I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

In a United States governed by the Department of Balance, wrongdoing is punished with additional shadows, marking people for public judgment and restricting their rights. Kris is living with that stigma while grieving her wife and caring for a newborn who already carries an extra shadow. Exhaustion and shame make early parenthood feel almost impossible, but her child's growing personality begins to create room for a different future. Around them, other outsiders offer forms of support that the state withholds. This speculative novel places an intimate account of grief and caregiving inside a system built on surveillance and unequal punishment. Kris must learn how to raise a child with hope while confronting a society determined to define them both by imposed marks.