On Wallach IX, Scytale, a Tleilaxu Face Dancer, attends a secret meeting with Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, Guild Steersman Edric, and Princess Irulan. Although Scytale is helping devise a murderous plot against Paul Muad’dib, Scytale privately feels compassion for the intended victim. Scytale studies the meeting place and the participants, recognizing that the Bene Gesserit have arranged the setting to accommodate and expose Edric’s weaknesses.

The conspirators argue over how to attack Paul without making Paul a martyr. Scytale rejects a direct assault and shifts the discussion toward deception and “psychic poison.” Edric’s presence is crucial because Edric’s prescience supposedly shields the meeting from Paul’s oracular sight, though Irulan questions how reliable that protection is.

Irulan hesitates to join the conspiracy, aware that the meeting itself may be a trap. Edric tries to lure Irulan with her desire to found a royal dynasty and reminds her that Paul has never treated her as a true wife. Irulan admits that Chani has no heir because Irulan has been secretly administering a contraceptive, and Scytale presses Irulan to understand both the danger and the limited protection offered by Edric.

The conspirators discuss possible levers against Paul’s power: the Qizarate, CHOAM, the Landsraad, Lady Jessica, Alia, and the dependence of all major powers on melange. Scytale demonstrates his Face Dancer abilities, then the central weapon is revealed: a Tleilaxu ghola made from the preserved corpse of Duncan Idaho, now called Hayt, which the Guild intends to give Paul as a gift.

Scytale explains that Hayt has been shaped as a psychological weapon rather than a simple assassin. Hayt carries Duncan Idaho’s form and abilities, is also a mentat, and is meant to disturb Paul’s moral nature while potentially distracting Alia. Scytale also reveals that the Tleilaxu once bred their own kwisatz haderach, who killed himself rather than betray his self-conception, implying that Paul may be attacked through identity and inner contradiction.

Irulan recognizes that Hayt’s truthfulness leaves Paul an “escape door,” consistent with Tleilaxu custom, but Scytale insists the plan can still work. Irulan’s question about whether she will be left with something to father a dynasty signals her commitment to the conspiracy. Scytale closes by recognizing the Bene Gesserit’s own manipulation of him through Irulan’s beauty and intelligence.