Pale Imitation

In the fictional nation of Kairin, a destitute law clerk driven to despair by a rigged electoral system murders and meticulously replaces a wealthy construction magnate whose influence shaped the gerrymandered districts. As the imposter perfects every surface detail of the dead man’s life, he is drawn into the constitutional crisis surrounding a landmark vote-disparity ruling, only to discover that flawless technical mimicry cannot give substance to a motive that has become a hollow ghost. Gradually, the mask consumes the wearer, and the man who stole an identity loses himself entirely within the skin of the dead.