In this chapter, we are introduced to a young man named Shmoop, who is engaged to be married to a woman named Aka. The couple is planning to get married in a few days, but Shmo is worried that the marriage will not work out because Aka is so far away. He asks Aka if she is in love with him, and Aka says that she is. Shmo asks if Aka has chosen him because he is her ideal woman, and she says that he is, because he approaches his work with "kettlely determinedness." Shmo says that Aka's words have made him more confident in his work, and he feels like he is not usually so confident when he is with Aka