The ad had hacked its way onto one of the less scrupulous display boards, sandwiching itself between honest-to-goodness, paid for and regulated vids:

Travel to China
Serious $$
Bring your own survival skills

The word China is enough for him. Somewhere far away. Somewhere rumored to be saturated with opportunities, as long as you weren’t picky about what kind. And according to the address on the ad, you only had to be willing to stop by a stranger’s flat in the middle of the slums. That’s fine with him. It can’t be any more dangerous than the place he actually pays to sleep in every night.

That’s how he ends up in her ratty little room, trying to get information about the job. She bowls him over with a simple, “Do you want the money or not?”

Hearing the sum, he nods and clamps his mouth shut.

Then she starts giving orders, and he’s not so sure that he won’t end up in a work camp for this.