In The Grape, Professor Obligado (who is not yet named in this story) has hit rock bottom in his life, spending his time in an illegal New York City den for Utrom menta-wave addicts, some of which are dead or dying from malnutrition from prolonged use of the psychic enhancement device without bothering to eat. With the device Obligado wears, he sees a strange vision of a single grape lying on a city sidewalk. Realizing that a raid by the New York Police Department is imminent, Obligado removes his headset and walks towards the den's bathroom and jumps out the window. But he realizes too late that the drop is too high and he plummets to the sidewalk below, bouncing off a fruit stand awning before violently ricocheting off a taxicab and rolling onto the sidewalk. The very last thing he sees