanity enough to save it?" "In case they find me, I left you a path." "The hardest one yet." "Inferno will be at the end." "You are my contingency plan." "You are humanity's final hope." "Make sure Inferno is unleashed." "Seek and find." "Long road but here we are." "Better me than the Americans." "You're going to want to tell me where it is." "Yes, Mr. Bouchard." "I know I will." "Tell them humanity is the disease." "Inferno is the cure." "Traitors!" "Suffer, sinners." "Pay for your sins." "Sinners, pay for your sins." "Pay for your sins." "Suffer, sinners." "Pay for your sins." "Ruin of souls." " One moment, please." " What is going" " What is happening?" " Dr. Brooks?" "Abandon all hope." "All hope." "Sinners, pay for your sins." "Mr. Langdon, I'm Dr. Brooks." "We're gonna do a few checks." "Nothing to worry about." "We'll get rid of this, shall we?" "Do you know what day of the week it is?" "Saturday." "It's Monday. 20th of June." "Monday, the 20th of June." "Do you know where we are?" "Boston." "Mass General." "And what's the last thing you can remember?" "I was on campus." "Everything is blurry." "It's out of focus." "Was I in some kind of an accident?" "We'll get to that." "Is there someone we should call for you?" "No." "Your wife?" "Family?" "No, no." "I'm not married." "Professor Langdon, you're suffering from a head trauma." "You appear to have mild retrograde amnesia." "We've done a CT scan." "There's no evidence of intracranial bleeding." "Which is very reassuring, long-term." "Just try to relax." "Neurologically, you seem to be fine." "Your memory will return over the next several days." "So we'll wait and watch." "Can you turn off the lights, please?" "Of course." "If the head trauma was bad enough to cause cerebral contusions..." " ... photosensitivity is common." " Could you please turn off the lights?" "What am I doing in Florence?" "That's il Duomo." "That's the Palazzo Vecchio, isn't it?" "Yes." "Well, how did I get here?" "You came to our emergency room three hours ago with a head wound." "Was I with a woman?" "No, a cab driver brought you in." "No wallet, no phone, no ID." "How the heck do you know my name?" "We've met." "I saw you lecture at Imperial College London." "We spoke afterwards." "You were very nice to me." "We met?" "Sorry, that's not quite fair." "I was 9 at the time." " Wait, 9 years old?" " I was crazy about puzzles." "And I liked your books." "Maybe not Lost Language of Ideograms." "But the others." "Okay." "I read them all." "What a weird kid." "I was, actually." " Did I say that out loud?" " You did." "I'm very sorry." "Professor Langdon, the headaches are going to be intense initially." "And you can also expect nausea, confusion and dizziness." "That was the front desk." "The police are here to see you." "Me?" "Why?" "Before you talk to them, professor, you should know all the facts of your case." "Your head wound wasn't caused by an accident." "It was the result of a gunshot." "A bullet grazed the top of your skull, and you most likely took a bad fall which is what caused the concussion." "If the bullet had been an inch to the side, it could've killed you." "Come on, come on." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Come on." "Taxi!" "Get in!" "Is he drunk or what?" "What was that?" "Drive!" "Drive!" "Drive!" " What's going on?" " No idea." "This is gonna hurt." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Robert." "Seek and find." "Seek and find." "This is my apartment." "You're still in Florence." " I'm gonna call the police." " Wait up." "A policewoman just tried to kill us." "Okay." "We'll call the U.S. Consulate instead if you like." "Just wait." "Just give me" "Give me a minute." "Get a hold of things." "Why was someone shooting at you?" "I don't know." "Also, when you came into E.R., you were mumbling something over and over." "Very sorry." "Very sorry." "Very, very sorry." ""Very sorry"?" "Do you have any idea why you'd be saying this?" "No." "Why was someone shooting at you?" "You can keep asking me these questions, lady, but I'm not gonna know the answers!" "My name's Sienna." "Oh, God." "I'm sorry." "Hello." "Hi." "Just, you ask a lot of questions." "Yeah, I'm feeling a tad vulnerable right now." "I'm with someone other people want to shoot at." "I'm sorry." "Questions are important." "It'll help you recover." "Can I ask you for a cup of-?" "Well, it's brown and it's hot and people drink it in the morning for energy." " Tea." " Tea." "No!" "The other one." " Coffee." " Coffee!" "Could I have a cup of coffee?" "Sure." "Thank you." "You are very organized." "I like things tidy." "Thank you for helping me at the hospital." "That was very courageous." "It was just reflexes." "Very sorry." "Very sorry." "I'm having visions." "It's the head trauma." "You won't be able to trust your own thoughts for a while." "Saw a plague mask." "It's the kind that medieval doctors wore during the Black Death." "You said something about that." "You were talking in the cab." "It was mostly incoherent but I did hear the word "mask. "" "Anything else?" "Bodies." "And blood and fire and hell." "And there's a woman." "Yeah, there's a woman, and she seemed..." "Seek and find." "It all seems so dangerous." "Look, you gotta have somebody we should call." "I do?" "Why?" "Was I wearing my watch when I was brought to the hospital?" "No." "You weren't wearing a watch." "It was important to me." "It was a gift from my parents." "Look, you should go ahead and clean up." "Your clothes are covered in blood but I think I've got something that might fit you." "Once you get dressed, we'll call the police, okay?" "No, no." "The consulate." "Right." "The consulate." "Coffee." "Ignazio?" ""What we stole is safely hidden, as am I. Paradise Twenty-five. "" ""Now they're after me too. "" ""Is safely hidden. "" ""As am I."" "What we stole?" "Ignazio?" "I've left your things in the bathroom." "Try these." "Whose are they?" "A friend's." "Does he live here?" "Sometimes." "Sometimes, huh?" "You're being rude." