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She pulled her small Ray-Ban sunglasses partway out of her shoulder bag and took three thousand-yen bills from her wallet. Handing the bills to the driver, she said, 'I'll get out here. I really can't be late for this appointment.'
The driver nodded and took the money. 'Would you like a receipt?'
'No need. And keep the change.'
'Thanks very much,' he said. 'Be careful, it looks windy out there. Don't slip.'
'I'll be careful,' Aomame said.
'And also,' the driver said, facing the mirror, 'please remember: things are not what they seem.'
Things are not what they seem, Aomame repeated mentally. 'What do you mean by that?' she asked with knitted brows.
The driver chose his words carefully: 'It's just that you're about to do something out of the ordinary. Am I right? People do not ordinarily climb down the emergency stairs of the Metropolitan Expressway in the middle of the day - especially women.'
'I suppose you're right.'
'Right. And after you do something like that, the everyday look of things might seem to change a little. Things may look different to you than they did before. I've had that experience myself. But don't let appearances fool you. There's always only one reality.'
Aomame thought about what he was saying, and in the course of her thinking, the Janáček ended and the audience broke into immediate applause. This was obviously a live recording. The applause was long and enthusiastic. There were even occasionally calls of 'Bravo!' She imagined the smiling conductor bowing repeatedly to the standing audience. He would then raise his head, raise his arms, shake hands with the concertmaster, turn away from the audience, raise his arms again in praise of the orchestra, face front, and take another deep bow. As she listened to the long recorded applause, it sounded less like applause and more like an endless Martian sandstorm.
'There is always, as I said, only one reality,' the driver repeated slowly, as if underlining an important passage in a book.
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