Envoy, at the Mages' Guild of Babel, is visited by Sister Xana and some patrolmen on the Vigilant Eye, with an invitation to come to a private meeting. Envoy, despite being warned by a page that this may not be such a good idea, goes along. She is taken to the Temple of Rephath, where she meets privately with Captain Karada, and tells him the entirety of her dream, where she experienced his memories of the dropping of the Boomer on Babel, and the details of her discovery of what might be Karada's son in the Streets Below.

Envoy learns that the Yodhbarada now have Karada's son, and are holding onto him in the hopes of being able to manipulate Karada as a tool within Rephath's temple – though Karada has no intentions of betraying Rephath.

Envoy then has a special meeting with Rephath, who suggests that Envoy make a public declaration in defense of the Yodh and against the College Esoterica and the Mages' Guild. Envoy agrees to doing so, and they waste no time – going out to a plaza to speak before an audience gathered together of people from various classes, including representatives from the Mages' Guild. Envoy levels several accusations against the Mages' Guild, including a claim that Guild-trained mages were responsible for the greatest disaster to hit Babel, and that the Guild should make reparations. None of this evidently sits well with those mages present, but Rephath is visibly pleased.