Pham Trinli loafs in Benny Wen’s illicit zero‑gee parlor, a haven supplied with diverted rockpile plastics and temp-bactry beer. Among mixed Emergent and Qeng Ho patrons, Hunte Wen shyly distributes art-labeled drink bulbs, revealing his fragile recovery after deFocus. Qiwi Lisolet arrives to press Benny for swap forms and supplies, signaling her central role in quiet, quasi-legal trading that eases life under Exile.

Trud Silipan needles Pham and then lectures on Emergent social hierarchies, vilifying traders and hinting Qiwi diverts community resources, even repeating rumors she sleeps with Nau. He claims snoops have her on a hot list but notes Podmasters tolerate the theft for now. Pham maintains his bluff persona, while privately recognizing an underground of practical deals—centered on Qiwi—improves conditions without open revolt, a pattern he has seen before.

As bar talk drifts to the Spiders and translations, Pham falls into a deep recollection. He remembers being traded away at thirteen by King Tran Nuwen, Cindi Dueanh’s futile stand, and his passage aboard the Reprise. Shipmaster Sura Vinh spared him coldsleep, tutored him, and made him a programmer‑archeologist amid a vast, ancient, layered software sea. He learned how “mature environments” hide trapdoors and power for those who master them, and he began to dream of shaping something enduring.

Growing into Sura’s protégé and lover, Pham debated her claim that Qeng Ho are traders, not empire. Together they imagined a slow interstellar net—protocols, language standards, open libraries, and crypto partitions—that could stabilize Customers, profit traders, and outlast governments. They planned to start at Namqem; Sura prepared him for coldsleep, parting with “Sleep well, sweet prince.” Pham recalls that later he was betrayed at Brisgo Gap, realizing vision alone wasn’t enough.

Jau Xin rouses Pham back to the parlor. As Silipan boasts of translator zipheads, Pham recognizes the transformative leverage of Focus—human minds reshaped into tireless specialists, the subtle edge he once lacked. Accepted by low-level Emergents and humored by Nau, Pham resolves to learn Focus from Silipan and Reynolt, aiming to turn past lessons into a future advantage and “do things right.” He toasts the promise of that edge.