No Pets Allowed

In a highly organized future State, every citizen must have a useful occupation—and there is no place for anyone who cannot master its advanced machines. Judged less intelligent than the people of the twentieth century, one bewildered man is assigned an easy, symbolic post: guarding the State’s vast Treasure, a locked storehouse no one has needed to protect for thousands of years.

Far from society and with almost nothing to do, he secretly breaks another law by bringing a young wild creature home as a pet. His companion eases the loneliness of his isolated post, but the arrangement becomes perilous when an elderly council member arrives alone and demands the Key. The guard knows the rules: no single official may enter. As the visitor’s friendly manner gives way to an alarming confession, this quiet science-fiction tale begins to question whether a supposedly peaceful society has truly eliminated dishonesty—or merely forgotten how to recognize it.