Emperor Salvador Corrino rides through Zimia in a royal carriage pulled by golden lions, passing monuments to the Butlerian Jihad and its heroes. The city’s rebuilt grandeur and relics of the machine war emphasize that the Imperium still lives in the shadow of humanity’s long struggle against thinking machines.

Salvador has been summoned to inspect a gruesome discovery in the central plaza. His demi-brother, Prince Roderick, shows him a burned and mutilated corpse hanging from a statue of Iblis Ginjo, labeled as Toure Bomoko, the former chairman of the Commission of Ecumenical Translators.

Salvador recalls that Bomoko helped create the Orange Catholic Bible, a failed attempt to unify religions that instead provoked violence across the Imperium. Because several supposed Bomokos have already been murdered, Salvador doubts this corpse is the real man, but orders genetic testing to confirm it.

The corpse’s placard claims the mutilation imitates the thinking machines’ treatment of Serena Butler, revealing how religious outrage and Jihad-era symbolism continue to justify mob brutality. Salvador complains that humanity remains addicted to conflict even decades after the Battle of Corrin, while Roderick calmly promises to do what he can to maintain order.

That evening, Roderick brings the genetic results to Salvador’s country estate, interrupting an argument between Salvador and Empress Tabrina over her wish for a governing role. The test proves the body was not Bomoko. Salvador burns the report, dismisses the mob’s violence, and leaves with Roderick to play cards, while his bitter marriage with Tabrina remains openly hostile.