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I'm not like this." "You kind of are." "I found this in my old jacket." "It's a bio tube." "They're used to transport dangerous substances." "What are you doing with it?" "I have no idea." "It's a high-end unit." "Government issue." "It's got thumbprint recognition:" "Security in case it's lost or stolen." "Tubes like this can only be opened by a specified individual." "Well, it sure as hell isn't me." " Then why do you have it?" " I don't know." "I'm getting the number for the consulate." "No, please." "Wait." "I have waited." "This isn't right." "Why do you have it?" "Where did you get it?" "There is a simple way to find out if this thing belongs to me." "Either my thumb will open it, or it won't." "Open it?" "Are you insane?" "If it's a viral agent, will it be released if I open it?" "No." "No, there'd be an inner sleeve." "Maybe even two." "Before I put myself in anyone's hands, I wanna know what this thing is and what I'm involved with." "That makes sense, doesn't it?" "Yes." "So we agree we're opening it." "Well, that explains it." "It is mine." "This is a cylinder seal made of ivory." "No." "It's bone." "Human." "Three-headed, man-eating Satan." "A common image from the Middle Ages." "Associated with the Black Plague." "The three gnashing mouths are symbolic of how effectively the plague ate through the population." "Yet you can't remember the word for coffee." "Explains my visions." "Sort of." "You hear that?" "This could be a Faraday pointer." "So why this?" "It's Botticelli." "It's his Map of Hell." "He painted it as an illustration of Dante's Inferno." "I studied Dante when I was younger." "Probably in kindergarten." "I was a bit obsessed." "Dante defined our modern conception of hell." "Our vision of it hasn't changed since he defined it 700 years ago." "Botticelli drew it but Dante created hell as we know it." "This is what I have been seeing." "Torment." "Sinners." "Branded with letters." "Liars covered with rashes." "Soothsayers with their heads ripped backwards." " Serpents." " The punishment for thievery." "Suffer, sinners." "Pay for your sins." "So you have no idea why you have this." "I think maybe we call the consulate now." "Right." "Professor Langdon?" "Hello, yes." "Speaking." "Thank heavens you're alive." "We've been looking for you." "You have?" "Are you still in possession?" "Mr. Langdon, do you have the tube?" " Yes." " Where are you located?" "Professor, we can't help you if we can't find you." "That's the consulate." "Now, how did they know?" "Because they know." "What do we do?" "Tell them you're over there." " Hello?" " Professor, we were cut off." "Yes, sorry." "Where are you located?" "I am at a hotel." "Pensione La Fiorentina." "Stay in your room." "We're sending someone now." "Well, I'll wait here." "Room 39." "Okay." "We wait and see who they send." "Langdon accessed his e-mail account from an unmasked IP address here in Florence." " When?" " Seven minutes ago." "Via Dolorosa, number 12." "Apartment 3C." "Via Dolorosa." "How long?" "Twelve minutes." "Go!" "I want that pointer back!" "And I want Langdon." "Whatever it takes." "Let's get him." "Go, go, go." "Now!" "Look at this." "This is odd." "This area here." "This is Dante's eighth level of hell." "It's called the Malebolge." "It means evil ditches." "There's ten of them." "This letter "R," here is not in the original painting." "It's been added." "Here's another one." " Where?" " An "E."" " On seducers whipped by demons." " Here's a "C" on the cheek of a" "A grafter." "A con man trapped in a river of boiling tar." " "V." "R."" " There." " "T."" " There. "A."" "What is that?" "I think that's text." "Is that in English?" ""The truth can be glimpsed only through the eyes of death." "Zobrist. "" ""Bertrand Zobrist American billionaire. " That must be nice." ""Bioengineer notorious for radical views. "" "Here he is." "It took the Earth's population 100,000 years to reach a billion people." "And then just a hundred more to reach two billion." "And only 50 years to double again to four billion people in 1970." "We're nearly at eight billion now." "Bartlett gives the example of a beaker." "With a single bacterium in it, one that divides and doubles every minute." "If you place the first bacterium into the beaker at 11:00 and it's completely full by 12 at what time is the beaker still only half full?" "11:59." "That's what time it is for us." "In 40 years, 32 billion people will fight to survive." "They'll fail." "We're a minute to midnight." "Every single global ill that plagues the Earth can be traced back to human overpopulation." "But serious birth control measures, they don't stand a chance." ""Outrageous!" "Violation of my rights!"" ""Invasion of my privacy!" "Don't tell me what to do!"" "And still, we keep attacking our own environment." "There have been five major extinctions in the Earth's history and unless we take bold, immediate action the sixth extinction will be our own." "We're a minute to midnight." " Looks like he's got a lot of followers." " Yeah, from all over the world." "He is compelling." ""A two-year disappearance during which some authorities feared Zobrist may have designed an opportunistic viral pathogen. "" "He created a plague." "But why Dante?" "Why this map of hell?" "Is this supposed to be a puzzle or a challenge?" "Or a suicide note." "He killed himself three days ago." "The levels." "The levels are out of order." "That's what's been bothering me." "The circles of hell have been rearranged." "It's the same woman from the hospital." "We can't stay here." "And we certainly can't trust the consulate." "Flatterers adrift in excrement." "That's not right." "If a plague exists, do you know how many governments would want it?" "Clerical profiteers." "Not there." " And what they'd do to get it?" " Sowers of discord there?" "No." "A biological weapon?" "The letters." "He has assigned a letter to each sin and then changed their order." "He's made an anagram." "Yes!" "Anagram!" "Let's go." " I know another way out." " E, C, R." "If you have a phone, best leave it here." "They might track it." "Phone?" "I'm not even wearing my own clothes." "Good." "Let's go." "Robert Langdon." "World