Written for readers who have finished Book 1.
The Teilhabe-Pass is Germany's new credential, and its name is the first thing people like about it. Teilhabe means participation, having a share, a place kept for you. The commentators call it Europe's anti-discrimination triumph: one humane paper that means nobody can be left out for want of the right document again. Enrolling is simple. You lay your hand flat on a smooth grey pad and a small green light comes on, and the evening news shows those few seconds over and over. The machines that arrive at the Lydia-Gemeinde are pale and rounded and friendly, like the self-checkout at a nice supermarket, and the church offers its own hall to run the drive.