The chapter opens with a flashback to two years ago, when the protagonist was a post-graduate student at a large hospital. He is now a graduate student, and he has just received his "hand of god headset" . He tells the flashback story of a suicidal patient who lost both of her parents at an early age, and her adoptive parents were killed in a car accident. The trauma of losing both parents led her to depression, and she agreed to participate in a psychological experiment to see if she could calm her mind and heal her heart. The patient's name is "Pa," and she is the subject of the psychological experiment. The protagonist tells the story of how he met "Pa" one day, and they have been inseparable ever since. He explains that before he discharged himself from the hospital, he made a promise to him that they would meet again when he was in the best physical shape of his life.