Livira and Arpix leave Salamonda’s kitchen laden with books for the laboratory. Livira recounts Deputy Yute’s radical push toward fiction—reading and writing it—and his view of stories as nets that capture truths. On the road they notice smoke from Tronath; a passerby blames “dog-soldiers” and sabbers, clashing with Arpix’s prejudiced book-fed beliefs while Livira recalls a sabber who spoke coherently, underscoring how narratives shape perception.

Navigating low town, a knife-wielding man corners them. Another presence approaches; the knifeman warns him off. In a blur, the newcomer drops the attacker. It is Malar, scarred veteran of the Dust. He reveals he was paid to watch Livira and has already dealt with two other assailants, implying a hired plot against her. He leads them out, insisting they stay alert.

Climbing toward the laboratory, Malar agrees to pass Livira’s saved wages to Benth and describes a growing camp of Dust refugees barred outside Crath’s walls while the king proclaims victories. Livira questions how the library’s endlessness enables selective citation to flatter the crown. Arpix shares “quill search”: if the library is infinite, it may be easier to write the book you want and claim it exists somewhere within.

At the mountaintop plaza, the laboratory looms amid sharp, chemical air. An old doorman greets them as a stained-tunic worker hustles a wealthy visitor away with urgent insistence. Before explanations can follow, an explosion erupts from the open door, hurling Livira down as a greenish-yellow cloud billows out to engulf the entrance.