Bud is a low-level criminal who lives in the outskirts of the Chinese Coastal Republic, Shanghai, China (now lapsed into chaos because of changes brought by nanotechnology). Bud goes to a modification parlor to get a bigger skull gun.

Source Victoria processes polluted air and water to clean them and extract molecular materials that can then be assembled into just about anything; people access this nanotechnology through the Feed and matter compilers that assemble cheap, low-quality goods for anyone who needs them. Source Victoria is the primary source of influence for Atlantis/Shanghai, a clave (enclave) of the neo-Victorian phyle (tribe or affinity group) located in Shanghai, the old stomping grounds of imperial England.

Despite his bigger skull gun, Bud fails to find work.