I leaned down to pick up Dr. Nataraj’s MacFold, which was smashed against the concrete floor. “And there’s her Palm.” It lay a short distance from Dr. Nataraj’s body. The screen on the com device was smashed too—not as if it had been dropped, but like someone had stomped on it. Then I noticed Dr. Nataraj clutched something in her hand. Her arm was curled against her chest, as if protecting it.

The screen control.

I jerked my head toward the wall screen, and the voice finally registered over the rush of panic and confusion. Dr. Nataraj sat in a red leather chair, her hands clasped within the folds of her deep green-and-gold sari. She looked as regal as a queen. “We must do something to change the destructive course we’ve set upon. We must work together to decrease the pollutions we’re pumping into the air we breathe, into the water we drink, into the very soil in which we grow our food. I urge the Taiwanese government to push through the necessary legislation to right the wrong we’ve inflicted upon ourselves. Upon our Mother Earth.” She gazed directly into the camera, dark brown eyes gentle yet forthright. “We are poisoning ourselves. Our planet. Our home,” Dr. Nataraj said emphatically.

The young hostess of the Go, Go, Let’s Chat talk show nodded, then leaned in, crossing her perfect, long legs. “And what do you say to the yous of Taiwan, who manage to lead healthy and long lives in regulated spaces and in their suits? Who contend that no problem exists?”

Dr. Nataraj’s smile was pointed. “That is a poor and temporary solution. I say to all the yous of Taiwan, to all the haves of this world, who believe that you can live in a literal bubble and survive: you cannot. We are all creatures of this earth, of this shared ecosystem.” She raised her hands, which were still clasped, her fingers intertwined. “We are integrated. We’re one. You cannot survive if the ecosystem is dying around you. You cannot hide from the effects of global warming. It’s bad now. I urge that we don’t continue to make it worse locally. It is not too late to change our ways, to alter our course.”

“And how has progress been on introducing legislation to help our environment, Dr. Nataraj?”

Dr. Nataraj’s kind face hardened, her mouth pulling into a tight line. “Harder than I expected. I’ve been trying to encourage the introduction of legislation in the legislative yuan for almost a year, with absolutely no progress. In fact, I have proof that someone has actively worked against implementing these laws.”

The hostess widened her eyes in shock. “Who would do that?”