And you will be like gods, knowing good and evil

“And you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” is the English rendering of an inscription displayed in the entrance corridor of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Encountered by Mike Hoolihan during his inquiry into Jennifer Rockwell’s death, the line invokes Genesis and the serpent’s promise, placing an image of dangerous knowledge at the entrance to a scientific institution.

Inscription and Translation

The inscription appears in Latin, in capital letters, along the wall of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, part of the Institute of Physical Problems. A student passing through the corridor gives Mike its meaning: “And you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” The moment is brief and incidental—Mike asks a young passerby for a translation—but it turns an unfamiliar wall text into a recognizable biblical allusion.

Biblical Echo

Mike associates the translated words with Genesis and, more specifically, with the serpent’s speech. The phrase therefore carries both the promise of elevated knowledge and the biblical association of that knowledge with the distinction between good and evil. The scene does not explain why the department displays the inscription; its effect comes from the words’ presence at the threshold and from Mike’s recognition of their source.

Place in the Inquiry

Mike encounters the motto while traveling to the Institute, which lies north of CSU in the foothills of Mount Lee, to speak with Jennifer’s department head, Bax Denziger. He is conducting an informal inquiry into Jennifer’s death at the request of Tom Rockwell and Miriam Rockwell. The inscription precedes that interview, framing the research setting with a phrase about knowledge and moral consequence without supplying an answer to the investigation.