Chapter One: Spicy Enough to Hear the World Speak

Su Li threw a cushion at her. Outside, morning traffic filled the street with brakes, complaints, and sizzling breakfast oil. She opened her mouth to prove she was perfectly sane when a low rumble passed through the sixth-floor window. “Foolish humans. They tread upon me thrice, then dare polish their shoes on my scales.” Su Li rushed to the window. At the bus stop, a man in a gray suit was being squeezed aboard. His face remained blank, though smoke curled from his briefcase. “Late again,” murmured the camphor tree. “Fourth time this month. His supervisor will eat him.” “Supervisors don't eat people,” said a sparrow on a wire. “His is a spider. She only drinks performance metrics.” The entire city had acquired a second layer of sound.