The episode moves back and forth to Dirk's tenement flat, as readers move in time to his past and then to the present. We are treated to several vignette-styled sketches of Dirk's childhood and teens, showing how Dirk has been shaped. We meet Uncle George, who has had an accident at the Thallium Meatport. As a child, Dirk observed the way Uncle George was looked down upon and maligned after his accident.
Dirk lives with his intelligent partner – Natashca. He likes to control what she says or does. Dirk has turned out as an adult with manikin (object-relationship) dependencies. And an obsession, commenced in childhood, of washing the feet of others. Dirk stands at his ironing board. His past reflects upon him, as readers begin to comprehend the journey he has made in his life thus far.
The episode breaks to the next day. Lamb, Tristan and Dirk travel to the underground vaults of St. Dandy's Cathedral. They are helping the Secular Party (personified by Commodore Petersen) to hatch a plan. They will tell the media what to tell the citizens about the horn-like sounds that have been originating in the night skies. A plan is formed under the archbishop's leadership. They propose to confront what appear to be 'super-natural' noises, by marshalling the resources of St. Dandy's Cathedral Hornsmen. They will attempt to 'drown out' the sounds in the night skies, over the Capital. It is an intense challenge for church and state co-operation.
