Hackworth Crosses the Causeway Into Shanghai Summary

Hackworth crosses the Causeway, a bridge arched between the artificial island of Atlantis/Shanghai and the Pudong Economic Zone, on the outskirts of China's Shanghai. The engineer gazes at the clunky city and wonders what's ahead for him. He is looking for a counterfeiter that has the ability to replicate the Primer's code by hooking to an independent source of material without getting caught.

Hackworth Crosses the Causeway Into Shanghai Analysis

This chapter introduces a new geographical area which will become increasingly important as the story progresses. The old city of Shanghai is wholly different from the artificial island where Victorians like Hackworth live. It is threatening and dangerous, smelly, foggy, and clunky. The chapter also introduces another aspect of the novel: the absence of older common technology and the strange, die-hard habits...