Lutece Labs

The Lutece Labs is the laboratory and home of Robert and Rosalind Lutece located in the Emporia Market District of 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—when Booker and Elizabeth visit the location in 1912, the area is in a state of disrepair, with the bookshelves mostly bare.

Rosalind had the back of the building, specifically the lower laboratory area and upper bedroom, partially dismantled in order to create the massive Lutece Contraption: 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, after which Rosalind was able to open a Tear into Robert's reality and bring him through to her own.

The Luteces were ultimately "killed" at Comstock's orders by Jeremiah Fink, who sabotaged the contraption while they were using it. However, instead of actually killing them, the sabotage scattered the Luteces across space and time, rendering them practically immortal masters of trans-dimensional travel.

BioShock Infinite
Booker 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 hate towards Lady Comstock is further kindled by this truth and coldly utters that "she [Lady Comstock] deserved whatever Comstock did to her."

Behind the Scenes

 * If Booker stands in the lab for a short amount of time, ghostly "Tear" furniture will appear and disappear periodically as the contraption pulsates with residual energy. Additionally, one will notice that some of the wrecked furniture around the machine is oddly warped and lodged partially inside the floor. This is a reference to an ultimately dropped concept by the game designers that traveling through Tears could have malignant distorting effects.
 * On the right hand side of the hallway before entering the lab, there are two photos. One shows the lighthouse from the beginning of the game, and the other shows the front door of Booker's office. "His Office" is written on the picture of Booker's front door, whilst "Only one obstacle" is written across the image of the lighthouse. This could be the evidence of the Luteces' plot—to send Elizabeth back to where she came from—that Comstock discovered.
 * The windows on the inside of the Lutece Laboratories building do not match those on the outside.
 * On the lower floor of the building, in the living room, there is a record player. In that record player is a record labelled "Rapture Records".