Zahel hangs naked from the ceiling in a dark, circular room, chained and filthy after being captured during the invasion. He believes weeks have passed, but he cannot track time clearly because he keeps erasing his own memories to blunt the effects of torture. The room is lined with aluminum sheets that block even spren from sensing him, and his captors have taken his clothes so he cannot use them.

Beside Zahel, a bright crimson parrot hangs silently in a cage without a proper perch. Zahel notices how unnatural the bird’s quiet is and tries to rouse her, even as he reflects bitterly on his long history of failure, the friends he has lost, and the truth that he did not truly retire from his former life but ran from it. These thoughts show how physically broken and emotionally exhausted he has become.

Wanting to help the parrot anyway, Zahel starts a childish game, saying “Peeky time” until the bird finally responds. The small success is cut short when Axindweth enters the room with rings on her fingers and a bright green Aviar on her shoulder. She addresses Zahel by the name Vasher and reveals a new fabrial shaped like a handgun with spikes, which Zahel recognizes as a painrial.

Axindweth proposes a bargain: if Zahel gives her half his Breaths, she will let him go. Zahel immediately understands that the offer is not genuine freedom but another step in breaking him, because surrendering some of his vast Investiture would only lead her to demand the rest. Refusing to cooperate, Zahel stays silent, and Axindweth uses the new device to make him scream while he pities the parrot forced to witness it.