- Back in the ward, Connie's lost her chance to room with Sybil.
- She's also signed the permission form. Skip gives her a hard time about it. Sheesh, Skip; she tried to escape. What do you want from her?
- Connie is rooming with Tina Ortiz; Sybil's in the next room.
- They're waiting to be operated on.
- Sybil's got some of her energy back.
- Skip's hair is cut and he's taken off to have his brain zapped.
- Connie and Tina go visit Alice, who is a mess. Having wires put in your brain isn't good for you, it turns out.
- Dr. Acker is pleased he got Connie to sign the form and so he's interested in her and trying to get her to agree that what's being done to her is for the best.
- Connie talks to Luciente who is cheery and encourages her to try to escape again.
- Connie tells Luciente she's being a jerk. Luciente is contrite. When you live in a utopian future, it's hard to resist being cheery, even when it's inappropriate.
- The brain stuff doesn't work right on Skip; when the doctors try to make him aggressive to attack them, it makes him bash his head and try to hurt himself.
- Connie hears the doctors hoping that the brain stuff can make Skip stop being homosexual (that would be a sideline for their main purpose, which is to stop him from being violent).
- They take the electrodes out of Skip, but they operate on his brain. Connie tries to talk to him, and he seems out of it and bitter and screwed up.
- And to the future we go, which has to be better than this.
- Jackrabbit shows her some video art, which she likes.
- Luciente and Jackrabbit chat a little about Jackrabbit going to defense, that is, war. Afterwards he'll be a mother.
- Connie wonders why Jackrabbit has to do anything but make art since he's a great artist. They provide a moral lesson about how nobody should be exempt from important duties just because you make pretty pictures.
- The novel is filled with moral lessons. In utopia, you will get a lot of moral lessons.
- They talk a little about the war. It's the capitalist rich people against everybody else. The capitalist rich people have mostly been defeated, but they cling on up on the moon and other outposts. Capitalist rich people are hard to get rid of, even in the utopian future.
- Jackrabbit flirts with Connie. She is embarrassed but then thinks it's funny.
- Back in the present, Acker comes to Connie to get her to agree that having her brain fried is all for the best.
- It's not enough to fry her brain; he has to get her to like it.
- Skip is a bit more himself; he tells the doctors whatever they want to hear so he can get out.
- They've broken something in him, but not everything.
- What's he going to do when he gets out, though? Nothing good.