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Infernal Affairs and the Ethics of Complex Narrative 157Terminal EthicsThe first fully realized encounter between Yan and Ming occurs in an audioand electronics store where Yan is working (they have already met in thepast as police cadets). Here, Yan demonstrates some stereo equipment forMing. The scene suggests not only two halves of a single system (reinforcedby a symmetrical shot of the two men sitting in front of an array of speakers),but also a union of technological know-how and feeling. While Yanrecommends a high-quality Hong Kong-made tube amplifier, Ming is ableto locate an audio cable that further sweetens the sound of the music.Together, they sit and listen to a Mandarin pop song, connected by theirappreciation for the music and their shared technical knowledge. “In a word,transparent,” says Yan of the amplifier’s sound quality, a comment that reflectsironically upon the mutual opacity of these two characters, neither of whomrecognizes the other as the “mole.” The sense of balance and easy camaraderiebetween these characters inflects them with an air of benevolence,despite the cold and merciless contest in which they are about to engage.Nonetheless, upon their next meeting, much later in the film, Yan asks Mingabout the tube amp he purchased, commenting that it takes time to warmup: a process which, unlike hardwired and cold electronics, overcomes thedivision between information and warmth. Here, the sense of fluid identity– a signal inside a system – is grounded in a kind of “human” warmthand goodness. Yet given their later actions, this “goodness” must be consideredapart from any genuine system of ethics. Both Yan and Ming mustnegotiate complex and interconnected systems of codes, yet neither of themis ultimately able to isolate a code of conduct.Given the lack of a hermeneutic within the film itself, either in theform of a code to live by or of a code to interpret the central characters,the theme of terminal identity thus goes one step further, becoming terminalidentification. For the audience, there is no character who providesa moral center for the film. We may perhaps identify with Yan, but if sowe lose: the “evil twin” wins instead. Yet Yan’s death, paradoxically, thenbecomes the occasion for a final sympathetic investment with his “twin,”Ming. In order to get through the film with our sense of narrative balanceand order intact, we are thus invited to take a pragmatic perspective onidentification – to foster a fluid mode of identification that can match thecharacters’ fluid identities. Although Wong and Sam both inhabit more clearlydefined roles (cop and crook, respectively) than Yan and Ming, both in their