How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia

The narrator describes all people as bytes of information that are not good at understanding themselves: “We’re all information, all of us, whether readers or writers, you or I” (159). He describes those entrusted with national security to be at the top of the hierarchy of information because they look for ways to defend themselves with information even in times of peace: “What we do know is that information is power. And so information has become central to war, that most naked of our means by which power is sought” (160).

The narrator and his brother-in-law are in an automobile approaching a military policeman who is choosing which vehicles to search. The MP waves him through as he moves into a cantonment, or military garrison. They are led into a building where they meet with a brigadier general, who tells them about “Phase Ten” of a housing project. The homes in Phase Ten will have drinkable water from their taps, and the military is looking for a local water partner to handle the water subsidiary. The narrator agrees to hear the proposal and the general says he will be in touch.

At home that evening, four guards with shotguns patrol the narrator’s property.