It's been a long winter, and now it's time to get ready for the next phase of the mission: the "qualifier" , which is supposed to take place in a few months. We learn that the bug collection was supposed to be completed in the fall, but that's not going to happen, so they're going to have to wait until the qualifier is over. The narrator tells us that he's just taken a break from bug collecting to "give beat downs" . He's got a bunch of stuff to do, and he needs to be ready to go ASAP. He tells his buddy that they've been going through the same thing before, and that he thinks he should leave the hospital and go back to work. He says that he has been piloting for the guy for three years now, so it doesn't matter what he does now. He wants to make sure that the guy is there to watch him, so he tells him to "smash his ass" when he wakes up. He also tells him that the girl over there is worried about him, and says that his arm is "totally busted." He tells the guy to tell the kid to be "a farmer," and then he says that the pile driver's arm is totally weak, so the girl should be worried about the guy. He goes on to say that when he comes back, he'll be able to teach the guy all the "basics" of being a pilot, and then leave him to die without a single hug. He hopes that the kid will be okay, so that he won't have to go through all the pain of the trip back to the hospital. He