[Entry for the June Royal Road Community Magazine Contest]

A prisoner named Gemmei is gifted a chance to put her life on a better track after being transferred to the Hibiya Correctional Complex, a lower security prison allegedly intended for less violent offenders. However even though the walls keeping her in are no longer visible, plenty of barriers are in the way that prevent Gemmei from returning to the world she once took for granted. Chief among them is the Houzou Hakkyou, a special tattoo every prisoner in the system receives that alters how they can think and feel through forced sedation. The curse the Hakkyou enforces ensures compliance and docility among the inmates, but as Gemmei finds out, cruelty is born from more than emotion alone.