I don't know much about the transformation shovel and paths, but there is a level 2 card in one of the doors that can be opened with the lockpick that you find in the lab starting room, as well as a level 3 card that can be obtained by putting the starfield disc into the machine below the entrance to the desert, or if you want to do neither you can get a level 3 card in Jessica's room in the manor and travel to the lab through the elevator in the back left corner of the first floor.