I think you're right on the money there, Mirko. The factory was closed down to keep Davner isolated, and the door was barricaded by someone on the outside. As we learn, the Lodge believed that the Hidden People chose Davner for something, and they believed that he needed to be protected from the HP. Hence, they locked him away in the factory. Davner was preparing himself to be taken by the HP, but it was going to be a long process. The Lodge believes that the HP speak to us in puzzles, and I believe we speak back to them by solving them. Davner was preparing himself to solve incredibly mind-bending, sanity-shattering puzzles, when Tethers burst in and let the HP grab him too soon.
I'm not sure exactly what the People are, but I think the scene where Tethers is floating in the space capsule is interesting. Out one window, we see Scoggins and the factory; out another, the infinite cosmos. Between these two are Tethers and Davner. Tethers is in control of himself, but Davner can only speak in a chimpanzee chitter. I think this is more or less what the HP hear when we speak, and they tried to speak to Tethers as well here, since we get another puzzle.
This interpretation gives a final chilling thought: Tethers was able to solve the puzzles he found in Scoggins, and the Hidden People used him to take Davner into their posession. However, they are also now aware of someone else who speaks their language, and apparently, quite fluently. Will they now come after Nelson, the same way they did for Davner? Will Nelson be prepared for it, or will he be dragged screaming for salvation as they carry him to wherever they go? And, most importantly, will he find gum there?
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