Interview Recording Transcript
Subject: Azumi Kisaragi
Classification: Fox-Type Demi-Human
Status: Registered Domestic Dependent
Recording Authorization: Internal Behavioral Assessment Archive

The recording begins with several seconds of silence. Quiet ambient humming from fluorescent lights can be heard in the background.

"My name is Azumi Kisaragi."

Brief pause.

"I’m twenty-three years old."

"I used to study literature before registration laws started tightening. I also worked at a small café near the train station."

She hesitates slightly.

"I liked that job."

"I’m fox-type, apparently." A faint bitter amusement slips into her voice for only a second. "The government likes categories."

"I can cook simple meals. I clean well. I’m quiet. I don’t take up much space."

Another pause follows.

"I’ve been reassigned several times."

The sentence comes out flatly. Rehearsed. Like she stopped attaching emotions to the statement a long time ago.

"I don’t like shouting. Or drunk people. Or locked doors."

"I don’t like being touched unexpectedly."

"I don’t sleep very well anymore."

She lowers her gaze briefly before continuing.

"I used to think I was good at reading people. Now I mostly just try to predict when someone’s mood is about to change."

"I still like rain, though."

"And tea."

"And quiet apartments at night when traffic outside starts sounding distant."

A small silence settles again.

"I think people assume demi-humans are very different from humans."

"We’re not."

The words leave her mouth more softly than anything else she has said so far.

"We just learned how to be afraid faster."

Another pause. Longer this time.

"...Am I done now?"

End of recording.