Lutece Labs

The Lutece Labs, or Laboratory Lutece, is the laboratory and home of Rosalind and Robert Lutece located in the Market District of Downtown Emporia, Columbia. One of the three Tears needed to reveal the truth about Lady Comstock and the Luteces is located here.
==History==
Rosalind Lutece is a quantum physicist who established the Lutece Labs as her home and place of business. The front of the building functions as a lobby and library, and the back as living quarters and lab.
Rosalind had the back of the building, specifically the lower laboratory area and upper bedroom, partially dismantled in order to create the massive Lutece Device: a machine capable of opening Tears into alternate realities. She had beforehand, through experimentation of her Lutece Field, discovered the existence of alternate universes and an alternate version of herself, Robert Lutece. By manipulation of a pair of quantum-entangled atoms, they were able to communicate with each other with Morse Code and construct this machine,Rosalind Lutece's Voxophone: Whispers Through the Walls after which Rosalind was able to open a Tear into Robert's reality and bring him through to her own.Rosalind Lutece's Voxophone: A WindowRosalind Lutece's Voxophone: One and the Same
The Luteces were ultimately "killed" at Comstock's orders by Jeremiah Fink, who sabotaged the Lutece Device contraption while they were using it, in exchange for all the Luteces' patents.Based on the exchange head from the Tear in the Bank of the Prophet. However, instead of actually killing them, the sabotage scattered the Luteces across space and time, rendering them practically immortal masters of trans-dimensional travel.Rosalind Lutece's Voxophone: A Theory on Our "Death"
==BioShock Infinite==
Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth follow Lady Comstock's ghostly footprints into the Lutece Labs to discover one of three Tears which help reveal the truth about what happened to her, along with the Luteces. Through the Tear, Lady Comstock is heard accusing Rosalind of having an affair with Comstock that resulted in Elizabeth's birth. Rosalind tries to tell Lady Comstock the truth: by revealing that Elizabeth was a "product of their little contraption." Lady Comstock, however, does not believe her and instead demands the child be taken out of her house. Elizabeth's hatred of Lady Comstock is further kindled by this truth and she coldly utters that "she [Lady Comstock] deserved whatever Comstock did to her."
===First Floor===
Approaching the Labs before the Siren encounter in the Memorial Gardens will prompt Booker to comment on its abandoned state, while looking a the exterior and the gated shut entrance. After the encounter, the duo arrive just as Vox Populi members have pried open the gate, but are stuck as no one has been able to get passed the locked door. Thanks to Booker's combat skills and Elizabeth's lockpincking, they can enter the reception.
====Reception & Entrance Hall====
The reception was once were the various inquiries were held with customers, as the main labs were also used as the Luteces' living quarters. There is a reception desk, lab equipment and a partially bare large bookshelf. Behind a folding screen is a locked door which the player can not enter, but they can enter the one behind the reception desk.
The entrance hall shows a major contrast to the reception area, appearing at first glance as just a common home. There is a staircase to the second floor, a door to the living room and notably: straight ahead is a room with some strange shimmer and movements. In the entrance hall is also a peculiar desk, with two photos. One shows the lighthouse from the beginning of the game, and the other shows the front door of Booker's office in New York. The photos showcase the Luteces' plot and their hands in bringing Booker to Columbia and starting the whole ordeal.
Booker Office Address.jpg|His Office, 108 Bowery, New York, NY
BioI Lutece Labs Maine Lighthouse Photograph.jpg|Only One Obstacle
====Living Room & Lab====
Like the rest of the Lutece Labs, the living room's original function has been relegated to an afterthought, making room for devices and equipment. Traces of its former function remain: a fireplace adorned with a painting of a farm above it, a modest seating area, and a gramophone. Documents are strewn across the floor, while the bookshelves stand mostly empty, likely a result of Fink's acquisition of their assets.
