At the Mentat School, Gilbertus Albans leaves a staff meeting and notices Erasmus’s favorite music, Rhapsody in Blue, playing softly through the school systems. The melody reminds Gilbertus that Erasmus’s hidden memory core remains secretly connected to the school, influencing the environment without any professor or student suspecting the robot mind’s presence.

Gilbertus visits Draigo Roget, an exceptional student on the verge of graduation. Gilbertus has repeatedly offered Draigo a professorship, but Draigo remains undecided because serving as a Mentat in the Imperium is also the purpose of his training. Gilbertus considers revealing Erasmus to Draigo as a possible ally, but decides the risk is still too great.

Draigo is studying printed records of Omnius ship sightings and attacks from the Jihad, trying to work backward through Mentat projections to locate hidden robot depots, fleets, or shipyards. Gilbertus joins the exercise, and the two divide the information, memorize data points, and compare patterns after hours of analysis.

Their separate projections converge on the Thonaris star system, which appears to have been a major machine industrial facility. Gilbertus recognizes the danger of the information: if the Butlerians learn of it, Manford Torondo may destroy it, while commercial powers might exploit it. Gilbertus suggests consulting the Emperor but delays making any decision.

Later, in private, Gilbertus removes Erasmus’s memory core from hiding and asks about Thonaris. Erasmus confirms the shipyards were one of the machines’ largest industrial operations and advises Gilbertus not to reveal the discovery immediately. Erasmus urges Gilbertus to keep the information as a bargaining chip until it serves their interests, and Gilbertus accepts the advice.