In Paris in January 1903, Widget Murray shares wine with the man in the grey suit, who laments that stories have grown more complex and never truly end. Widget challenges the idea that tales were ever simple, and the man argues that time and familiarity turn simple cores into “truer” stories.

As they talk, Widget reveals his unusual abilities: he can learn languages by hearing patterns, and he can read people’s pasts when they trust him. The man in the grey suit explains the origin of the long-running challenge between himself and a former student: their respective students were pitted in escalating tests of chaos versus control, culminating in the circus-based contest. He admits Celia Bowen found a clever escape, though he regrets losing his own student.

Widget contradicts him, stating Marco Alisdair is not dead. Widget also says Hector Bowen is not dead “precisely” either, and indicates Hector’s presence by the window—an image that wavers into indistinguishability. Widget explains that Celia and Marco are bound into the circus itself, audible and sensed throughout its attractions, and he calls their confinement “marvelous” because they have each other and a living, growing world shaped by Marco’s imagination.

The man in the grey suit, revealing his age and lack of shadow, warns against seeking immortality and expresses hope that those bound to the circus might eventually face whatever comes—darkness or paradise—without fear. He challenges Widget to justify his own gift, and Widget answers that he tells stories by weaving what he sees of the past into narratives. The man declares this work powerful: stories can live inside listeners and shape the future, making storytelling its own kind of magic.

Widget recognizes the man is trying to distract him and turns to business. He explains that Bailey Clarke has inherited the circus’s leadership, Poppet has resolved ownership with Chandresh Lefèvre, and Widget has come to complete the transition. The man advises letting the circus fade into myth, but Widget refuses and presses that the man owes some closure after endangering everyone for a wager.

Finally, the man in the grey suit offers terms: he will relinquish his remaining claim and connection to the circus and officially declare the challenge a stalemate—but only if Widget gives him a true story from the heart, “this story,” explaining how they arrived here. Widget agrees. As the last wine is poured, Widget prepares to begin and opens with the first line: “The circus arrives without warning.”