CHΔPTER EIGHT

I waited outside in Liberty Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall with throngs of other people. About one in ten in the crowd was suited. I’d never seen so many yous gathered in one place outdoors before, but Jin had made a nationwide broadcast via the news stations, com sys, and undernet that he was giving a big announcement here today—one that would change our lives forever. Yous in their suits mingled with meis in the crowds. Dozens of guards ringed the square, their tasers conspicuous at their hips. They were dressed in dark green uniforms, and their shirts all bore Jin Corp’s insignia—the calligraphic character for “gold.” News crews were stationed near the very front at the bottom of both flights of white steps, their cambots trained on the plaza above us that led into the hall’s main entrance.

The memorial hall park was immaculately kept as a symbol of Taiwan’s status. No grime or pollution covered the white garden walls that enveloped the park, nor the beautiful and brightly colored buildings within it. The park and hall used to be open to the general public, but too many bums were making their homes among the lush grass and colorful flower beds, so the government decided to open the park only on certain days of the year, or for special occasions such as this one. I’m sure Jin gave a large “donation” to make this happen.

It was a cold morning in January, and the pristine white walls of the hall with its double-tiered octagonal roof tiled in dark blue stood out dramatically in contrast against our smudged brown winter sky. My views and hearing were unobstructed by my glass helmet, as if I wore nothing over my head at all, but even though I could move in it and my sleek suit with ease, I still somehow felt separated from the rest of crowd. Many meis coughed on the outer edges of the square, a thick, hacking cough that made me shudder to hear it, and I was glad that I had my suit on, so I wouldn’t catch their illness. The unbidden thought was followed by disgust and self-loathing that it came so easily—so automatically. It was so easy to be you. And to lack and want were the complete opposite: hard, cold, unrelenting, and hollow.