Last winter, I was fixing our colony watchman’s old transistor, the one he brings to the canteen during my break, and he told me how his son got dropped from a district football camp because someone’s cousin needed the slot. The boy had no receipt for the registration fee he paid in cash, and the federation office took three weeks to even answer the phone. Ten years I’ve watched my son study by the light of a single bulb so he doesn’t have to rely on anyone’s cousin — but for the kids who don’t have that option, the whole system is just another way to make sure their fathers keep working night shifts.