Returning to the oasis, Snake finds that someone has rifled through her belongings, and stolen her journal. Grum, a caravan leader also camped there, says it was the work of a "crazy". Back among the nomads, Arevin decides to go after Snake. Snake crosses the Western desert to the town of Mountainside, where the mayor's son Gabriel asks her to heal the mayor. While staying with them, Snake invites Gabriel to sleep with her, and learns that he impregnated a friend as a result of being improperly taught "biocontrol", and that this led to a difficult relationship with his father. She tells him he can still learn, and suggests he find a different teacher when he leaves Mountainside, as he intends to do.