After removing the bandages, Parker looked into the mirror at an unfamiliar face. He nodded at it, then looked at the reflection of Doctor Adler. Parker had been in the clinic for a little over four weeks. After a conflict with one of the New York syndicates—especially after a daring expropriation of some money belonging to that syndicate, or “the Company,” as they called themselves—Parker urgently needed to change his face. Now, after the operation, it looked nothing like before. For the new visage, Parker paid almost eighteen thousand, and from his earnings only nine remained…