Health Organization." "V, R, O..." "Gotta rearrange these letters." "Over, code, covered, cat." "I used to be good at this." "Cerca trova." "It's Italian." "It means "seek and find. "" ""Cerca trova"?" "Yes!" "I know why I am in Florence." "The World Health Organization has landed." "Stand by." "Be advised:" "Agent Bouchard from the Paris office is already here." " W.H.O. Bring me up to speed." " Bouchard is up there now." "Where are we going?" "The Palazzo Vecchio." "Near the Boboli Gardens." "There's no sign of them." "Bouchard says Langdon is gone and so is the pointer." "Well, I need better." "I need better from you, from you, from all of us." "Better!" "Work faster." "Work smarter." "Don't trust anyone!" "Let's do that." " Yes, ma'am." "Let's travel." " Yes." "We may be compromised." "Tell her people nothing." "Understood?" "Identification?" "Vayentha." "Go ahead." "I need to speak to the provost." "Hold on." " transfer of £400,000 to Zurich account number 0883011." "So the W.H.O. beat you to Mr. Langdon, Vayentha." "Provost isn't going to like that." "I know him." "He's going to want to liquidate." "Tell him this isn't Berlin." "He tries anything and I will find him." "Try to reacquire and make contact in 60 minutes." "Did you hear me?" "I am not disposable." "Vayentha, get the Faraday pointer before the government does." "Shit." "Mr. Sims." "There's been a deviation." "Sorry to hear that." "What operation?" "Florence." "Our new player seems to have gone off-script." "How unprofessional." "And now the W.H.O. has overtaken our position." "Tell Vayentha if she values her position, she will remove Langdon." "Body not found." "Better yet, a mugging gone awry." "A blade, I think." "Cash gone, wallet remains." "Let's have a quick identification and move on." "Move on." "Move on." "Professor Langdon is out of frame." "And in possession of the tube?" "Yes." "He has the Faraday pointer." "It was such a good frame." "What is Vayentha's condition?" "Intact, but anxious." "She should be." "What in God's name has this client gotten us into?" "No, no, no." "It is rhetorical." "When are we due to receive the client's video?" "It just arrived." "His instructions are to upload it in 24 hours." "I want to look at it now." "But the client, Mr. Zobrist" "The client is dead." "I want to see the video." "That's a violation of our protocols." "We are not the government." "We get things done." "Mr. Arbogast chief among the attributes that makes us so very good at our job is that, as far as the world is concerned, we don't exist." "If this video implicates or even mentions us in any way I want to stop its release for the benefit of all our clients." "You asked me to avoid abnormalities in procedure, that's all." "What about Mr. Zobrist has ever remotely resembled normal?" " Well, I" " Also rhetorical." "Bring me the video." "In the Palazzo's Hall of Five Hundred, there's a famous mural:" "Giorgio Vasari's Battle of Marciano." "Near the top of the mural is a coded message." "It's one of the art world's most famous puzzles." "And what's the message?" "Cerca trova." "Seek and find." "And at the hospital, when I kept saying I was sorry" " Very sorry." "Over and over." " Maybe that's not what I meant." "The name of the artist, Vasari." "I could have been saying "Vasari. "" "That's good." "You seem clearer." "Yeah." "I am." "What's your middle name?" "Well, I am." "I am." "Zobrist is dead, but if his plague is real then this map, it's a trail he has left so someone can find it." "Who?" "Well, someone who believes the same as he does." "And that's why you have it?" " I don't remember ever meeting Zobrist." " There's a lot you don't remember." "Maybe they..." "Maybe they came to you." "Wanted your help with the path." " Because I lecture on Dante?" " Exactly." "They'd show you this Faraday pointer, try to convince you of their cause." " Mass murder?" " You said you found him compelling." "His argument, his rhetoric, not this plan." "Zobrist is a psychopath." "Well, maybe they tricked you." "Sent someone you knew." "It's a minute to midnight." " Is that for us?" " Logic would suggest." "Damn it!" "Here, come on." "Follow me." "We can get there through the garden." "Okay, the Palazzo Vecchio is this way." "We just flagged a car charged to her credit card within the past hour." "Antoine, did you speak to the police?" "Someone saw them running in the park." "Tell the local police that the W.H.O. needs their full cooperation." "Airspace over Boboli Gardens is under W.H.O. command." "Send in the canine units." "I'm from Uffizi Station." "Commander is sending reinforcements." "Get more officers in there now." "Command one to dispatch." "Suspects in sight." "Dammit!" "Delta, check the stairs to the north." "There's a small gray door down here." "It'll take us through to the Vasari Corridor, right across the Ponte Vecchio into the Palazzo." "That's the door." "See?" "Now!" "Grotto sector clear." "Is the garden completely walled?" "On all sides." "The only exits are through the Palazzo Pitti on the north side and through the visitors' gates on the east and the west sides." "No other way out?" "I suppose if you count the Vasari Gate." "But it's ancient." "No one knows about it." "Langdon does." "Double back and take position over Vasari Corridor." "I repeat:" "Vasari Corridor." "The professor has become a liability, Vayentha." "The provost has issued a kill order." "Eliminate Langdon." "Fail and you will be held accountable." "Am I making myself clear?" "Copy that, sir." "There." "That's the Vasari fresco." "The Battle of Marciano." "There." "There." "Look, look, look." "Okay, see the two farmhouses?" "Dead center, up high." "Come down to its four o'clock, and you'll see a small green flag." " "Cerca trova. "" " Yeah." ""Seek and find. "" "Seek and find." "We sought it and we found it." "So now what?" "The words Zobrist added to the painting:" ""The truth can be glimpsed only through the eyes of death. "" "Eyes of death..." "Whose eyes?" "Was I given an injection?" "When?" "At the hospital, with a hypodermic?" "No." "You were intubated." "Anything you got came through