The chapter opens with a conversation between xenakis and Eyvind, who are on patrol. Eyvind reports that he and the other patrolmen have found a lost child, and that the child is traveling with a "bear" . . The two men discuss the possibility of the child's being lost, and they decide to track down the lost child themselves. They also discuss the fact that the bears have taken over the town, and the insects are looking for a confused "furless child." . They decide that they will help the child, but only if the boy is a member of their gang, and only if he passes an initiation ceremony.