In this open­ing chap­ter, the pro­tag­o­nist, Mick­ey, finds him­self in dark­ness on a cold stone floor, ques­tion­ing how he end­ed up there. His last mem­o­ries are frag­ment­ed, recall­ing instances of being dropped off at a crevasse and his dis­tract­ed fall into a hole while observ­ing a rock for­ma­tion that amused him, which he likens to a mon­key’s head. The fall has left him injured—his left wrist is swollen and painful. Mick­ey checks for a sig­nal and man­ages to con­tact Berto, who con­firms his pre­car­i­ous predica­ment, acknowl­edg­ing he saw Mick­ey’s mis­step but refus­es to risk a res­cue since Mick­ey is clas­si­fied as an Expendable—a pro­gram designed to replace work­ers when they die.

As the con­ver­sa­tion unfolds, Mick­ey and Berto exchange ban­ter about the absur­di­ty of his sit­u­a­tion. Mick­ey is clear­ly frus­trat­ed that no one will come for him, but he also acknowl­edges the real­i­ties of his role. His thoughts drift to the cold and the like­li­hood of freez­ing to death, a fate he has pon­dered through­out his time on this inhos­pitable plan­et. The nar­ra­tive is infused with a blend of humor and somber intro­spec­tion as Mick­ey reflects on his life, the con­cept of dying, and the nature of iden­ti­ty.

Sud­den­ly, Nasha—a char­ac­ter con­nect­ed to Mickey—contacts him, reveal­ing that she is en route to attempt a res­cue. Her will­ing­ness to help ignites hope in Mick­ey, who nev­er­the­less under­stands the risks involved. As their con­ver­sa­tion con­tin­ues, Mick­ey ulti­mate­ly decides to dis­suade Nasha from com­ing for him, rec­og­niz­ing that he is too deep under­ground to be effec­tive­ly retrieved and that her safe­ty mat­ters more than his own predica­ment.

With a heavy heart, Mick­ey con­cludes that he will not sur­vive this fall and pre­pares for his even­tu­al fate, con­tem­plat­ing freez­ing to death as a method of exit. How­ev­er, his resolve wavers as he sens­es hope in Nasha’s deter­mi­na­tion. The chap­ter ends on an unre­solved note, with Mick­ey grap­pling with the emo­tion­al weight of his poten­tial death and the impact it may have on those he cares about, notably Nasha, whose pres­ence pro­vid­ed a glim­mer of hope amid his dire sit­u­a­tion.