the IV." "Not at the hospital." "I was fully dressed." "I was in the back of some car at some point in the last two days." "And something was injected into my bloodstream and now I'm showing signs of an illness." "What if...?" "What if what?" "Sienna, what if I'm the carrier?" "Look if you've got it, then I've got it, too and everyone we've come into contact with has it and will likely die." "But if you don't if they gave you a narcotic or an hallucinogen or anything else then we still have a chance to save half the world." "It's worth a try, isn't it?" "Professor." "It is you." "You're back so soon." "I have no idea who this woman is." "I almost didn't recognize you in that suit." "You've been shopping?" "Professor, you bumped your head?" "In the shower, yes." "Yes." "It was quite a tumble." "I'm sorry, this is Sienna, my niece." "You're in Italy, professor." "You don't have to say "niece. "" " No, it's not" " No, he's not" "Marta Alvarez." "Pleasure to meet you." "Is Ignazio with you again?" "Ignazio?" "Ignazio couldn't make it this morning." "I'm sorry to bother you, Marta but I can imagine you know why I'm back again." "Really?" "Of all the treasures in the Palazzo." "He and il Duomino spent almost an hour with it up there last night." "It's so morbid." "No." "No." "It's cool." "All right." "Come on, I'm headed up that way." "He's an extremely resourceful man." "I was told you were as well, Mr. Bouchard." "So tell me:" " What do you think he's doing?" " What do you think you are doing?" "I brought you the pointer, and now it's gone." "You have a leak." "We lose him in the street, reacquire him at the doctor's apartment" "I can handle boots on the ground." "We don't need your help." "What if he's injured?" "A head wound?" "What, you think he's confused?" "Doesn't know what he's doing?" "It's possible." "How far did he get that night, before he disappeared?" "To the Hall of Five Hundred." "So let's stop chasing him." "Anticipate him instead." "Not so fast." "Please." "I'm about to burst." "It's such a romantic date he takes you on, to see a death mask." "They were common practice in the 1500s." "It's essentially just a plaster cast of someone's face made a few moments after that person dies." ""Through the eyes of death. "" "Whose face was used for this mask?" "The poet, Dante." "It is a romantic story, I suppose." "Dante loved Florence." "He was prominent and powerful but the political winds changed and he was exiled." "They threatened to burn him at the stake if he ever returned." "Actually, some people say Dante's exile is the reason his death mask looks so sad." "No." "No, it was because of Beatrice." "Dante only knew her from afar, but he was obsessed with her his entire life." "Your niece is a romantic, professor." "They say Dante wrote Inferno about his journey out of hell to reach her." "But he never made it." "She married someone else." "That happens." "Does it?" "Who left who?" "Things fall apart if you don't look after them." "Oh, we ask that you stay behind the stanchions, please." "Thank you." "Good timing, professor." "We've only just opened." "Marta." " There." "That's us." " Let it play from here." "That's Ignazio Busoni." "I've known him for years." "He's the Dante scholar." "The mask's owner insists on the stanchions to keep people back." "He doesn't even permit staff to open the case without him present." "So the mask is not owned by the museum?" "No." "A private collector bought it from us and allows us to display it in perpetuity." "It's common practice to raise funds." "Who is the collector?" "Bertrand Zobrist." "The billionaire." "His ideas were quite eccentric, but still, it's such a shame what happened." "That's where I got the call." "Professor, I don't know what to say." "I'm appalled." "Professor Langdon." "Look, there's an explanation for all of this." "It's the carabinieri." "They're setting off the metal detectors." "Who are the others?" "Government agents." "We have an intrusion." "I'll be right back." "Marta, stay in this room." "We'll be right outside." "They can't bring loaded weapons in here." " Professor, I very much respect you..." " Marta." " ... but I do not understand..." " Please." " ... why you have done this." " Please sit down." " I'm going to explain this to you." " This is not okay." "I do not know where that mask is." "But I will do everything I can to find it and return it to you." "What are you doing?" "!" "Professor, please!" "Professor, come back here!" "You can't do that!" "Professor, please don't." " Professor!" " Just don't follow us." "Please!" "Don't do this." "Professor!" "Parker." "Let's just calmly find a way out of here." "Why didn't you tell me about Ignazio?" "Would you have helped me if you knew I was a thief?" " You lied to me when you asked my help." " Well, technically, I withheld." " If I really took that mask" " You did take the mask." "I just saw you." "This is not your problem." "You don't have to stay." "Of course I do." "Human lives are at stake." "I just want to know that I'm on the right side." "You are." "I swear." "Good." "Then let's find what we're looking for." "Call this Ignazio and ask him where he hid the mask." "Ignazio's disappeared." "Gone into hiding." "He said they were chasing him, too, but he left a clue." "An e-mail. "Paradise Twenty-five. "" "That's a reference to Dante's Divine Comedy, Canto XXV." "But I need a copy of the book." "Copy of the book?" "That's quaint." "I use Google." "They're closing down the museum." "Only the main exit's gonna be open." "Well, then we will go through Armenia." "Please move in an orderly fashion through the main gate." "All exit doors are now sealed." "This is the only way in or out." "What about hidden exits?" "Tunnels?" "Concealed doorways?" "It's a 700-year-old palazzo, signore." "There are a number of them." "Show me." "Armenia." "Professor." "How worldly." ""Secrets of the Palazzo Invisible. "" "It's a great tour, you should take it some time." "We should be safe here for a minute." "Go." ""By then with other voice, with other fleece I shall return as poet and put on at my baptismal font, the laurel