taxi dropped t top end of ters of European broone buildings t o ty’s colonial past. Z antly cropolis of Pudong, rom of neon, ves, myriad flyovers and ty alive. t Cald stood on t in front of one of tyle buildings and stared at to come  to test run Kenzo Yamamoto’s console before dealing  folloo tal oo dangerous. It er to sneak in and catchem by surprise.

    Gleaming toeel and concrete disappeared into a smog-filled sky, to be noticed. Giant robotic cranes moved slo to crasless Ces pulsated in t, tra-modern version of y s  if you pointed an augmented reality unit in any direction it ime capsule of trian and veraffic of Zical traffic on t-refracting steel and glass of Pudong, and ters and ot traversing t difficult not to be over unmistakable feeling of déjà vu.

    “I have been here before,” Caldwell said finally.

    “hardly surprising Cad.”

    “But I  at all, just t I have been here before.”

    “Let’s cross over to ted riverside promenade.”

    “Yes, let’s see  boasting idly or t there.”

    tunnel and emerged on t vieing black expanse of ta really  close to tour ferry piers and Cald on tche console on.

    “ can you see?” Mei Lin asked ing excitement. Calding fast too. t exciting t his eyes on.

    “Em, not tside.” urned o picking up any networks.

    “Maybe you are supposed to issue a command or someted. t  c and o her shoulders.

    “Maybe. Augmented Reality Mode,” Caldo the goggles.

    “?”

    “Not issuing a command to the console. OK, we have an AR overlay.”

    ticated augmented reality data. transparent, sernal structures. text labels described tions in t exist in real life. Virtual advertising.

    tem notified Cald t along a muddy erfront. For a ropolis allest buildings in tion space for more ts. t ely doailed information about truction of t you could manipulate telligent buildings in t like Lego to understand tioned.

    “Anyteresting?” Mei Lin asked again. A note of impatience was growing in her voice.

    “Standard AR stuff. ait a minute.”

    Cald t exteriors of t been paying attention to ttom rig it appeared t tecting several net of to be corporate networks.

    “You hing?”

    “Yes, to be cycling t ected in ty. t given ty of the sheer number of skyscrapers.”

    “ell, t’s good. At least if t would be picked up.”

    “Exactly. It seems to be giving t most are green.”

    “Maybe the red ones. Inaccessible.”

    “Let’s  till it loops t if it is actually not simply detecting available net actually looking for twork?”

    “t’s possible.”

    “ ...  ...”

    “?”

    “It’s ted. tioned skyscrapers in Pudong  superimposed on top of totally ne tal-clear gray sky ly-lit stars ting  intermittently criss-crossed te streaks in the gray expanse.

    Cald believe ance, on tly undulating surface of ts ransformed into beautiful marine craft rendered in stunning t people on tance. urned round to face t ill t ts, turned to ook off taring into Mei Lin’s dark eyes. Cald.

    “You look like you just became a fat time.”

    “Close, Mei Lin, close. take a look at t it on and h opened in disbelief.

    “oing ty degrees as sook it all in.

    “Impressive isn’t it?” Caldwell said, smiling.

    “Sure. You ts but I’ve never seen bots move like t. Avatars. to be actually doing somethey have a sense of purpose.”

    “Yeah.”

    “toual buildings in Pudong. I don’t they can see us.”

    “I guess t like an observation  t see you because  actually part of twork,” Caldwell said.

    “I am going to take a closer look,” Mei Lin said, ohe river.

    “No. It’s too dangerous.  you are seeing may not be an exact matc. e don’t  you in t t is empty. too. Imagine trying to cross t road he glasses on. You’d be road kill in seconds.”

    “I see  makes me his?”

    Cald about tion for a  find a suitable ans seemed a s t to destroy or booby-trap tec because it  invented te virtual reality systems before but not one t overlapped tion grap t t at all,  any discernable lag, estament to its computing po t e  it could never be opened, erred y da it before.

    “t is all about.”

    “?”

    “It’s not an elaborate testing ground. I bet tually  is some kind of digital economy ock markets, electricity grids, air traffic navigation systems and computer-controlled industrial plants. ts o work.”

    “testing ground for inct note of appreo her voice.

    “For ting to tep to making sure it does  is supposed to do.”

    “And ? Don’t say hinking,” Mei Lin implored.

    “to control cyberspace.”