Dai Xian

Biodata

Background and History

Dai Xian worked as an information broker between the upper and lower strata. She later admitted that she had betrayed the teacher who set her on that path and killed someone who had saved her 9.

She found Luciano’s son Sydney when he was about three and initially raised him as a resource rather than out of affection. She placed him in the relatively stable Lower Eighteenth District, but stopped paying attention to him after deciding he was of no use to Tangqi and would be a threat to Luciano 11 12.

Capture and alliance with Chu Zu

Luciano’s people caught Dai Xian after she spread a rumor about Esposito and met with rebels. She was tortured before being brought bound into Luciano’s office, where Hankao accused her of betrayal. Luciano shot Hankao, and Chu Zu obtained permission to take the injured Dai Xian with him 7 8.

After treatment, Dai Xian recovered at one of her Upper District homes. Chu Zu offered her the choice to find Tangqi, but she chose to stay, admitting that she did not want to die and could not obtain Tangqi’s password. She secretly gave Chu Zu Sydney’s name and location, and they destroyed the written messages afterward 9.

Life with Sydney

After Dai Xian revealed Sydney’s existence, Chu Zu brought him to live with them and left Dai Xian to care for him. She helped establish the story that Sydney was Chu Zu’s child and warned him to speak to her privately about sensitive matters. Sydney’s confession that he did not want to die softened her attitude toward him 11 12.

When Chu Zu later returned home convulsing, Dai Xian recognized that Luciano had activated a device in his body. She tried to help him, then took Sydney to the bedroom after Chu Zu told her to stay away and watch the boy 13.

Appearance

Luciano describes Dai Xian as beautiful. After her treatment, she looks much younger than the age on her ID when she is not wearing makeup 8 9.

• Facial features: Fine wrinkles are visible at the corners of her eyes on close inspection 9.
• Post-treatment appearance: She wears a loose white dress and no makeup; although her injuries have been physically repaired, she is initially too shaken to stand from her wheelchair 9.

Personality

Dai Xian is a pragmatic, adaptable broker who presents herself differently to different people. She regards her profession as a marginal one: useful to both sides but secure in neither. She thinks poorly of both Luciano and Tangqi, whom she considers a pathological idealist willing to let others die for his ideals 9 12.

Her decision to stay with Chu Zu is driven partly by her desire to survive, despite finding him frightening. She recognizes his ambition to claim what Luciano promised him and commits valuable information to his cause; Chu Zu interprets her disclosure of Sydney as an exceptionally high-stakes gamble 9 10.

Dai Xian can be stern with Sydney, especially when he rummages through her intelligence. Although she originally treated him as a resource and admits to little affection for him, his fear of death moves her to comfort him 12 13.

Abilities and Skills

Information brokering

Dai Xian maintains contacts and gathers intelligence across social boundaries. Luciano calls her capable, and Chu Zu considers her a highly capable accomplice 8 11.

• Intelligence gathering: She discovered Luciano’s hidden son and monitored the upper class while Sydney lived in District 18 9 11.
• Networks: She built information networks in the Upper District and had contacts in the lower district, though Jeeves later reported that she had abandoned her networks and refused lower-district contact 10.
• Discretion: She used written notes to share sensitive information with Chu Zu because his implant could listen, then destroyed the notes with him 9.
• Limits: She told Chu Zu she could not obtain Tangqi’s password, believing he would not surrender it even under threats against the Lower District 9.

Relationships

• Chu Zu — Rescued her from Luciano and offered her a choice of where to go. She stayed, shared intelligence about Sydney, and became his ally and housemate, though she finds him frightening 8 9.
• Luciano — A former associate who said they had trusted each other for years. He accused her of betrayal and had her tortured; he later promised Chu Zu to leave her alone 7 9 10.
• Sydney — Luciano’s son, whom she found and initially raised as a potential resource. She later cared for him in the Upper District and became more sympathetic after he confessed his fear of dying 11 12.
• Tangqi — A potential alternative ally whom Chu Zu offered to help her find. Dai Xian declined and said she could not obtain his password 9.
• Her teacher — The person who set her on the path to becoming an information broker; she says she later betrayed them 9.