China

It's sometime in the future, and China has become a dystopian society, run with an iron fist by its government. The pollution is so bad that citizens almost never step outside, travelling instead via tubes between residence and work, or the small, expensive shops and homes. Even the domiciles are all underground, small two-room apartments run completely by nano-bot technology and voice command. In this grey and airless life, Bo and Lifen's six-month-old son, Heng, is mysteriously kidnapped. Devastated, they survive a near-breakup of their marriage, Lifen's failed suicide attempt, and Bo's brief stint with alcoholism as they both tried to cope with their loss. Eventually, they manage to grieve together instead of apart, and rebuild their lives… but it all comes to a crashing halt when a stranger rings the doorbell. It is a young man who claims to be their son. Not only that, but he has a small thumb drive hanging around his neck giving him legal claim to their tiny, one-door domicile and everything they own—which means that when he steps inside, his voice command locks the door behind him… and it won't unlock until he tells it to. In fact, he controls food. He controls the air supply. Little by little, he takes over their lives, forcing them both to quit their jobs and huddle in their cold and frightening home as they struggle to survive this invasion of a so-called son who acts nothing as a son should. Why is he doing this? Is he really their son? And can they possibly fight him when the nano-bot runs home and obeys his every command?