The chapter opens with a description of the mud that mariko finds in her yard when she returns from her trip. She asks him what he's going to do with it, and he tells her to dig it in before it gets too cold. He also tells her that he ran into a man at an exhibit who gave him a favor. The man gave him the favor after he squeezed the man's hand a little. He's glad to be a Japanese man, he says. Antiquary asks if he can find anything interesting in his last trip, and the man says he'll do something "sketchy" . He then tells the group that they're going to witness a "chip" , which is a kind of chip that's invisible to them. He tells them that the vaticans use "miracle hunters" to deal with natural disasters, like banishing evil spirits. The vatican also uses mystics to "spe with the dead" and "banish evil spirits." He says he never changes his mind about where he picked up the chip. He says it was fun, at least, and that his heart is still pounding . The narrator tells us that the world is "immeasurably vast wonder" just how much it has to offer. He reminds us that he has a "whole life ahead of him" and wonders how much he can learn from the world.