Protagonist Radha Chaudhry addresses the reader as if they were Myrna Semyonova, the young woman that Radha has a crush on.

Radha meets Myrna at a party and is instantly smitten. She is younger than Myrna, who is already studying puppetry at her father’s puppetry college. Radha is intrigued by Myrna, but Myrna thinks Radha is too young. Both young ladies have unique uncanny abilities. Myrna can remove pain from people with just a touch. Radha can speak the language of the ghost that lives in her room. Feeling the need to get to know Myrna, Radha expresses interest in going to the same puppetry school. Radha gets a cheap puppet and prepares for her audition with Myrna’s help. Myrna warns her against a student named Gustav Grimaldi, explaining that his work is “scruffy” and that his puppets have a “nihilistic spirit.”

On the day of the audition, Radha meets Tyche, who is there with a porcelain chess piece that will only ask, “Is your blood as red as this[?]” (111). Radha thinks Tyche is amazing but feels a little intimidated by her. When it’s Radha’s turn to perform, her puppet will only eat sugar cubes and sleep.