The chapter opens with a quote from a book: "There are certain predators who are able to smell the blood of the prey from great distances." The narrator says that this is because the predator is able to sense the inferiority of prey. The narrator wonders if the predator can sense this in humans. He wonders if people will develop this inferiority. He says he still hasn't spoken to anyone about it. He hears a voice in his head that seems to be faltering and indistinct. He thinks it might be the voice of a dying man. He realizes that the voice is telling him to put his gun down and to tote his pulse. He also realizes that he has been able to turn off this black sludge in the past, but that it is getting stronger and stronger each time it happens. He knows that if he continues to use it, he will be swallowed whole by it.