
In Arochukwu, every step is measured. Nnennaya leaves her grandmother’s apartment with ration slips, a satchel, and one rule: set your pace before the city sets it for you. Surveillance drones scan, markets tighten under new curfew orders, and scanners breathe their own rhythm. At school, a flicker in the lights and a voice split in two hint at dangers beneath the ordinary. For Nnennaya, the smallest choices—how she walks, breathes, and carries—decide whether she stays invisible or draws the city’s eyes.