“And knowing what I know about viruses,” Arun added, “Jin’s suits can’t guarantee the wearer from getting sick. Look what happened to Zhou. Viruses will find a way.”

“We’re getting shafted from all sides.” I felt rage swell along with all the emotions I had tried to suppress when the girls’ lives were in danger.

“Not if we can help it,” Victor replied. “The warehouses aren’t even guarded, according to my source. It’ll be easy enough for us to break into those sites and administer the antidotes.”

“We can take to the streets, too, set up discreet ‘vaccination’ stations,” Arun said.

Lingyi nodded. “Iris and I are out, but I can monitor news of the flu on the undernet. Track where it spreads on top of Victor’s contacts.”

“I can help on-site,” I offered, but Lingyi shook her head.

“We can’t risk you blowing your cover, Zhou. Better to keep away in case someone recognizes ‘Jason.’ ” Lingyi yawned, looking wan and exhausted, and Iris put her arm around Lingyi’s shoulders, hugging her close. Iris’s platinum hair contrasted like a lick of white flame against Lingyi’s deep purple. “Victor and Arun can handle this,” Lingyi said.

“I could use Zhou’s help,” Arun replied. “I’ve asked for two more hazmat suits at my lab, so you won’t be able to see his face clearly anyway. With a third person, we’d be able to move faster and save more lives.”

“I want to,” I added. “I promise to be careful.”

Lingyi studied both of us in turn, then agreed with reluctance. “Because it’ll save more lives,” she repeated. Although she’s the one who knew the most about my past, I had never gone into detail regarding my mother’s death. But Lingyi nodded to me once, and I suspected she knew how much this meant to me personally.

I bumped fists with Arun, glad I could actively help the sick meis and contribute. I thought of the memoir Grass Soup. Zhang endured decades of prison and labor camps during the Cultural Revolution and did everything he could to survive—including eating grass soup.

I knew that the Taiwanese people’s will was strong—that we endured. But we needed at least a fighting chance.

CHΔPTER FOURTEEN

We decided to meet Arun on campus at his lab the next evening, giving ourselves some time to rest, and also time to manufacture more antidote.

I was exhausted and headed back home to sleep. Long moments passed before I realized I thought of my apartment in the 101 as “home” now.