personal-disintegration

Arthur Randolph, a technical manager and arbitrator recently separated from his wife, receives a mysterious invitation from William Fort, founder of the transnational Praxis, to attend a secret seminar on Mars. The chapter details Art's background, his career trajectory from engineering to social arbitration, and his complex personal life, before describing the journey with other Praxis employees to a secluded coastal compound where the seminar will take place. The narrative sets up the intrigue surrounding Fort's reclusive power and the secretive nature of the seminar, highlighting the tension between personal and corporate worlds in a future dominated by transnationals.