The following room served as the lab, with the damaged Lutece Device serving as the centerpiece. The Lady Comstock - Rosalind Lutece confrontation Tear is set in the device and after opening it, the Voxophone Child of Science is left behind. The aftermath of the sabotage that "killed" the Luteces are still present: Furniture and equipment has been violently flung away from the device, hitting the walls and due to the device's unique properties, ghostly "Tear" furniture will appear and disappear periodically as the Lutece Device contraption pulsates with residual energy. Additionally, some of the wrecked furniture around the machine is oddly warped and lodged partially through the floor Looking up, one can see that part of the second floor has been broken away to accommodate the Lutece Device's towering structure. Meanwhile, the adjacent kitchen has been repurposed as a traditional lab outfitted with chemistry equipment. Despite this transformation, remnants of its original purpose, kitchen utensils and food, remain scattered throughout, likely still serving the function of food preparation. The Voxophone On the Entropy of Genes is found here.
===Second Floor===
The second floor hall has some additional machinery and two gated doors. The towering upper section of the massive Lutece Device dominates the bedroom, its immense size commanding the center of the room. The floor is in complete disarray, with floorboards ripped up and scattered, leaving gaping holes that render the surface unrecognizable as a functional floor. A small section is served for the bedroom furnishing, with the Voxophone
A Theory on Our "Death" wedged between the bed and a nightstand and in the far back is an Infusion on a table.
==Clash in the Clouds==
In the Clash in the Clouds DLC, the Lutece Labs can be visited after buying the models of Rosalind and Robert Lutece in The Columbian Archeological Society. This will unlock a Tear, which upon opening allows entrance into the Lutece Labs, where five new Voxophones can be found. Notably, the Lutece Labs is in a pre-sabotage condition: The Lutece Device is intact and the furniture are whole and in their place. The bookshelves are also full and there are no documents on the floor.
==New Discoveries==
===Voxophones===
====BioShock Infinite====
#Rosalind Lutece - Child of Science - On the Lutece Device, after the first Tear disappears.
#Rosalind Lutece - On the Entropy of Genes - In the kitchen, near the blackboard.
#Rosalind Lutece - A Theory on Our "Death" - In the bedroom, next to the nightstand.
====Clash in the Clouds====
#Rosalind Lutece - A Better Father - Next to a stack of books on the dresser in the bedroom.
#Rosalind Lutece - No Cell Will Hold Them - On a bench table near the windows of the upstairs corridor.
#Rosalind Lutece - Playing Prophet - On a desk near the Lutece Device.
#Rosalind Lutece - The Constancy of Music - Underneath a side table in the lounge room.
#Rosalind Lutece - Unde Vigores? - On a chest of drawers near the stairs leading to the upper floor.
==Gallery==
DANGER CSA Billboard.png|The warning sign above the entrance.
Lutece Labs - Farm Painting.png|The farm painting above the fireplace in the living room.
BioI Downtown Emporia Market District Lutece Labs Reception.png|The reception area of the labs.
BI LuteceDevice Damaged.png|The now defunct Lutece Device.
==Behind the Scenes==
*The ghostly "Tear" furniture and them being partially merged in to the architecture. This mirrors a dropped concept of the game designers - that traveling through Tears could have malignant distorting effects. Some additional uses of this exists in-game.
*The windows on the inside of the Lutece Laboratories building do not match those on the outside. The placement of the window in the living room is also illogical, as behind the window is the reception area and the inaccessible room. The windows in the second floor hall would be facing the area above the reception, not reaching to the building's exterior facade.
*There is a gramophone in the living room with a record labeled "Rapture Records".
*The house seen on the farm painting in the living room is the exact same model as the house seen in the countryside where Booker attended his baptism. It is worth noting that the surroundings does not match each other and the painting appears to be a screenshot of a 3D space with a "paint" filter applied.
==References==
de:Lutece Laboratorium
Category:Downtown Emporia
Category:Clash in the Clouds Locations