The chapter opens with a soliloquy by M. Manette. She's in the middle of a conversation with her husband, who's about to tell her about the events of the previous day. He tells her that he's going to have to go to the park to meet with the others. He's worried that they're not there yet, but he'll be fine if they lose. He wants to know what's up with the rope battle that's just been going on. He asks if everyone has a rope , and he gets a confused look on his face when he realizes that they don't have a rope. He also realizes that the other team is using the same rope as the one that he used to fight with. He wonders if this is a fixed-match system, or if it's an elimination match. He then asks if he can talk about the pros and cons of martial arts. He doesn't want to get into a debate about whether or not men and women are physically stronger than each other. He just wants to talk about how tough the opening match is going to be.