Tranh is an older man of Chinese descent who lived in Malaya before his people were massacred, including his entire family; as a result, he and presumably thousands of others have had to uproot their lives and move to Thailand, where their immigration status is represented by yellow cards. They are treated as second-class citizens, terrorized by police, and forced to stand in line to receive even the most dehumanizing of jobs, such as dung shoveler. Tranh sleeps in a stairwell that is clogged with people, but he used to be a scientific scholar. One day, he wakes up late and is at a disadvantage in the job line, but he has nice clothes that set him apart. He meets a young man named Ma on his way to the line. Ma used to work for him back in Malaya, but was such a bad worker that Tranh fired him. Ma moved to Thailand before the massacre and is now well-off, so much so that he has a gold Rolex (which he bought at an antique store, as it used to belong to Tranh). There is extreme tension between the two. Tranh meets his friend Hu in the job line, but does not end up getting employed. Later that night, he runs into Ma, who offers him food. Tranh is very proud and does not want to accept, but he is starving, so he ends up getting dinner with the younger man. Tranh wants an indoor job like the one Ma has. Ma explains that he could not possibly get him a job. He also elaborates about the existence of windups, which are clones that serve as prostitutes and servants. They are said to have no soul and can presumably only be afforded by the very wealthy. The next morning, Tranh is offered some fruit, but he runs away because the red mold (called blister dust) on the surface reminds him of the blood of his family. He gets a job by sheer luck; he unloads potatoes alongside Hu, who got him the job. Tranh has an accident and falls from his ladder, destroying his knee. The megodonts —genetically engineered animals — who carry wagons of potatoes begin to panic and stampede. Hu is killed in the process. Tranh plans to take his life, but on his way to throw himself into the river, he sees a windup. He follows her to a pleasure house and watches as Ma is beaten by police because of his Chinese ancestry. They steal his Rolex and leave him for dead. Ma begs Tranh to save him and forgive him of his pride, but Tranh stabs him in the throat and steals his money, which he uses to hitch a ride to the job line so he can guarantee his own survival.