Angels & Demons

In the city of Rome, the atmosphere is electric as the world awaits the election of a new Pope after the passing of the previous one. Bishop Aringarbo, Cerneri, Agalioris, and Lamassera, four highly respected cardinals, are missing. As the investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that their disappearance on the night of the papal conclave is anything but a coincidence. It's a development that threatens to disrupt the very foundation of the Catholic Church. Enter Robert Langdon, a renowned Harvard symbologist and expert in the fields of history and theology. Before the disappearance of these cardinals, Langdon had a history with the Catholic Church, having previously investigated the mysterious death of a scientist, Marco Vittoria at the Sistine Chapel, and been branded a heretic for his interpretation of ancient symbols. However, Langdon's services are soon solicited by the Vatican, not to investigate but to help understand the significance of a mysterious text left at every location where the cardinals vanished. The letters read 'SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) and beneath them an arrow – a code that, according to Langdon, points to the ruins of the tomb of Cicerio, a Roman statesman. Intrigued by this cryptic message, Robert accompanies the Vatican's chief cryptographer Vittoria Vetra (Marco Vittoria's daughter) to Rome, where they set out to unravel the mystery behind the Illuminati and their alleged resurgence. Their journey leads them to find the Roman church of San Peter, where they understand the motive behind the Illuminati's moves. You see, it all started with a symbol - M, representing ancient Roman mythology, not what the populace assumed - Maia. It serves as a reminder of the birth of the Mithraic deity, Mithras. According to legend, to save the Earth, the god had himself pierced with an arrow by his dog. Intrigued, Robert realizes that this association might have inspired the modern-day Illuminati. Meanwhile, Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, a scheming, power-hungry cardinal, has learned that the new Pope won't be someone of his liking. To create a new Pope through engineered desperation, he secretly executes the cardinals through the means of radioactive particles from Vittoria Vetra's lab with an intention to stop the creation of the new Pope. Robert and Vittoria confront a series of murder scenes and they quickly connect these dots to the mysterious Illuminati group. When the evidence leads them to a shocking discovery, Robert realizes that Vittoria's work has been employed to kill four cardinals and to take the attention off Carmelengo's claim to the papacy by putting in action the plot to create four Popes. Inside the Sistine Chapel, a complicated situation arises. Langdon and Vetra enter to foil a desperate plan, during which a 'Papal Election' could be skipped directly for selecting a new pope. However, Carmelengo, who was making these plans, was unexpectedly poisoned earlier. Ventresca intentionally killed the ill Camerlengo to pretend as him to escape suspicion of kidnapping. This situation forces Robert Langdon and Vittoria to turn their attentions to stopping the dangerous Illuminati, composed of powerful men with scientific and religious expertise, also thinking that having a new Pope soon means the end for them. As the stakes grow higher in the highly-charged high-stakes setting of Illuminati's ritual, the symbologist – driven by an idealism to stay true to his interpretation of symbols, once more - must confront a lethal but complex situation - a world threatening to end in calamity if order isn't restored and balance upheld. Ventresca finally assumes the role of the new Pope's caretaker and now only Robert Langdon & Vittoria stand firmly against the mysterious Illuminati Society eager for a collapse of the Vatican to control and to command, keeping alive the legacy that an alliance of symbologists and great scholars in history remain strong to foster that true unity in global harmony, following the final act after venting off the radioactive source of death, to save humanity from extinction by illuminating with reason, the story further unfolding strongly through the last page about that one "Man will never be free until the last chain, the last fetter & the last lies which have bound him in his ignorance."