He, She and It

Avram insists that they have no choice but to hack into the Y-S computers and learn about the multi’s plans, while also leaving behind malicious programs. Yod, Shira, and Malkah must go but Nili cannot, as her people have no understanding of the Net or cyberspace. Shira receives a secure message from Ari, which Yod enhances, allowing them to distinguish the voice in the background. Shira hears Josh reluctantly tell Ari to speak to the machine; Josh receives orders from an unknown person who wants Shira to return. Later, Shira and Nili talk about Gadi. Coming from a community without men, Nili view Gadi as an experiment. With Malkah and Yod, Shira recalls everything she can about the Y-S system. The night before they enter the system, they dine together at Malkah’s house. Malkah talks about her appreciation of kabbalah as well as science, as she finds “different kinds of truth valuable” (278). She and Avram discuss philosophy. Yod and Shira hold hands beneath the table.

Judah sends Joseph to deliver a gift to Prince Bertier. Inside is an expensive emerald ring, meant only for the Prince. Joseph goes to the Prince’s home and is repeatedly kept waiting. Long after sunset, he is summoned into an extravagant bedroom. Here, he is made to wait again. Finally, the Prince enters and Joseph presents the gift and an accompanying note. The Prince wears the ring, reads the note, and says that he will “see what I can do” (283). Joseph is shown to the door and, frustrated, he walks back to the ghetto. Four armed men try to mug him. They attack and Joseph beats them with ease, satisfied at fulfilling his purpose. He kills them all; he could not help himself nor could he stop. He arrives home and talks to Judah, who tells Joseph that he is too strong and powerful to make mistakes and sends him back out on patrol.

Shira, Malkah, and Yod plug into the Net. Yod cycles through self-projections, selecting a disguise. The others follow suit and then they travel to the Y-S base, hidden among regular comms data. They travel through the projection, dodging traps and deceptions, trying to delve deeper into the system. As they move, Malkah tells a story about visiting the Prague catacombs with Shira’s grandfather. Yod instinctively knows how to combat the system’s defenses, so he leads. When Malkah is attacked, he defends her. Yod teaches Shira and Malkah to change their projected shape to deal with the various defensive chimeras; they must “accept their metaphors and incorporate them” (293). They arrive in a command center and begin to read through files, searching for what they need. Yod finds what they need but Shira insists on finding the personnel files for herself, Josh, and Ari. Once found, they must leave. As they escape, Malkah leaves behind destructive worms and viruses. Battling against the defenses, they reach the comms channel once again and leave the Y-S base. They unplug in the lab and Shira, exhausted, falls instantly asleep.

After waking, Shira visits the synagogue to say Kaddish for Riva, accompanied by Yod. Avram is analyzing all of the stolen data while the others relax on a hillside and talk. Avram divides the data, assigning each person a respective part to read. Shira reads through the personnel records she stole, including those belonging to her mother. Riva is “labeled a dangerous radical” (302) while Shira is described as being dangerously over attached to Malkah. All of her communications with Avram have also been noted. She finds talk of a mysterious transfer in which she is involved, which Y-S is keen to encourage. Her divorce is also discussed, decided in advance, and Shira learns that she has been purposefully held back in her career.

Yod breaks from his study to announce that he and Avram are the real targets of Y-S, who have deduced that Avram has made a breakthrough in his work on cyborgs. Shira realizes that she was intended to be a spy in Tikva; Y-S had tried to manipulate her relationship with Ari to compel her to reveal everything, but they failed. Now that Y-S’s intentions are known, the group try to figure out what they themselves want. Most agree on Ari being returned and the town retaining its independence. They argue and Malkah suggests that they get some rest. When they return the next day, Nili announces that she intends to travel to the Glop, accompanied by Gadi. She intends to contact resistance forces that live in the slums. Gadi is certain that he knows the Glop and that he has millions of adoring fans there. Yod offers to go with them; Shira believes it to be part of a plan to liberate Ari. Shira knows that she too must go. 

Malkah is experiencing insomnia. She mourns Riva and worries about Shira and Yod in the Glop. In Prague, Joseph intercepts two men sneaking into the ghetto with a body. Joseph fights but does not kill the men. He takes them, with the body, to the magistrates. On his way home, he encounters Chava. She knows about his true nature. They talk despite the hour, Chava describing her lack of interest in marrying again even though she has many suitors. After the death of her husband, she left her son with her in-laws and moved back to Prague. She talks about her dream of visiting Eretz Israel and joseph understands that it is very far away. She invites him to share the dream. He agrees and Chava says that they may go after Judah is dead. Chava does not want to marry Joseph, so he offers her his friendship and says that he “would die” (315) for her, if he could die. He declares his love for her as the town begins to wake.

Shira discovers that Nili’s presence makes being in Gadi’s constant company tolerable. He is so desperate to impress Nili that he forgets to flirt with Shira. The slums of the Glop are overwhelming to the uninitiated Nili and Yod. When a local gang tries to jump them, Nili and Yod defeat the gang members with ease. They run away, flagging down a cab and Gadi haggles in the local dialect. When dropping them off, the cab driver asks for a picture with the celebrity Gadi. They catch another cab across a different gang’s territory until the vehicle is caught in a giant metal net. Nili announces that they have arrived in the right place. After initial skepticism, they are taken to see Lazarus, the leader of the rebel enclave. They are taken to an abandoned restaurant that has become a military headquarters. Shira sees a small black man depicted on a mural and, after a confrontation between the rebels and Nili, that same man appears before them; it is Lazarus. Shira recognizes Riva’s voice, coming from the mouth of a regular 45-year-old woman. She faked her own death because she is “more nuisance alive” (325). Frightened and confused, Shira followed the others deeper into the base.

Shira feels “emotionally abused” (326) following her mother’s sudden resurrection. An unknown body was used to fake the death. She knows that her mother will never understand the emotional ramifications of what has happened. Gadi suddenly seems to be nervous; Riva seems to disconcert him and his worldview. They are given a tour of the base, shown where food is grown (in large vats) and the tiny cubicles where people live. Lazarus holds court. Unlike his guards, he has no artificial enhancements to his body. They discuss their shared goals: The gang wants to take on the multis and bring power to the people of the Glop. Lazarus has an idea for a union of gangs to take on the multis and share the profits equally. After the meeting, Shira and Nili talk about Riva. Nili considers her an inspirational prophet. As they bed down for the night, Yod and Shira also talk about Riva. As Gadi and Nili have sex on the other side of the room, Yod and Shira formulate a plan to get Ari back.

For Judah’s entire life, he helped avert pogroms against Prague’s Jewish population. Before and after him, there were regular massacres. Judah receives word that the emperor is doing what he can to prevent violence but he cannot stop Thaddeus from leading a procession on Good Friday, a procession that will arrive at the gates of the ghetto. All such people in a precarious situation can do is pray, Malkah suggests. Joseph reinforces the ghetto walls and forms an impromptu militia. His rallying cries fall on many deaf ears, however: Even those who want no part of the fighting are willing to help build barricades on Judah’s instruction. Those who can learn how to wield weapons. Judah commands his people like a general, which fascinates Joseph. The innocents are hidden away inside the synagogues. Should the doors be breached, the women know that they are to kill themselves. Chava decides that she would rather die with the fighters, if she must die. Joseph watches her carefully and wonders whether he is capable of dying. Soon, they hear the sound of the procession. The emperor has stationed 50 soldiers outside the ghetto gate. Judah delivers a rousing speech.