Floor 23 of EUB, open-plan corporate collections office with glass partitions, beige carpet, chrome filing cabinets, fluorescent ceiling panels, rain-dark Neo-Hangzhou beyond windows. Lin Ahn sits upright at a sleek workstation, face fully

Top panel: sleek EUB corporate lobby, black marble wall, a circular brass plate about three metres across mounted high and slowly rotating, fine vertical columns of etched ideographs too small to read; employees pass beneath it as if it is

Top panel: EUB pantry with steel espresso machine, frosted glass wall, Cao standing beside it with his 3/4 face visible to camera, wire-frame glasses and brass lapel pin clear; Lin Ahn faces him in profile. Bottom panel: Cao's hand passes a

Panel 1: close-up of printed case summary clipped in Ahn's folio, exact text visible: "DEBTOR: SU MEI" "QIANTAN UNIV" "RECOMMENDED CONTACT TONE: ACCOMMODATING". Panel 2: close-up of Ahn's left wrist as she adjusts the folio, tiny square cas

Interior of a near-future JIUDU TRANSIT metro car, rain streaming down dark windows, West Lake holographic lotus banners and skybridges blurred outside. Lin Ahn stands by the door holding the overhead rail with one hand and her folio with t

Top panel: MOONFRAME coffee shop storefront under heavy rain, fictional sign glowing over wet pavement, no real-world brands; nearby signs only HANGZHOU LANTERN and JIUDU TRANSIT. Bottom panel: inside, Su Mei sits alone at a corner table, f

Top panel: Ahn sits opposite Su Mei at the corner table, Ahn relaxed with folio on her lap, Su Mei slightly hunched, both 3/4 faces visible. Bottom panel: Ahn's matte black business card on the table beside two coffee cups, exact text visib

Panel 1: close-up of Su Mei's hands worrying the coffee sleeve, clean nails, nervous fingers. Panel 2: close-up of Ahn's cool grey eyes watching over the rim of her cup. Panel 3: Su Mei touches the small silver moon pendant at her throat, s

Top panel: Ahn leans in slightly, professional smile, Su Mei listening with shoulders easing. Bottom panel: tablet on table displaying a payment-plan contract with exact text: "EUB PAYMENT ADJUSTMENT AGREEMENT" "FUNERAL LOAN — INSTALLMENT 1

Top panel: Su Mei signs the tablet with a stylus, face lowered in concentration, Ahn's pleasant smile visible across the table. Bottom panel: under the cafe table, inside Ahn's black folio, her left thumb presses a small brass coin against

Top panel: Su Mei stands near MOONFRAME door, hood up, bowing slightly with anxious gratitude, face 3/4 visible; rain and fictional street signs outside. Bottom panel: Ahn sits alone at the corner table, folio closed beside cold coffee, wat

Ahn alone in MOONFRAME corner booth, leaning back with one hand around a cold coffee cup, folio tucked safely against her thigh, magenta and cyan rain-light striping her face. The signed tablet lies dark on the table. Cafe menu and cup bran