Something about the self-proclaimed merchant's offer compels you to surrender all your hard-earned Jade to her. Perhaps after being allowed some time to relax and think, the gravity of your situation has finally caught up to you as you start to reflect on the recent series of misfortunes afflicting you in quick succession. It could be that the cryptic measure of the girl's words and mannerisms has driven your curiosity over the edge and spurred you into action at last. Or maybe it's just because she was kind of cute, and you want an excuse to see her again.
Whatever the case, you find yourself anxiously tapping on the business card Fu Ji left you later that evening. The card glows, signaling successful activation of the holo-link, and the confines of your room shimmer and shift as you're virtually transported to the digital hub of the informant's office.
The location Fu Ji sent you to doesn't quite look like... however you would expect a supposed informant's office to look like. The sprawling palace before your eyes appears at once frozen in the past and ostentatiously cutting-edge, its impeccably replicated ancient architectural landmarks retrofitted with state-of-the-art technology. Tall, ornate columns rise toward a domed ceiling adorned with intricate patterns and glowing symbols. Holographic displays float in mid-air, projecting data streams and complex diagrams. Fu Ji's "office" is as wealthy and eccentric as its owner is, it seems.
Speaking of the devil, Fu Ji herself has already materialized at the building's front gate, her hands clasped in delight. "Welcome, welcome! It's always a pleasure for the Luck and Fortune Office to receive another customer." A note of amusement glints in her eyes, upon recognizing you. "Well now, look at who has decided to take me up on my offer. Perhaps you're a bit less dim than I gave you credit for."
"Though I have to wonder why it takes you this long to seek out information." She smirks. "You certainly weren't lacking in chances to do so before, albeit from sources lesser than mine - little miss detective, the madame Marshal, and even the rebels themselves... Finally had a change of heart, hmm?"
You don't even know how to respond to that. It wasn't strange for the government officials you encountered to have learned of your misadventures, but the fact that this random woman you just met also knows is concerning, to say the least. Either she is showing off her informant credentials, or you've had a crazy stalker all this time. Possibly both.
Utterly unfazed by your lack of an answer, Fu Ji continues. "Ah, but it hardly matters. In the end, you made the right choice, by being here now... Providing you can pay for your choice, that is." With a flick of her fingers, she draws up a hologram containing your bank account information. She scrolls through the details of your recent Jade deposits, smiling in satisfaction to herself. "Let's see... Not as much as you'll need to afford the full services of our office, but this will do." Then in another unnerving move you're pretty sure constitutes actual daylight robbery, she promptly starts to funnel away most of your earnings without your input. Before you can stop her, Fu Ji confirms the transaction and flicks her fingers again, causing your surroundings to fluctuate and change.
When you blink again, you find yourself in the same spot you were standing, at Fu Ji's office -  but everything is different, somehow. For one, the place appears bereft of any technology and is instead crowded with throngs of people bustling about. Even more strangely, they're all gathering to play physical mahjong with solid tiles, reminiscent of the games you saw the rebels playing not so long ago.  This must be a simulation of the past, and the Luck and Fortune palace was some sort of mahjong dojo of all things, you realize.
Besides you, something like nostalgia flashes across Fu Ji's features for a moment, but it immediately disappears as if you had never seen it. She tilts her head and resumes her usual impish smile. "Here is the knowledge you've paid so dearly for. Enjoy the experience, customer, for you will never see anything like this again." As soon as the sentence finishes, the projection of her image begins to vanish into a stream of pixelated light.
"Wait, at least explain to me what you're going to s-" You instinctively call out and reach towards Fu Ji, but even then you know it'd be futile. Apparently, nearly bankrupting your Jade funds still wasn't enough for her to give you a private tour of whatever this is. You can already feel your regret mounting. You turn around and take in your surroundings, nevertheless, sensing the smell of smoke and the steady stream of chatter among the patrons. At least the immersive tech used in this simulation seems to rival the most well-produced holomovies, allowing you to experience everything in hyperreality. With nothing else to do, you decide to spectate one of the games. The patrons' playstyles are simplistic, heretic, and unusual compared to modern standards, and you're certain one of the players is cheating since he keeps winning even with the most nonsensical moves. Still, you're oddly entertained as you grow more accustomed to their unpredictable ways.
The game cuts off near the end, and the simulation morphs into more different recreations of the past, or at least that's what you think they are. The only history you and most everyone else know is what you're told about the Snow Crash, as much of the records from before were lost or destroyed during the event. Not that the average person has much use for such information anyway. Regardless, you have to admit it'd be pretty impressive if this simulation was remotely factual. You watch the budding One Han City develop and the days of its inhabitants play out, their lives primitive, chaotic, and directionless without the guidance of NAGA, just like their games of mahjong. Despite that they don't seem particularly unhappy, you note - not any more so than people nowadays.
All of a sudden, the idle cityscape dissolves into total darkness, leaving its people to scramble desperately for survival amidst fear and confusion. You immediately understand what this is: the Snow Crash itself. The catastrophic global collapse in which a virus obliterated 90% of Earth's digital data and devices, halting all essential processes and communications overnight. Witnessing it up close is even more terrifying, as you see firsthand how the event led to the loss of millions of lives and the regression of humanity to near Stone Age oblivion.
Then, of course, your despairing predecessors turned to one of their last remaining AIs for a solution, and the miracle that is NAGA happened. Not only did NAGA end the crisis, but it also propelled humanity above and beyond what they could achieve on their own. The images flicker rapidly, showing you the accelerated transformation of Neo One Han City into the neonlit metropolis you know today.
The simulation doesn't stop there, however, and starts to display unfamiliar events in locations you recognize: sporadic raids, clandestine meetings, and violent clashes among the rebels, the police, the administrators, and myriad other groupuscules you can't name. For one sequence, the central square billboards appear hijacked to broadcast some sort of video message, but before you can watch it, the scene cuts away to images of the rebels attacking NAGA's central storage. At another point, the government's human representatives convene under the watchful gaze of NAGA, their hushed, almost indiscernible tones speaking of experimental weapons and mandatory conscriptions from the citizenry. The situation continues to escalate, as more and more people are drawn into an emerging war.
The scenarios shift with increasing urgency, as if building to a climactic tempo. In some of them, the corpses of the rebels litter the street - the cat-eared girl among them, while the surviving insurgents surrender and are hauled off to re-education camps. In certain others, the rebels cheer as they capture and execute the white-haired marshal, her public hanging intended to set an example for their new world order. In a few, the bloodshed drives the city to near annihilation, with the only structures still standing being the forgotten, remote shrines in the suburban outskirts. In almost all of the visions, Neo One Han City, and eventually the world, is headed towards an immense, inevitable conflict; the casualties of which make the Snow Crash look like child's play.
The virtual projection blinks out one final time, and you're back in your room. You check the business card again, which now bears a new message: "I trust that your next decision will be a wise one, dear customer." The sentence auto-destructs the instant you finish reading it, and is replaced with advertisement for a protection service that you can't afford now even if you want to.
Still reeling from what you saw, you're left with more questions than answers. Was that simulation showing you the potential future? You're not sure how much of it you can trust, at that. This could still be an elaborate scam designed to induce panic and rob you of more money. But if it's true, then what can, or should you do? You still don't have the full picture, just cryptic visions. And you're just a normal citizen without resources or connections.
You decide to:
A) Sue Fu Ji for fraud and extortion. This woman cannot get away with ripping you off like this.
B) Seek out more information and possibly advice from other sources.
C) Wait and see as you go back to your normal life. Even if Fu Ji is right, there's not much you can do right now anyway.