Antar is a man living in New York sometime in the future. He is nearing retirement, and works for the International Water Council as an analyst. He works from his home because his work is deemed inconsequential. Antar is one of several protagonists in the story, and his investigation of the disappearance of Murugan back in 1995 acts as the catalyst for how the story evolves over time. Antar grew up in Egypt as a boy, graduated from Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, and eventually landed a job at Life-Watch as an analyst. Life-Watch was eventually absorbed by the International Water Council, which is how Antar came to work for them. Antar had moved to New York when he got the Life-Watch job, and together with his wife moved into the apartment he now lives in. However, his wife died many years ago, and many of his neighbors have since moved away. In fact, Antar has lived alone on the fourth floor for four years, until Tara moved into the apartment next door. Antar has therefore lived a rather lonely life for the past few years, save for his evening walks to the donut shop at Penn Station, where he has tea with the owner, and watches movies with regulars like Maria and Tara.