A person's worth is determined by a single testing device.
Core, support, reproductive compatibility... A handful of categories decide what work you can do, how many rations you receive, and whom you marry.
On the eve of her final review, Sera Ashford discovers the parameters hidden in the device's firmware.
The same hands, measured with a different ruler, belong to a different person.
She refuses to sign.
On the day of the final review, she and Lian, a classmate classified as "support," climb the academy wall and escape, taking only two things with them: a stack of papers stolen from the archives, and a worthless piece of wire.
