"Yuck," Victor says, wrinkling his nose at the rust and flesh in question. "I really should have asked for full gloves. Remind me to do that when we get out of here."

He'd normally be a trifle more reluctant to touch...any of that, but this is presumably intended to lead somewhere helpful, and the idea of getting out of here any faster far overwhelms his squeamishness in this case. He crouches down and braces a foot on the wall next to the panel before getting a grip on the bottom edge.

He's stronger than he is back home, and his strength was nothing to sneeze at even there. Adding the strength of at least one of his legs to the party seems like a good way to stop touching this thing faster.

"On three," he says. "One, two, three!"