crown. "" "Baptismal font." "ll Duomo." "The cathedral where Dante was baptized." "That's where Ignazio works." "It's where he hid the mask." "This area's clear!" "They're gonna think we're headed down to the exit." "Then we go up." "All right." "We're right above the Hall of Five Hundred." "There's a stairway leading down to the street on the other side." "So one step at a time, huh?" "Okay." "You afraid of heights?" "A little." "I'm uncomfortable in tight spaces." "So don't look down." "Or do." "I can never remember which." "Yeah, yeah." "It's not that hard." "Come on." "Good." "Sienna!" " Are you all right?" " Yeah." "You okay?" "All right, just crawl along that beam there and I'll meet you on the far side, by the ladder." "Sir." "Give me six men stationed here." "Safeties off." "You're being stupid now, Professor Langdon." "Go, go." "Get out of here." "Go!" "They needed you, but now they've changed their minds." "Get these people out!" "Everyone out!" "Clear the room!" "Give me that." "These doors." "Here." "Eastern side." "That's where they're headed." "Go, move!" "Quick!" "Bouchard?" "Agent Bouchard, come in." "What is your location?" "Agent Bouchard, come in." "That same word is on the envelope the video arrived in." "Along with the date." "That date is tomorrow." "Well, thank you." "That was not lost on me." "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who refuse to act in time of crisis." "Dante's hell isn't fiction anymore." "It's prophecy." "We have created our own hell on Earth." "Oh, my." "The warnings have been obvious, the solutions ignored." "So I took action." "If you're watching this it means the Inferno virus was released last night at midnight and is now being carried to every corner of the Earth." "Oh, my." "Within six days of its release the virus will replicate itself in every man, woman and child on Earth." "Expect the current..." "The current population to be culled by half." "The survivors will witness horrors unknown to this planet." "But I want them to know why." "That this was our doing." "And this is our salvation." "Now is the time." "Today is" "There's more." "I believe I've got the gist." "It appears our organization has spent the last several years in the employ of a madman who now intends to commit a mass murder using a deadly plague of his own creation at some point in the next 24- Sorry." "Less than 12 hours." "So let's do our level best not to fuck things up any worse than we already have, shall we?" "Without the Faraday pointer, no one can find the virus." "Where's Professor Langdon now?" "He was with Dr. Brooks in the Boboli Gardens, but we seem to have lost visual." "And I'm afraid we've had no contact from Vayentha." "I see." "I'm going to Florence myself." "Test her for signs of contagion and quarantine this place." "If we don't find Langdon very soon we're going to be looking at a great many more dead bodies." "Are you all right?" "It's weakness." "Just weakness, goddamn it." "We'll just take a moment." "Did you see her down there?" "Yes." "Everything I've done, every bit of work and study since I was 11 was to stop death, not cause it." "It was self-defense." "That woman was trying to kill us." "I don't know if I can finish this." "I understand if you can't." "Look, Zobrist is the murderer, not you." "You saved me." "You don't have to take another step." "No, you're right." "I did what was necessary, and I'll do it again if I need to." "I pray that you don't." "Looks like it's closed for repairs." "Okay, this way." "There." "The baptismal font." "Dante again." "Always Dante." "Why Dante?" "Acrylic gesso." " What, you mean paint?" " Water-soluble paint." "Smells like a wet dog." "Look at that." "There's writing." ""Seek the treacherous doge of Venice who severed the heads from horses. "" "Venice." "Where Dante was infected with the disease that killed him." ""Kneel within the gilded museum of holy wisdom and listen for the sounds of trickling water." "Deep into the sunken palace where the chthonic monster waits. "" "The plague itself." "Underwater." ""Submerged in the blood-red waters of the lagoon that reflects no stars. "" "Professor." "Could you please tell me what the hell you're doing?" " Why haven't you called in?" " Who are you?" "Christoph Bouchard." "From the World Health Organization." " We've met." " We've met?" "You really don't remember?" "It was just two days ago." "He's suffering the effects of a head wound." "He can't remember the events of the last 48 hours." "I'm the one who flew to Cambridge and asked for your help." "I gave you the pointer to decode." " Professor Langdon?" " Yes?" "Okay, yeah." "Yeah." "I remember." "Who are you?" "I was the ER doctor at the hospital when the professor came in." "What is the last thing you remember?" "I was on the street." "I think it was here." "I was with a woman." " And I was given an injection." " Elizabeth Sinskey." "Elizabeth?" "From the World Health Organization." "Do you know her?" "I do." "But I haven't seen Elizabeth in years." " She's the reason I followed you alone." " What do you mean?" "I believe Dr. Sinskey's working with a foreign government to find and sell the virus." "No, no, no." "That's not possible." "People change, professor." "I've been chasing Bertrand Zobrist for two years and someone has been working against me." "Let's get to the point." "Do you know where the virus is?" "I assume you have some sort of credentials." "Call the W.H.O. if you like." "Check me out." "But do it quickly." "Venice." "We think it's Venice." "Good." "It's two hours by train." "Come on." "If I could find you, so can the others." "I'm buying you both plane tickets to Geneva." "No, not Geneva, he said Venice." "I heard that." "Excuse us." "Please watch yourselves." "Step back, please." "Excuse us." "Excuse us." "Watch yourselves, please." "This is the plane to Geneva?" "Yes, but we just closed the doors." "Keep the plane at the gate." "We need to check every passenger." "That will be a waste of time." "And we have very little of that." "Three days ago, after two years of searching, I found Zobrist." "He killed himself, but we took