Section Thirty

Vittoria knew that even if the Swiss Guards could filter electronic interference that they would not be able to detect the canister of antimatter. She also feared that not evacuating the city immediately could be a very bad thing that might not end well. Suddenly, Langdon jumped to his feet, he had an idea. He said that he needed access to the Vatican archives, that the answer to where the Hassassin is going to kill the four Cardinals could be in there. After much convincing, the Comerlegno hesitantly allowed Langdon access to the Vatican Archives.

On their way to the archives Langdon explained to Vittoria that they were looking for a little book that was written by Galileo. The book that they were looking for contained "il segno" which was a clue to finding the Church of Illumination, the secret meeting place of the Illuminati. The brotherhood of the Illuminati was so secret that they had to find a way to recruit members so that they could grow as a brotherhood. The Illuminati created a kind of map that would lead scientists to their secret hideaway. The map was a trail of symbolic markers across the city which were strategically placed to point the scientists on their way to the Church of Illumination. Each marker pointed to another, and finally to the hideaway. The Illuminati used the trail as a kind of test for anyone who wanted to join the brotherhood. They had to follow the "Path of Illumination" which was so well hidden in order to join. The path was a puzzle constructed so that only certain people would be able to understand and follow it. They used the path as a screening process to ensure that only the smartest scientists made it to the final land mark, the Church of Illumination. The Illuminati called upon one of their artists to carve four sculptures which camouflaged in with all the other religious art in the city of Rome. The sculputures also had to have specific themes, each with one of the four elements of science, earth, air, fire, and water. This was the one thing that allowed the scientists on their quest to know whether or not they had the right sculpures, and if they were on the Path to Illumination. The places where the sculptures were placed were known as the "Altars of Science" by the Illuminati. These four Altars of Science were where the four Cardinals were going to be killed. After Langdon had explained all of this to Vittoria, they were finally at the archives. A Swiss Guard had met them there in order to let them in. The Guard guided them into the building and then left them to look for the book.