In the Esquiline Gardens of the Citadel on Luna, Lyria collects scat samples from Sophocles, Kavax’s fox, whose sudden obsession with killing pachelbel birds has everyone worried. She reflects on the safety and comforts of her new post, Liam’s placement at a Citadel school, and the moon’s unrest after news of the Reaper’s demotion and disappearance.

While searching for the escaped fox, Lyria hears a muffled pop and observes a Gray Warden chastising a familiar-faced Copper within a sound-scrambled clearing. She slips away and nearly collides with a scarred, silent Gray Howler—an ominous reminder of the power players haunting the Citadel—before retreating to the Telemanus estate.

Lyria visits Dr. Liago, the eccentric Telemanus physician, who fusses over tea and unveils his engineered “Night Lily,” a plant that rewards gentle touch but ejects lethal spines when struck. As Liago analyzes Sophocles’s samples and offers clumsy comfort, Sophocles explodes after a bird, demolishing lab glassware and earning banishment until Liago can diagnose the fox.

Earlier, Kavax tried teaching Lyria to read bedtime songs for Sophocles, but lessons halted when Xana rushed in with the Reaper scandal, feeding the Citadel’s turmoil and Lyria’s sense of isolation among judgmental valets. Despite that, she clings to work and small routines.

Later, in the Telemanus supply warehouse, Lyria relaxes with Martian Red workers. Garla explains Sophocles is the 21st clone in a centuries-old line and recounts her family’s long service to House Telemanus. The dockers affirm a shared duty to shield Kavax in Luna’s viper’s nest, giving Lyria a measure of belonging.