Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, death by suicide, and child abuse.

At Briarbush Academy, the young Benny meets his roommate, Jurgen Speer. Jurgen sits in an armchair with the “air of an evil starship captain in the making” and stares at Benny silently (88). Finally, Jurgen announces that Benny is calm, self-possessed, and therefore special. He warns Benny that Briarbush aims to transform its students into cruel, heartless, entitled leaders. The headmaster’s wife, Mrs. Baneberry-Smith, is the most dangerous staff member because of her background as a scientist and an entomologist. Jurgen explains that his previous roommate, Prescott Galsbury, changed dramatically when he started assisting in Mrs. Baneberry-Smith’s lab. After a month of working for her, Prescott began eating ants, obeying a compulsion that he could not explain. He consumed so much formic acid that his fingernails turned blue. When Jurgen asked what Prescott did for Mrs. Baneberry-Smith, Prescott said that he had been sworn to secrecy and that she had promised to sleep with him if he proved useful and trustworthy.

Jurgen explains that five weeks ago, Prescott was supposedly expelled. However, another student, Mengistu Gidada, claims to have seen Prescott through the window of the lab two weeks ago.