A line from an old communist anthem returns to you, a fragment from your reeducation.

An operant of the cosmic plane.

Only a single face! Embarrassing.

He did not, in fact, mean it.

You can nearly make out the sound of sloshing water without the irony to muffle it.

AS THE PEOPLE ARE MOVED TO SERVE THE STATE, LIKEWISE SHALL THEY BE MOVED TO SERVE THE STORY. A RARE POINT OF CONCURRENCE.

The motif of dream-instruction recurs periodically throughout Mircean history and culture, most recently as a weight loss fad.

Your mother once tried it to keep her breasts from sagging.

In the storefront of a one-hour photo shop, a middle-aged woman watches as the fax machine ingests a sheet of paper, then thoughtfully regurgitates it. A moment later a second paper comes out, warm from the machine's laser stylus. She compares the two pages with deep suspicion.

Missteps in the chromosomal dance, without which you and everyone else would still be proteins sloshing about in the primordial soup.

A wariness in his voice. Even now he thinks the Weeping Eye may have ears as well.

Tesoro Buendia. To the Operant Bureau he is the Hundred-Eyed Golem. To La Luz he is the Chief of the Weeping Eye.

An urgent question bubbles to the top of our mind.

A VISION OF HYPERKITSCH, TO BE RESISTED ON POLITICAL, MORAL, AND AESTHETIC GROUNDS.

Ejected from a helicopter over the Noscorrentes.

SOMETIMES THE PEOPLE NEED A VULGAR EXPRESSION OF POWER. FOR THEIR HEALTH.

Any recordings of the event would become highly sought collectibles for certain segments of regime insiders.

He phrases it like he's asking if you'll be over for tea next week. It doesn't hide his desperation.

Syllables -- mangled. Something in his mouth?

As with anything that talks in this city, it is emblazoned with the blue Renotel logo.

Suddenly, so quiet that it's almost imaginary, a muffled pounding answers from the other side.

You already have a name for him, even if it's a fraudulent one.

The outline begins to ripple with colours, gestures, tones. The viscera of voice and name.

You can practically feel the gaffer up in the rigging, guiding the spotlight along your path.

Where is that 'subeditor'? When is she going to spring the trap?

No way out but through. The deal. You're here for the deal.

Something you probably should've figured out before now.

EMTERR, a.k.a. L'Empire sans Territoire, a.k.a. 'The Bank'. Equal parts global development fund and spy service. Linchpin of the Developed World.

THE BLOODY HAND OF TRANSNATIONAL CAPITAL.

His seething anger appears genuine. No false notes in his voice.

We contain mültitüdes.

Here it is, the side deal. First of several, potentially.

There could be yet another angle here. It may be TAXMAN was planning to sell out his new friend at first opportunity.

Wait. A discrepancy, like a false note.

'Extremely rare'. Tingle along arm hairs.

A detail the girl Yana conveniently left out. You need to confront her about this.

The girl Yana is withholding sacred Luzian artifacts from you! This cannot stand.

Is this the sound of the trap springing?

Nothing but the empty space he once deformed.

No sound of movement above, just drops dripping.

At the base of your skull, a tickle in your brainstem.

HALBERD: Zeroed out, 71. ████████: Declared 'null entity', 74. SEDIMENT: Zeroed out, 76. VAPOUR: Lost, 81. COMFORT: Zeroed out, 86.

THE BANKER AND THE SECRET POLICEMAN IN PASSIONATE, TONGUE-HEAVY EMBRACE. THE PEOPLE'S STOMACH TURNS.

Enough chatter. Get out of this place while you're still able.

You can practically hear the fetid water sloshing about his feet.

A shift in his tone. Barely disguised concern.

Underneath his speechifying you detect a melancholic tinge, a shadow on the mirror's surface.

Twenty stories below the surface of Novessa, the double-time click-clack of practical heels down a long hallway. On the desk of a high ranking Opera official, an amber light blinks.

A shiver of electromagnetic interference.

Amidst the violent buzz of fluctuating electrical signals you sense the presence of nearby power lines, servomotors, and radio emitters.

Checks