a package from his pocket." "And what was in it?" "The Faraday pointer with the Map of Hell." "A puzzle." "Specifically designed for his follower to solve." "We brought it to you." "And we were in the process of decoding it when you were kidnapped." "Professor Langdon." "You were with Dr. Sinskey at the time." "Elizabeth, yes." "Did she tell you about any third-party interest in the virus?" "I don't remember." "Did she have financial problems?" "I don't know." " Did she carry more than one cell phone?" " I don't know." " Think!" " He doesn't remember." "Millions of people will die, professor." "I don't have time for this bullshit." ""I don't know, I don't remember. "" "Stop." "You're not helping him." ""The gilded museum," is that Saint Mark's?" "All of Venice is a museum." "Saint Mark's has the Horses of Constantinople." "They're bronze statues." "Can I see that?" "I wouldn't touch it." "I wasn't planning on it." "Professor?" "Professor Langdon?" "Professor Langdon?" "Professor Langdon." "Yes?" "Hello, Robert." "Elizabeth." "It's been a long time." "Too long." "What brings you here?" "The W.H.O. needs your help." "My help?" "I hope you still remember your Dante." "What just happened?" "Are you all right?" "Could you get some water?" "He could be dehydrated." "Some food." "Maybe some fruit, or something from the machine?" " Quickly." " Sure." "Thank you." " Is he lying?" " Through his teeth." "He was not the one that came to Cambridge to see me." "Bouchard, I need help." "Quickly." "I think he's collapsed." "He's in there." "I can't open the door." "Langdon." "Are you okay?" " Toilet occupied." " Langdon, are you okay?" "Come on, let's go!" "You're telling me that, for two years you and your organization have been working against me?" "That is correct." "To shield Bertrand Zobrist and his research?" "To hide him, to protect him?" "Regrettably, yes." "And that all of my attempts to prevent him from initiating a worldwide pandemic have failed because of you?" "Incisive sum-up, yes." "Now you have the temerity to ask that I simply decide to trust you?" "I'm terribly sorry." "I didn't see any other way." "Who, exactly, does your group work for?" "Our clients, of course." "We are a private security firm." "A very successful one." "May I ask the gentleman who was with you, Agent Bouchard where is he now?" "We don't know." "We lost track of him." "Then the situation is worse than you think." "There's only one reason he would move out of pocket." "He wants Mr. Langdon to himself." "Why?" "To find the virus and sell it to the highest bidder, I assume." "Leverage, blackmail." "You know, the usual shit." "I don't think we have anything further to discuss, Mr. Sims." "And I have less than eight hours to find this pathogen." "Excuse me." "From what I understand, you knew the professor some time ago." "Personally." "You care about him." "You would even ally with an unscrupulous character such as myself to protect him." "Wouldn't you?" "My organization has the resources to find your professor." "If you wanted to start a plague, this is where you'd do it." "Yeah." "20 million people a year come here from every corner of the globe." "During the Black Death the Venetians made all the ships anchor in the harbor for 40 days before they would allow the crews into the city." "Making sure that they were not carrying the plague." "The word "quarantine" comes from the Italian "quaranta. " Forty." "It's nice to have you back, professor." "There." "The horses." "These are recreations." "The originals are in a museum for preservation." "We should be quick." "Bouchard knows we're coming here." "Ask that guide if the heads have ever been severed from these horses." "According to the tale, during the Crusades the horses were looted from Constantinople." "But they were too large to be loaded on board the ships." "So their heads were removed and then reattached." "By whom?" " Enrico Dandolo." " The doge who lived forever." "Of course, Enrico Dandolo." "Dandolo tricked the Venetians into the Crusades." "He was supposed to sail his ships to Egypt but he sacked Constantinople instead." "I'm sorry." "Of course." ""The gilded museum of holy wisdom. "" "Are we in the wrong basilica?" "We're in the wrong country." "Dandolo ruled Venice, but he was not buried here." " So where was he buried?" " Hagia Sophia." " Istanbul." " Istanbul." "There's always a way out." "Here, here." "Let's see if we can get that open." "I'll give you a hand." "I got your foot." "Can you get it?" "Is there someone there?" " A hundred Euro." " Here." "I got it." "What are you doing?" "You called him a murderer." "A psychopath." "What?" "But history will call us saviors." "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "I'm not afraid to act, Robert." "But doing nothing terrifies me." "The path and the pointer, he left that all for you." "Zobrist." "You knew him?" ""Knew him"?" "I loved him." "You're wearing his suit." "No." "Sienna, no." "Thank you, Robert." "Thank you for everything." "No!" "No!" "Sienna, no!" "Sienna!" "No, Sienna!" "Sienna, no!" "Slow down, slow down." "You're too fast." "Oh, come on." "Come on." " This took me three days!" " Too easy!" "I love it." "Everything before you was just an idea." "Now it's real." "Love awakens the soul to act." "That's not fair." "Quoting Dante to me." "But it's "beauty" not "love. "" "What?" "It's a minute to midnight." "That's sooner than I expected." "Where are we going?" "I see." "We planned it together." "We designed it together." "But this part belongs only to you." "It's just safer if you don't know where." "What if they find you first?" "What then?" "If you want to know you're not alone you gotta start by trusting me." "And unless we take bold, immediate action the sixth extinction will be our own." "You were right." "I'm gonna make you another path." "Inferno will be at the end." "If something should happen to me, the first clue will be delivered to you." "I know you'll do what must be done." "Seek and find." "You're not alone." "So a beautiful young woman went for the bad guy." "That happens." "You look disappointed." "I'll give you a