Vis opens with a haunting memory: as he dangles over a ledge, his bloodied father whispers “Courage” and lets go, a trauma that underpins Vis’s guarded disposition. In the present at Letens Prison, Vis plays Foundation with Septimus Hrolf, masking his vigilance and Hrolf’s decline. A late visitor arrives—Sextus Hospius—bearing Proconsul Manius’s seal authorizing access to a deep-cell prisoner named Nateo. Hospius appears competent yet nervous, his immaculate Governance uniform and demeanor putting Vis on alert.

Vis escorts Hospius into the damp, humming depths where prisoners are strapped to Sappers—polished white slabs that siphon Will to benefit favored officials. Vis, long exposed yet unaffected, carefully avoids contact while explaining risks. He winches Nateo off the Sapper to rouse him. Hospius speaks in Vetusian, revealing a prior connection, and presses for information about Veridius, Caeror, and disturbing terms—Obiteum, Luceum, and a pre-Cataclysm “gate.” Nateo insists on release first, refusing to trade secrets without freedom.

Terror mounting, Nateo begs in Common not to be returned to the Sapper, then suddenly lunges, trying to drag Hospius onto the slab. Vis slams in, breaking the grip but slips and touches the Sapper himself. Expecting devastation, he instead feels only a fleeting, cold tingle—no lasting harm—confirming his private belief that, never having undergone the ceding ritual, he resists Sapper drain. He resets Nateo and masks what happened; Hospius, shaken, accepts Vis’s explanation and praises his quick action.

On the way up, Hospius asks for discretion and tips Vis a silver coin. Alone, Vis confirms his hands are unharmed and steadies himself, relieved and frightened by what his survival implies. Returning to the guardroom, he overhears Hospius ask Hrolf to check remaining sentence time (“three years and seven months”) and probe about Vis’s abilities; Hrolf, protective, offers only general praise. Hospius departs with formalities.

Vis downplays events to Hrolf and declines the older man’s offer to stay the night—an offer made to spare Vis the bruises he tends to collect outside. Keeping their quiet arrangement over pay, Vis leaves into the cold Letens night for the Theatre, resolved to remain invisible even as the encounter hints at a wider conspiracy tied to Caeror and an ancient power.