As a swarm of Monkey Boys chase them, the trio is driven in a takvee by a group of teks toward the Pipe. The takvee is high-tech and comfortable, with reinforced walls. Spaz says some of the most expensive takvees have their own intelligence. Ryter reveals he was bluffing regarding Mongo, which makes Spaz realize the old man did the same thing to him when they first met. Spaz thinks of Bean and the blood sickness, wondering how she is feeling right now. Then Spaz lies to Little Face in an attempt to calm him down, telling him there are stacks of choxbars where they’re headed.

After the teks dump them out of the takvee, they have to climb the rubble up to the Pipe, which Little Face does first. He reports back that it’s safe in that the Pipe feels familiar, predictable, and "not the least bit scary" (88) as compared to Mongo’s lair. Ryter quotes Robert Frost and introduces Spaz to “literary immortality,” explaining that once something is written down, "part of you lives forever" (89). Spaz thinks about the Pipe as having “moods like a living thing.