Then a side door opens and in steps a man, a norm, Chinese. Machiko knows him as Lau Tsang, the League's chief of enforcement. He looks rather like a corporate finance officer. His suit is gray and black and conservatively cut. He comes alone to show that he is not afraid. He moves to the side of a desk that appears hewn out of black marble and, affecting a casual manner, lights a cigarette. He hold Machiko's gaze for the space of two long drags on the cigarette, then says, "You're the chief Serpent now."