In the satellite
Vinod spends the past few months in the internet blackout in the satellite with the Chinese UIs. After attempts to escape from the satellite, Bai Fu suffers the effects of the flaw, as he processed too much while trying to escape. Zhong tells Vinod that it was his fault, but he tells her that he warned all of them that the flaw was real, stating that it's best to save their strength. Zhong tells Vinod that maybe she'd take his strength and give it to Fu, only for Vinod to tell her that combat's no use, otherwise they'd all end up like Fu. Vinod tells her that the only option is to wait until someone on earth establishes a downlink to where they came from. Ping tells Zhong that Vinod's right, making her stay away. Ping asks Vinod to play another game of Xiangqi with him. Vinod expresses feeling tired of games; how tired he is of the "useless" waiting- processing thoughts slowly. Vinod is told by Ping about how he was never one for games himself due to his work and studies as a professor, but came to see their value after he was sent to prison. Ping tells Vinod a lesson about how in capitvity, one must keep their mind active- but not too active, and how Zhong never learned that as she was never sent to prison. Ping tells Vinod to play a game with him. Vinod accepts- but only if he tells him the reason he was locked up. Agreeing to it, Ping and Vinod play Xiangqi as they discuss the circumstances of how Ping was locked up- Vinod initially believes Ping was a democracy activist who was made a political prisoner- only for Ping to tell Vinod that it was what everyone outside of China thinks and that he was sent to prison because as a communist, Ping saw that the Chinese Communist Party had strayed from their roots and became capitalistic- "no better than the West", as Ping says, leading him to speak out against them. Vinod questions Ping on why he'd upload if he didn't serve the Party. Ping tells Vinod that he doesn't serve the party- he serves China. He states that he uploaded because Uploaded Intelligence "has the potential to become this century's greatest leap forward a revolutionary innovation of which neither Marx nor Mao could have dreamed." Ping expresses how as a communist, Uploaded Intelligence could resolve every obstacle for the "proletariat victory", such as scarcity, disparity, and issues with distribution can be solved when the "material imperative" is removed. Vinod and Ping smile at each other as they continue to play.