The chapter opens with a description of a family of animals that went extinct some 23 million years before humans. The narrator explains that the animal is called arsinoitsheriidae and that it is a close relative to the elephants and dugongs. The animal is described as having a shoulder height of 2m, a body length of 3m, and a height of 10m. It is believed to have gone extinct about 23m ago inote. Akira asks why she is suffering from the same disease as the other animals, and the narrator tells her that she is the only one who is not sick. She kneels before him and explains that they have only just determined the cause of their symptoms. She tells him that she wants to show him an animal that is the same size as a squirrel, and she explains that it eats the red berries, which mariya has brought with her. She says that the animals are getting red eyes from eating the berries, but she has not noticed that they are different from the ones at the lake. She asks why they are eating red berries at all, and he says that they would not be mistaken to think that the berries contained some poison. He explains that if they eat the flowers, they will be able to maintain their normal health.