“Behind the clouds of the new monsoon, the ancient mainframe Chang rolls too fast across the sky. He's a big guy, but he appears much bigger than he should because his orbit is deteriorating.”

Two facts are established at the outset: First, this is a world where the climate has changed, and second, Chang is both a mainframe and a kind of planet that now orbits the earth. This is the first moment that Chang is referred to as a “he,” in contrast to the feminine Eng.

“The tendril information scales Kora’s got plugged into the single-band halo that circles her head wave gently. For all Chang is so close, the people of Saltwater Flats don't have access to him anymore. Only the citizens of the glass towers in Saltwater City can tap in. As soon as she can afford it, she'll add rings to her halo, or even a full helmet, so she can get wiser quicker. She needs all the help she can get.” 

Information is passed through “scales,” a unique feature of the dystopian universe that Larissa Lai has created in The Tiger Flu. Intelligence, in this universe, is no longer something must necessarily be earned; it can now be bought, sold, or stolen through scales.

“We pretty maids, we Sisters Grist, some call us tub puppets, fuck moppets, matchstick monkeys. Who cares? We will outlive them all, in beds of our own making.”

The Grist Sisters are viewed as provincial outliers by many, but Kiri does not care what others think. She only cares about the longevity of the Grist sisters (“we will outlive them all”) and about living and dying in peace (“we will die in beds of our own making”).