The Echo Library In 2044 the city of Echoless banned personal recordings. The Ministry of Present Harmony declared that saved voices, old videos, and private messages created “temporal drag”—a condition that made citizens dwell on the past instead of contributing fully…

The Color Curfew In 2039 the city of Harmon was painted in only four approved colors. The Harmony Commission had decided that too many hues caused “visual overstimulation,” which led to “unproductive emotional variance.” So they issued the Palette Decree. Houses,…

Breath Credit In 2041, the air in New Pacifica wasn’t free anymore. The Aether Corporation had won the Clean Sky Mandate three years earlier. After the last mega-wildfire season turned half the West Coast into ash and the jet stream carried…