Summary

Pages 173 – 197: Bruno is picked up by Tira Harpaz, who admits that Stolarsky is worried about a possible affair between herself and Bruno. She says nothing to rule out this possibility. After being dropped off at his apartment, Bruno goes back to Kropotkin’s Sliders, where the employee expresses his strong dislike for Stolarsky, implying that he thinks Stolarsky is a greedy capitalist. The employee reveals that he is Bruno’s neighbor in the Jack London apartment building. Later, Bruno visits the employee whose name is revealed to be Garris Plybon, in Plybon’s apartment. There, Bruno re-encounters Beth Dennis (the clerk from Zodiac Media) and her girlfriend Alicia. They all claim to be anti-Stolarsky anarchists. They inquire about Bruno’s life, and he says he has a girlfriend in Berlin. They offer to pay for a plane ticket to California for her out...