Institute (Novosibirsk)

Research Institute of Extreme Medicine of Novosibirsk (рус. Научно-исследовательский институт экстремальной медицины) is a location in Novosibirsk that plays an important role in the last level of Metro Exodus.

Overview
Before and during World War III, the Institute was an important research center of the Russian Federation. As the war became inevitable, this place focused on biological research which would be useful for military purposes. Several experimental and military drugs were developed and produced there, most notably the Radioprotector and Renergan-F. The latter is the reason why the Aurora crew travels to Novosibirsk at the end of the game, as it's their only hope of saving Anna, whose lungs are starting to malfunction because she had inhaled a poisonous gas in a military ammo dump at the Volga. The Institute also performed biological experiments on animals, which may have led to the creation of the blind ones.

Western powers apparently knew about the research institute in Novosibirsk and considered it a serious threat. Thus, they launched at least two cobalt bombs at Novosibirsk during the War. As a result, the city and its surroundings became lethally radioactive, with radiation levels eight times higher than in Moscow. The radiation is too high even for most mutants, so Novosibirsk became a dead city with no life of the surface. Even a person wearing a protective lead-lined suit cannot survive for longer than several hours in the streets of Novosibirsk, so when Artyom and Miller travel to Akademgorodok to find the cure for Anna, they know they may not come back alive.

The Institute is visited by Artyom in the second half of the level. Same as the rest of the city, it's so heavily irradiated that most life forms have perished long ago, with the exception of the Blind Ones, giant gorilla-like mutants that are not found anywhere else in Novosibirsk. Artyom must navigate his way through the Institute, encountering many dead bodies along the way. The lower section of the complex apparently used to serve as a hospital during the war, as it's filled with medical equipment and hospital beds. Upper levels were reserved for the research. Despite using his dose of Radioprotector, Artyom begins to experience signs of radiation poisoning when he travels through the Institute, he starts to hallucinate and nearly passes out several times. After fighting through or sneaking past several blind ones, Artyom finally discovers a room where samples of Renergan-F were stored in reinforced cooling boxes. Just as he takes a container with the drug, he is attacked by a lone blind one and forced to escape through ventilation shaft with the mutant chasing after him. The two then fall through a fire escape staircase, with Artyom surviving the fall, but the blind one being killed by the debris and icicles falling from the roof of the building. Artyom is then rescued by Miller and Kirill, leaving the Institute using their lead-lined van.

Trivia

 * It has been hinted that the gas which poisoned Anna and forced the protagonists to find the cure in the Institute, ironically, was also developed in Novosibirsk to be used in the war as a biological weapon. This would explain why the only effective cure was located there, as the scientists might have developed it alongside the bioweapon in case it was captured and misused by the enemy, or simply released accidentally. The cure was, however, stated to be effective against other respiratory problems as well, healing even the most severe cases of damaged respiratory system with a 60-percent probability.
 * A note close to the room where Artyom finds the cure indicates that a shipment of it was scheduled to be sent to Moscow, but was cancelled.

Gallery
НИИ экстремальной медицины