desert-environment

The chapter opens with Bard Lane driving through the New Mexico desert at night, reflecting on the harshness of the sun and the resilience of the native people. He is accompanied by Sharan Inly and a sleeping prisoner in the back seat, and they stop at a roadside bar where the atmosphere is lively despite the weariness of the travelers. The chapter juxtaposes the brutal natural environment and cultural memory with a contemporary, somewhat decayed society marked by media saturation and social unrest.