On his way home, Spaz cuts through the Maximall, which is an old dilapidated place that used to be full of trade stalls “piled high with jewelry and fancy clothes and mysterious gizmos and lots of shiny things nobody really remembers anymore” (22). Now there are a few stalls, but they’re secured and only used by serious traders. As he walks, he notices a takvee (Tactical Urban Vehicle), or one of the armored, cyber-driven vans used by proovs. Six teks (Technical Security Guards) emerge from the takvee to clear the way for a young female proov who is around 14 to 15 years old.

Proovs always stand out because of their height, beauty, and health. Generally speaking, they dislike “normals” because they serve as reminders of the existence of imperfection. Spaz cannot stop staring, and a tek stops him and brings him to the proov, who asks for Spaz’s name and tells the tek to “provide for him” (24), meaning give him a small bag of provisions. To Spaz, her actions should make him hate her, but he can’t because he understands that nobody can help wanting to be perfect.

Spaz goes home to the Crypts, where he has a small cube with a chunk of foam for sleeping on.