The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Trillian and Ford wake Zaphod up; the effects of the gas have mostly worn off. The three are standing in the middle of a simulated catalog of what Magrathea has to offer. Zaphod is particularly excited about the planet made of solid gold.

Soon the conversation returns to Zaphod’s severing of certain parts of his own brain. He recalls some of his youthful exploits with a particular impresario, Yooden Vranx. Apparently it was Yooden who told him about the Heart of Gold and it was Yooden’s idea that Zaphod should steal it. Thus, his bid for the presidency was a ruse, the only way in which he could access the unveiling in order to steal the ship with its Infinite Improbability Drive. The problem remains: He still does not know for what reason he wanted to steal the ship. Slartibartfast appears and informs the three that “’[t]he mice will see you now’” (126).

Slartibartfast fills in the gaps for Zaphod, Trillian, and Ford about the original purpose of the custom-designed planet Earth. Arthur adds, “not unbitterly,” that the planet was destroyed approximately five minutes before the calculations were complete (127). Slartibartfast, too, is upset; his fjord designs of Norway, for which he once won an award, are now gone.