The Underground Man begins his soliloquy by saying that the air outside the tower is "weak outside" and that the "queen of thorns" is getting sucked inside. He tells us that he's wasting his time trying to figure out a way to stop her. He's sure that the Underground Man already knows how to do it. But then the girl jumps inside the tower and blocks his path. He can't stop her, because she's at 25,000 feet above the ground. And he'll die if he doesn't get out of the way. He says that being a genius means being alone, because he can fly as high as he likes. Plus, he says, everyone else is just dead weight. He wonders if she'll be able to fight after the big hit, because his body has already moved on its own. He also says that he knows that God loves him, and that it's a good time to shine. He compares this time to the last time he did this trick, when he was "so strong" that he couldn't even get up from the ground after being beaten down. But this time, he tells us, he wants to protect himself. He wants everyone to send their wind, and he wants the air to be thin, so that it won't hurt him. And then he says that this is why he feels so proud when he stands on the ground, because the air is so thin that it hurts him. He thinks that if he falls down, he might get addicted to the pain.