Time passes in Babel for Rory after Dinah's New Year party, during which time he keeps busy with studies, work at the hospices, and even doing some healing for paying patients, while staying at the Guild Hall. On the night before Mage Flutenote's scheduled departure, he has plans to play some card and board games with Mage Cyprian and Mage Flutenote … and this time, he's taking along a friend: Silhouette. He works a ritual based off of one of his Shadow elemental spells, to give Silhouette a visible form and magical "solidity" so that she can interact to a limited extent with others – as if she were a Shadow elemental.

Rory and Silhouette meet up with Mage Cyprian of Mind and Mage Flutenote of Chaos, and they end up playing a card game for four players, as Rory convinces Silhouette to try playing. Mage Cyprian and Mage Flutenote become suspicious at Silhouette's autonomy, that she isn't merely an "imaginary friend" or a Shadow elemental, and Rory – with some difficulty – tries to explain the long and magically complicated story of his origin (at least, as he understands it) in Lamu, and that of Silhouette, as well has his confused sense of identity. Cyprian and Flutenote are taken aback by this, and suggest that perhaps Rory should try seeing Master Zahirinee – as perhaps there's some way to make Silhouette solid permanently.