Nine

Dafyd meets with his head of security Llian Andermus to discuss the week's incidents, then encounters Uuya Tomos in his garden. He manipulates Tomos into joining a secret conspiracy to prepare humanity for eventual rebellion against the Carryx by creating stories and cultural narratives for future generations.

Dafyd receives a security report from Llian Andermus covering three violent assaults, one groping incident, and four petty thefts from the past week. Andermus describes her approach to maintaining order, including breaking a serial groper's hands and separating people involved in domestic disputes. She expresses discomfort with operational autonomy and requests clear guidelines from Dafyd about priorities and tactics. Dafyd establishes that Carryx demands—including the nursery, Tonner's lab, and Jellit's visualization team—take priority over all else, and instructs Andermus to convince Uuya Tomos to meet with him. After Andermus leaves, Dafyd rests in his garden as evening falls, overwhelmed by exhaustion and the scale of the Carryx empire surrounding him. Uuya Tomos arrives and mentions knowing his aunt Dorinda. When Tomos attempts to leave, Dafyd follows and speaks urgently about the children being born in the nursery, who will know only Carryx rule. He reveals to Tomos that he wants to raise these children to appear compliant while secretly preparing them to rebel, and asks her to create stories and songs encoding messages of resistance that future generations can interpret. He then manipulates her by stating she now has two choices: either report him to Ekur-Tkalal and have him killed, or help him. Recognizing the ruthlessness in this move, Tomos smiles and agrees, seeing in him the strategic mind of his aunt Dorinda.