EXCERPT PART ONE Click. The machine above your head pulsates rhythmically. It reminds you of ocean tides caressing the shoreline of Hualien, male cicadas humming their mating melody, and the buzzing of jaw crushers that rise from their slumber at nightfall. For a split second you wonder whether the machine will pierce through your skull and unleash the chaos in your unconsciousness by wildcat drilling. But no. The machine simply levitates above your head and gazes down at you condescend- ingly. Its presence is a constant reminder that you are malfunctioning; there’s something broken about you that desperately needs fixing. Of course, academia had baptised the glitch inside you with a name so obscure that even the most fastidious acronymist wouldn’t bother to remember. But it was the media that brought your dilemma to public attention by making it into a viral meme: Offload Syndrome …