Angels and Demons

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The Ring of the Fisherman,

which bears the official papal seal

must be destroyed immediately

following the pope's death.

The papal apartment is then sealed

for nine days of mourning,

a period known as sede vacante,

the time of the empty throne.

Over the last several days,

Catholic leaders from every corner

of the world have flocked to Rome,

shocked by the sudden death

of this progressive and beloved pope.

Today, in St. Peter's Square,

the faithful pray that there is among them

another leader who can unite their Church

which has been so riven by change

and dissent in recent years.

As the body of the pontiff passes by,

we see prayers are being offered

by the preferiti,

favorites among those being considered

to succeed him as the Vicar of Christ.

At the end of the mourning period,

the College of Cardinals

will lock itself behind the doors

of the Sistine Chapel for conclave,

the process by which

they will choose a new leader

for the world's one billion Catholics

who now find their Church at a crossroads,

its ancient traditions threatened

by a modern world.

Attention,

control group going online

for LHC beam event.

We are powering up.

Attention, Category One personnel.

Interlock areas are now restricted.

You pulled us off the power grid, Philippe.

Because you're scaring

the hell out of everyone.

The collider was never intended

to generate antimatter.

All three canisters are stored under

every possible safeguard.

I'm only asking you to wait.

We can't wait. The bulk of the antimatter

is generated at start-up.

Put us back online.

Do you want to call the director, or shall I?

ATLAS:

underground is now in restricted mode.

Vittoria, Vittoria.

Protons are being loaded.

Don't blow us all to heaven.

Please.

Powering on LHC magnets.

Ion source stage in four, three, two...

We are powering up. Here we go.

Start the collision sequence.

Vittoria, what did Philippe want?

They're terrified. He wants us to wait.

What do you think?

I think if we don't harvest now, we never will.

Beam-on-beam stability is good.

Take your places, people.

ATLAS at CMS, check.

Sending timing trigger now.

Collisions imminent.

We have got 10 to the 13th

protons per bunch.

Let's hope the heavy ion guys

didn't mess up.

MAN 2". Beams at relativistic velocities.

Luminosity monitors operational.

Beam line has no restrictions.

Enable beam capture.

Accelerating the beam.

Stage one, line up.

Magnets to full field.

Load functions

to separation magnets.

Last P is still too high.

Yeah,

we got luminosity up 10 to 34.

MAN 2". Inject particle beams.

Filling the LHC.

Collisions are active.

We should be back online.

Capture should begin at any moment.

MAN 2". Particles in transition.

Collisions are fixed and running.

LHC injecting protons, beam one.

Lock the feedback systems.

MAN 2". Particles at 99% the speed of light.

Colliding stable beams.

Enact injection kicker.

We have a signal

on the luminosity monitors.

We have events.

Protons are moving.

We have antimatter.

It's on a scale never seen before.

That's a crate of beer on the way.

Silvano, we've done it.

We're in God's hands now, Vittoria.

I'll be right down.

Silvano.

Silvano.

Oh, God.

Help!

A swim might help your jet lag.

I beg your pardon?

You got bags under your eyes.

It's 5:
00 in the morning.

And you're from the Vatican.

Crossed keys under the triregnum.

It's a papal symbol.

Claudio Vincenzi,

Corpo della Gendarmeria Vaticano.

Vatican police?

I was expecting another letter.

My request for access to your archives.

Shouldn't you be in Rome?

A kind of busy time for you guys, isn't it?

In fact, I was in New York, detailed to the UN.

I received a phone call

in the middle of the night.

"Find Professor Robert Langdon.

"A matter of great urgency."

They said to show you this.

The Illuminati?

They disappeared hundreds of years ago.

ROBERT". Did they? Look at that again.

It's an ambigram.

It's the same image forward and backward.

Now, that's common for a symbol,

like a yin and yang or a swastika,

but that's a word.

That Illuminati ambigramatic symbol

has been considered a myth for 400 years.

Supposedly, in the 16th century,

some artist created it as a tribute

to Galileo's love of symmetry.

It was only gonna be revealed

when the Illuminati

had amassed enough power

to resurface and carry out their final goal.

I wrote a book about it.

Which is why you're here.

The An' of the Illuminati by Robert Langdon.

Part One.

Haven't been able to finish Pan' Two

because I'm not allowed access

to your archives.

It's remarkable. Singular.

Someone is trying to make you believe

the Illuminati themselves

have returned to Rome.

Right after the death of a pope.

Four cardinals were kidnapped

from their quarters inside the Vatican

some time between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.

this morning.

Shortly afterward,

that document was sent

to the Office of the Swiss Guard

along with the threat

the cardinals will be publicly executed

one per hour,

beginning at 8:
00 p.m. tonight in Rome.

- Conclave.

- Was to begin today.

We've postponed its start

for a few hours, a story of illness.

There are no suspicions yet.

What do you want from me?

These criminals who sent this ambigram

meant it as a taunt, a provocation.

But Captain Olivetti think

if you can use it to learn their identity,

perhaps we can stop this abomination.

Why me?

Your expertise. Your erudition.

Your recent involvement with certain Church,

shall we say...

Mysteries.

I wasn't under the impression

that episode had endeared me to the Vatican.

Oh, it didn't.

But it did make you... What's the word?

Forma... Formida...

Formidable.

A Vatican jet is standing by

20 minutes from here.

Will you come with me?

Professor Langdon, you've spent your life

searching for symbols like the one

you now hold in your hand.

How much longer are we going to pretend

you have not already decided to come?

If the Illuminati have returned

and are in Rome,

we will hunt them down and kill them.

The Illuminati did not become violent

until the 17th century.

Their name means "the enlightened ones."

They were physicists

and mathematicians, astronomers.

They were concerned with

the Church's inaccurate teaching

and they were dedicated to scientific truth.

But the Vatican didn't like that.

So the Church began to...

How did you say it?

Oh, "Hunt them down and kill them."

Drove them underground.

Into a secret society.

- Professor Langdon.

- Yes.

Welcome to Vatican City.

Ernesto Olivetti, inspector general

of the Vatican police force.

- My pleasure.

- This way, please.

We'll meet in the headquarters

of the Swiss Guard.

I thought you were Swiss Guard.

No, la Gendarmeria.

We are responsible for everything

inside the Vatican walls

with the exception

of the security of His Holiness...

- Yeah.

- And the Apostolic Palace.

That is Swiss Guard.

The Roman Carabinieri are here

as well in an advisory capacity.

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