The novel opens with a soliloquy by a young man named Jonathan Harker. Harker is a manager at a large company in Shanghai. He has been looking for a way to rid the company of a man named garrett, who has been a frequent visitor at the company. He tells Jonathan that he has been trying to get him out of the company for some time, but he has not been able to do so because of his "idiot" nature. He also tells him that he is a lesbian and that his marriage to comeron is just a show.