During a private audience beneath the plaza, the God Emperor Leto receives the new Ixian Ambassador, a young woman named Hwi Noree. As she approaches in a beam of daylight, Leto immediately recognizes her likeness to her uncle Malky and detects a classical balance, noticing that her education includes a delicate Bene Gesserit overlay that preserves her basic sweetness and inner peace. Leto deduces that the Ixians have sent her to charm him and find a vulnerability, noting their secret colony planted far beyond his Empire's reach. Despite recognizing this Ixian machination, Leto finds himself truly enjoying her company and is fascinated by her transparent honesty when discussing her family and background.
Leto questions Hwi about her origins, noting that she claims not to know her exact age and was never told about her parents, leading him to guess she was conceived within the very machine her masters are trying to perfect for the Spacing Guild. He warns her that her masters are behaving perilously by listening to a Guild Steersman and combining with the Tleilaxu, informing her that she will serve as his permanent Ambassador to the court. While Leto appreciates her wholesome nature, her presence powerfully stirs his lost humanity, making him feel the phantom aches of a human body, skull, and brain, and causing him to cry out in despair over the torture of her existence before dismissing her.
As Hwi departs quietly with deep sadness, Leto reflects on her uncle Malky and the complex relationship he maintains with the technological innovators of Ix. He recognizes that the Ixians operate in the outlawed realm of creative invention, creating devices that mimic the mind in defiance of the Butlerian Jihad, yet he remains dependent on their technology to record his journals and maintain his empire. Recognizing that the Ixians and the Guild must be reminded of the constant dangers of their actions, Leto contemplates the implications of their new machine and the delicate balance of power he must preserve across his domain.