Rysn travels through Urithiru with Brakt and Ytredn of the Thaylen Patent Office to test a new treaty with the Alethi. Although the agreement was signed under questionable circumstances after Urithiru’s occupation, Vstim wants to strengthen its legal standing by forcing an early ratification. As she waits for the meeting, Rysn reflects on her changing life: Chiri-Chiri has grown much larger, her hovering chair now has advanced movement, and the Dawnshard she carries continues to alter her senses and awareness.

In the meeting, Rysn presents demands for royalties and patent protection on inventions based on her and Huio’s work. The Alethi ardents object, arguing that such claims hinder scholarship, but Rysn demonstrates the superior maneuverability of her chair and reveals that her team has made major advances in smooth hovering and propulsion. Faced with the promise of more valuable discoveries, the scholars begin to negotiate seriously, and Brakt and Ytredn push them toward formally ratifying the treaty.

The meeting is interrupted when Dalinar Kholin appears, but Rysn immediately senses that the figure is false because the power within her reacts violently. After everyone else leaves, the illusion drops, revealing a white-haired Shin man. Rysn recognizes that he is like her: another bearer of a Dawnshard. Nikli appears and accuses the man of having abandoned his duty long ago, then secretly taking up a Dawnshard again and bringing it to Roshar, an act the Sleepless consider reckless and dangerous.

As the two Dawnshards come into proximity, their powers begin pulling together. Rysn is dragged from her chair across the floor, the room vibrates, Chiri-Chiri panics, and both Sleepless lose cohesion. Rysn realizes that if the powers fully merge, she will be destroyed. The white-haired man stops the convergence by speaking a single command, then declares that he will make sure they never meet again before restoring his Dalinar disguise and leaving.

After Nikli and Alalhawithador recover, they confirm that this encounter is one of the worst possible outcomes: the Dawnshards must not be brought together, and the mysterious man will likely keep and exploit the secret. Rysn concludes that she can no longer remain exposed on Roshar and must go into hiding. Rather than simply abandon everything, she proposes a specific, dangerous plan involving her ship and its new capabilities, and the Sleepless agree, leaving Rysn to prepare to leave just as her life had seemed to be stabilizing.