minute." "Elizabeth is not the one who wants the virus to sell." "You are." "You've been used." "Elaborate schemes created by people to get you to do what they want." "But me?" "I'm very direct." "And this is a moment of great opportunity for me." "So where is the virus?" "Come on, professor." "How much life is there in the world?" "How much more is fighting to be born?" "Nothing wrong with thinning the herd once in a while." "It's healthy." "I've seen many acts of God:" "Famine, typhoons, cholera." "And you know what?" "Sometimes, it hits the right people." " That's inhuman." " Humanity is inhuman." "Life may be cheap." "But a means to end it on a mass scale?" "No one ever stops paying for that." "I'm going to ask you for the last" "Terribly sorry." "Didn't see any other way." "Must do this quickly." "The less blood, the better." "Who are you?" "A facilitator." "Among other things, my company creates illusions." "You never had a real head wound." "But I lost my memory." "Chemically induced." "We gave you an injection of benzodiazepines." "Sorry." "They can produce a skin rash." "Should fade in a day or so." "All of this was a fake?" "I prefer "created reality. "" "My agents kidnapped you and cleared your memory so we could create a fresh scenario whereby you would be invested in the idea of helping us." "A small incision was made in your scalp to give the impression of a bullet graze." "There are no locks on hospital doors." "Exactly." "Highest marks." "What about the policewoman who shot the doctor in the hospital?" "Also with me." "Her gun fired blanks." "And there were squibs in the door." "The doctor was an agent wearing a blood packet." "The taxi driver at the hospital was working for us as well." "In the Palazzo Vecchio, she tried to kill me." "With real bullets." "At my behest." "When things had appeared to go tits up, I tried to sweep it all away quickly." "By killing me?" "Oh, I apologize unreservedly, Mr. Langdon." "I did lose an experienced agent." "There's a great deal of situational ebb and flow in my line of work." "Look, here we both are now." "I know I behaved terribly." "But a puzzle needed solving." "Who better to solve it than you?" "Glance away, will you?" "Not my best work." "But it'll do for the Italians." "Zobrist had followers everywhere, but Sienna Brooks came to me for help." "Or so I thought." "She came to us with serious concerns shortly after Zobrist died." "Somehow, she knew Zobrist had hired us." "She said he was doing biological work that could be lethal in the wrong hands." "She didn't mention a plague." "But we heard enough to be alarmed." "So we agreed to work with her to find Zobrist's project." "And when Dr. Sinskey brought you in, we saw an opportunity." " It was Elizabeth who came to see me." " Yes." "Dr. Sinskey got the Faraday pointer from Agent Bouchard." "She brought it to you to decode." "And she even secured it with your thumbprint." "That left us with no choice." "So we took you from her on the street." "The hospital scenario encouraged you to trust Dr. Brooks." "And your call to the consulate was answered by our man." "Professor Langdon?" "Thank heavens you're alive." "We've been looking for you." "Are you still in possession?" "You had the pointer and we had you." "It was all working seamlessly until Miss Brooks stole you away." "To make sure the virus is released." "It appears." "Young people are disappointing." "I find they become tolerable around 35." "You mentioned Dr. Sinskey." "I've been so worried." " Are you all right?" " I'm fine." " Are you?" " I'm okay." "I'm all right." "Thank God." " Do you know where the virus is?" " Istanbul." "Now is the time." "Today is our rebirth." "Inferno is salvation." "I am so sorry I brought you into this, Robert, after all these years." "No." "I'm glad you did." "I met him, you know." "Zobrist." "Two years ago." "He asked for my help." "He wanted the W.H.O. to endorse mass sterilization in drinking water and staple foods." "So I threw him out of my office, put him on a watch list but he disappeared and I suppose that's when Zobrist hired Sims." "I should probably have had" " Yeah." "I don't know." "What?" "You have always blamed yourself for things that weren't your fault." "Still very sweet." "Here." "The doorway." "I wish it would've happened differently back then." "We didn't look after it." "It fell apart." "Is that a regret?" "Only when I think about it." "The most interesting things happen in doorways." "At the borders, right along the edges." "Ancient fishermen learned to sail where the warm water met the cold." "The little fish would reach the edge of the warm water and they'd stop and the big fish would come out of the cold water and they'd eat them." "And the fishermen, well, they caught everybody." "Doorways." "Not one particle of you has changed, Robert." "You talk too much." "And then not at all." "Elizabeth." "I couldn't ask you not to go to Geneva." "Couldn't." "I didn't want to ask you to leave Cambridge." "Is that how it happened?" "I don't trust my memory anymore." "I never forget anything." "Well, that's a gift." "No." "It isn't." "Leave him alone!" "What are you doing?" "Where are you-?" "Leave him alone!" "Turn around!" "Don't look at me, bitch." "Look away." "Stop it!" "Don't look!" "Robert!" "Thanks." "I'm a friend of the poet." "For what did Zobrist die?" "That others may live." "I've come very far to make sure nothing interferes." "The delivery system we designed will discharge the viral agent by midnight tonight." "But there are others who are on their way to stop it." "I need to find it before they do and trigger an explosion to ensure its release." "How do we help?" "During the Plague of Justinian 5000 people died every day in the streets of Istanbul." "The border between East and West, another doorway." "Which is why he chose it." "If the bag's intact, we can contain it." "But if someone ruptures it before we get there 95 percent of the Earth's population will be infected in four to seven days." "Professor." "Doctor." "My name is Mirsat, I am the curator here." "Have you completely evacuated the building?" "Well, to