We are introduced to Ms. Xi in Section 25 (05.198). Like Minister Voigt, she is one of the fifteen people Grace meets with on the Chinese aircraft carrier.

She is first described as a “woman in a lab coat [who] had been on her phone”.

Just as Minister Voigt is said to speak “with a thick German accent”, Xi is said to speak “with a thick Chinese accent”.

In 05.202 she is address by Stratt as “Ms. Xi” which is when the reader (and apparently Grace) finds out her name.

The following day (Section 26), Grace meets with a smaller group which includes Stratt, Voigt and Xi who the narrator refers to as “the Chinese scientist”. (As we will see in a future beanbag, the other person at this all-important meeting is Dimitri.)

Ms. Xi’s direct speech consists of 12 quoted passages, 139 tokens, and 88 unique words.

She is the only character to say the words ‘reproduced’ and the only person other than the narrator to use the words ‘optimal’, ‘generate’, or ‘remains’.