Yasuko-s Quest -v.2021-09-17-mod1- -hiep Studio- -

The koi opens its mouth. Inside, instead of teeth, a spinning reel of fiber-optic cable, glowing gold.

Yasuko wades through knee-deep water that smells of rust and jasmine. Above her, suspended in tanks of murky brine, swim the oaths people broke. Each one is a translucent fish, shaped like a folded letter, moving in slow, sad circles. Her mother’s oath is the largest: a koi the size of a motorcycle, missing one eye. Yasuko-s Quest -v.2021-09-17-MOD1- -Hiep Studio-

It is “Run.”