Summary

At the start of Chapter 22, “Plastics,” Kazumasa and the ball have been recruited to help find new deposits of Matacao plastic. GGG has begun to use Matacao plastic to make magnetized credit cards, known as MCCs, and therefore has “accomplished what no one before had been able to achieve: it had turned plastic into gold!” (142). Soon, matacao plastic is being used in everything, from plastic surgery implants to bridges and skyscrapers. Meanwhile, Kazumasa and the ball are being chased by international spies, who want the ball for themselves. No one knows whether Kazumasa is alive or dead.

In Chapter 23, “Remote Control,” Mané Pena has become the premier academic expert on feathers. However, his wife Angustia has left him and his children have moved to other cities in search of jobs. Lonely and sad, Mané Pena turns to television for...