How old is that boy? Gregor wonders idly. Not a boy — he must be in his twenties, or even early thirties, but he dresses like a teenager rebelling against his parents for the first time, rebelling against taste. The lad must work in one of those new technology industries where the old standards have been dropped. Good luck to him. In a few years, his extended adolescence will rudely come to an end — then he’ll find out about the real world.