The checkpoint contained a series of hooped ceramic portals for people to walk through; guards stood in front and behind at wide benches. The portals checked people for inorganic objects, and the guards sorted any hidden possessions into piles staked on tables. The number of uncovered watches, rings, and gold must run into the thousands, the piles taller than she was. An autonomous system clicked from a wall to suck the material away, and the system started again. Against the far wall, a surgeon was removing someone’s gold teeth; the table next to him covered. Beyond the benches, people stripped naked, then crossed from sight.