Asian Domestic Zone -

The train arrived at her stop. She stepped off. The man remained, his reflection dissolving into the digital koi.

Mei packed her lunch—a bento box designed by the Jia to contain exactly 500 calories, balanced for yin and yang. She worked as a “Domestic Auditor,” reviewing other families’ compliance logs. Her job was to flag anomalies. A husband who bought spicy food when his wife’s constitution preferred mild. A child who studied painting instead of coding. Domestic dissent. asian domestic zone

She took the mag-lev train. The windows displayed soothing animations of koi fish. Everyone stared ahead. No one spoke. Conversation was inefficient. The Jia discouraged it unless scheduled. The train arrived at her stop

But yesterday, she had found a file she couldn't report. A family in Sector 4 had hidden a cat. Pets were forbidden in the ADZ—too messy, too unpredictable, a drain on resources. Yet the grainy footage showed a little girl laughing as a tabby cat knocked over a vase. The Jia had flagged it as Unstructured Joy , a category 3 violation. Mei packed her lunch—a bento box designed by