Cyrus dreams of two figures walking through an upscale American mall: Orkideh, the bald artist he saw at the Brooklyn Museum, and President Invective, a panting, ill-fitting figure in a blue suit. Cyrus reflects that hated figures sometimes appear in his dreams unbidden. In the dream, Orkideh seems healthy and at ease, while President Invective struggles to keep up.

As they pass shops, Orkideh tells a warm anecdote about her early days in New York, when a young Persian waitress at a Lower East Side diner taught her the bilingual joke of "hell chai" (cardamom tea), her first American friendship. President Invective half-listens, his face sprouting tiny black worms in a toy store reflection.

They enter a store selling original classic artworks. President Invective fixates on the Mona Lisa, which Orkideh dismisses as overrated, famous mainly because it hung in Napoleon's bedroom. He resolves to buy it. Orkideh draws his attention to Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, explaining how Icarus's drowning legs are pushed to the margin while the world continues indifferently. President Invective resents being lectured and only wants his purchase.

At the counter, the cashier reveals the paintings cost "segments." The Mona Lisa is four segments, the Bruegel two. Orkideh, whose hands are already missing several fingers, sets her hand down and lets the cashier cleave off her left middle finger at the middle knuckle to pay. President Invective screams that they're crazy and flees, trailing green light. Orkideh wraps her bleeding stump in a handkerchief and carries the Bruegel out.