the extent that we can, but the place is massive." "Could you tell me specifically what it is you're looking for?" "The tomb of Enrico Dandolo." "Of course." "This way." ""Kneel within the gilded museum of holy wisdom." "Listen for the sounds of trickling water." "Follow deep into the sunken palace. "" " I hear water flowing under these stones." " Where does it go?" "It's just drainage." "It goes to the city cistern." "We are looking for a large underground space perhaps with columns, artificially lit from within." "That's it." "The ancient cistern." "Sixth century." "Well, some call it "The Sunken Palace. "" "Take us there." "His words can only mean one thing:" ""The Sunken Palace. "" "Once we descend, you'll see exactly what he described." "How do I use it?" "There's a cap in the putty of each brick." "The device also has a detonation button." "A call from this cell phone will trigger the explosion." "And that's enough to break the bag?" "The walls are cement, all around." "You need both bombs, different angles, as far apart as you can." "That will break the bag." "History says that the Black Plague caused misery and death." "But what they don't tell us is that it also produced a leaner population and gave birth to the Renaissance." "And we are rushing as fast as we can into the seventh circle of hell." "The suicidal and the profligate." "Why is suffering later preferable to suffering now?" "What if we embrace it?" "I mean, maybe pain can save us." "You're getting this, aren't you?" "I can see that you are." "I mean, I need to know that I'm not alone." "Too many damned people." "He's chosen well." "I need schematics of all conduits in and out of the cistern." "Full isolation and containment protocols." "Physical and chemical barriers along- Wait!" " This is the city's water supply?" " Well, not anymore." "We've modernized." " But there is water in there?" " Yes, it eventually filters into the earth." " But why are all these people here?" " It's a tourist attraction." "The acoustics are excellent." "Tonight is the summer solstice concert." "Very popular." "People come from all over the world to hear it." "He created a bioaerosol." "So it will spread in the air." " Empty the place." " No!" "Contain it." "Jam all communications down there." "No messages get in or out." "Got it." "Shall we go in?" "Robert, you don't have to go in there with us." "Yes, I do." ""Blood-red waters of the lagoon that reflects no stars. "" "My God, this is a labyrinth!" "How many sections?" "There are dozens, professor." "Dozens." "Let's find it." "Check every section." "Every column." "Check them all." "Spread out." "Cut off cell phone service now!" " No communication." " Yes, sir." "Who's our U.S. contact over here?" "I need some help." " Here, this way." "Medusa." " The Greek spirit?" "Why?" "Belongs to a specific category of Greek spirits." "The chthonic monsters." " This is it?" " Yes." "The color, the columns, exactly what we saw in the video." "This is the area, so spread out." "Check pillars." " I'll take the wall line." " The corners." "Under the walkway." "If you find anything, report to me immediately." "The bag is here somewhere." "Seconds matter." "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "What's going on?" "Sir, I need you to step aside." "Step aside!" "Everyone!" "Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm." "I got it!" "It's here!" "In this far corner!" "Don't!" " HAZMAT guys aren't set yet." " Can't wait." "Quickly!" "This could break any moment." "Sienna!" "Sienna!" "Does this cube nitrogen purge without glove access?" " It should." " It better." "Sienna!" "Sienna." "There are too many of us down here." "You won't get to that bag before we do." "No." "But I can make sure it breaks." "Come on, don't do this, Sienna, don't." "You'll be murdering innocents." "Yes, people will die, a lot of them, but the crisis will be averted." "It's what nature demands." "The problem won't just be slowed down, it'll be solved." "Permanently." "Killing billions to save lives?" "That's the logic of tyrants." " For a greater good, humanity" " Genius does not come with extra rights." "No, it comes with the responsibility to take action when others won't." "You wanna do something?" "Fine." "Then scream at the top of your lungs and invent and lead!" "If you love humanity, if you love this planet, you'd do anything to save it." "The greatest sins in human history have been committed in the name of love." "No one will look on this act and call it love." "They'll be alive." "What does it matter what they say about us?" "Hey, what are you doing?" "No!" "No." "Don't shoot the box!" "Robert, get clear!" "Are you all right?" "You all right?" "I'm fine." "Where's the box?" "Where's the box?" "It's contained." "No breach." "The virus is completely contained." "The virus is contained." " All medical units stand by." " We'll take it from here, Dr. Sinskey." "Target is contained and preparing for transport." "Containment confirmed." "I repeat, containment confirmed." "All right." "I'm on it." "She thought she was saving the world." "So did they all." "So, what happens now?" "We take it back to Geneva for taxonomy and isolation." "We have to generate a metagenome sequence first to get an idea of what we're dealing with." "There's a lot of work to be done." "And you?" "Cambridge?" "Yeah." "Dr. Sinskey?" "Life pulls us apart again." "Like Dante and Beatrice." "I have something for you." "I picked this up the night you were taken." "I seem to remember it was important to you." "Yes." "Yes, it is." "Do you ever think about what could happen with you and me?" "I do." "I guess life must have its mysteries, professor." "Even for us." " Do you speak English?" " Yes." "Have you seen Marta Alvarez of the museum staff?" "Marta isn't here just now." "She's had her baby." "She had her baby?" "Oh, that is great news." "Great news." "You might tell someone that the lights on the Dante mask should be turned on because I could barely see it." "I know, I'm sorry, sir, the Dante mask is no longer here." "It was stolen." "Really?" "I was just looking at it." "Excuse me."