Chap­ter 1 begins with the nar­ra­tor reflect­ing on an unex­pect­ed inter­view for a high-secu­ri­ty posi­tion, one for which they feel com­plete­ly unqual­i­fied. The inter­view is con­duct­ed by Adela, the Vice Sec­re­tary of “Expa­tri­a­tion,” a posi­tion that imme­di­ate­ly hints at the grav­i­ty and unusu­al nature of the role. Adela, with her eye patch and hay-like blond hair, abrupt­ly inquires about the narrator’s Cam­bo­di­an her­itage, bring­ing up their mother’s expe­ri­ence as a refugee. This inquiry sparks a con­ver­sa­tion about ter­mi­nol­o­gy, where Adela reveals her pref­er­ence for the term “expats,” despite the com­plex and trau­mat­ic his­to­ry it implies for those dis­placed. The nar­ra­tor shares that their moth­er, although a refugee, nev­er iden­ti­fied as such, high­light­ing the deep com­plex­i­ties of iden­ti­ty and how it’s shaped by soci­etal expec­ta­tions. This exchange sets the tone for the chap­ter, explor­ing the nuances of cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty and how lan­guage influ­ences per­cep­tion.

As the con­ver­sa­tion pro­gress­es, it’s revealed that the British gov­ern­ment has suc­cess­ful­ly devel­oped time trav­el tech­nol­o­gy. Their inten­tion is to extract indi­vid­u­als from key his­tor­i­cal moments, such as wars and epi­demics, to pre­serve his­to­ry and pre­vent any alter­ation of the past. The nar­ra­tor is cho­sen to assist in this unortho­dox project, tasked with serv­ing as a “bridge” to help these time-trav­el­ing “expats” adjust to con­tem­po­rary life. This role is not just about facil­i­tat­ing their tran­si­tion but also ensur­ing their rights are main­tained under con­stant sur­veil­lance. The project, while ground­break­ing, rais­es pro­found eth­i­cal ques­tions about the inter­sec­tion of tech­nol­o­gy, his­to­ry, and human rights. The narrator’s excite­ment grows as they real­ize this job offers a chance to break free from their stag­nant posi­tion as a trans­la­tor spe­cial­iz­ing in South­east Asia, even though they still grap­ple with the impli­ca­tions of the role.

The ten­sion among the staff regard­ing ter­mi­nol­o­gy inten­si­fies as the dis­cus­sion turns to the project’s true philo­soph­i­cal weight. The choice of words used to describe the dis­placed indi­vid­u­als speaks to broad­er debates about iden­ti­ty, his­to­ry, and the human con­di­tion. The nar­ra­tor reflects on their own child­hood ambi­tions, which were shaped by their mother’s hopes for them to find suc­cess. While the role in the “Expa­tri­a­tion” project may not be exact­ly what they envi­sioned as a child, it aligns with their per­son­al her­itage and the skills they’ve devel­oped. As the nar­ra­tive con­tin­ues, it becomes clear that the job rep­re­sents both a pro­fes­sion­al chal­lenge and a per­son­al jour­ney, one that involves under­stand­ing and accept­ing the com­plex­i­ties of their cul­tur­al back­ground. The rela­tion­ship between lan­guage, iden­ti­ty, and the soci­etal struc­tures they nav­i­gate is explored in depth, reveal­ing how words can define, reshape, or even obscure per­son­al real­i­ties.

The nar­ra­tive takes a turn when the meet­ing shifts to an urgent brief­ing about their first expat, Com­man­der Gra­ham Gore, a man pulled from the 19th cen­tu­ry. His arrival is marked by a dis­tinct pres­ence, as he strug­gles to com­pre­hend the con­tem­po­rary world he has been thrust into after being extract­ed from a piv­otal his­tor­i­cal moment. Gore, like many expats in this unique project, is caught between two worlds—his own past and the future he is now forced to nav­i­gate. The narrator’s role becomes even more com­plex as they must help him adjust to mod­ern life, intro­duc­ing him to con­tem­po­rary cus­toms, tech­nol­o­gy, and soci­etal norms. This inter­ac­tion sparks moments of humor and deep reflec­tion, as both the nar­ra­tor and Gore try to under­stand each other’s vast­ly dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives. The jux­ta­po­si­tion of Gore’s his­tor­i­cal con­text and the narrator’s mod­ern world­view opens the door for a rich explo­ration of his­tor­i­cal trau­ma, cul­tur­al adap­ta­tion, and the chal­lenges that come with assim­i­lat­ing into a world that feels alien. As the chap­ter unfolds, it becomes clear that the con­nec­tion between these two char­ac­ters will dri­ve the nar­ra­tive for­ward, high­light­ing the com­plex­i­ties of iden­ti­ty, dis­place­ment, and the search for belong­ing.