According to Porter, Minerva’s Den has been dark for some time. Find the Lighting Control console in the lobby and restore power so that you may proceed.
Minerva’s Den Lobby
Collect the First Aid Kit from the bench on the left, search the lockers, and locate the Audio Diary (“Your Link of the Chain”) in the utility room to the left. Return the way you came and ascend the stairs to the lobby on the main level. Go around the corner to the lobby and get ready for a fight.
The man on the radio is Reed Wahl and if he sounds like the guy who called for the destruction of the tunnel in 1968, that’s because he is. He wants The Thinker all to himself and has an army of Splicers working to see his wishes met.
Use Telekinesis to pick up a slab of rock off to the right and hurl it at the Thuggish Splicers that attack from the shadows. Remember that you don’t have access to Drill Dash (yet) and are pretty low on money. Attack with melee Drill swings to finish them off and save the Drill attack for when you have more Drill Fuel. Search the bodies on the main floor, then ascend the stairs opposite the Gene Bank to locate the Ion Laser and the Lighting Control console.
Reed Wahl sends two Spider Splicers to attack you as you interact with the console. Strafe back and forth across the upper platform and the adjacent stairs to avoid their sickles while trying to maintain an elevated position. Use your new Ion Laser to burn through them. Keep the trigger pressed to inflict continuous damage. Kill the Spider Splicers, pilfer their corpses, and move on through the door opposite the control panel atop the stairs.
