Fan CastingTHE VIRTUOUS EXCHANGE (2029)

Set in a world where people can barter their most intimate emotions, memories, and virtues as currency, a mysterious underground market thrives. The wealthy elite, bored with material possessions, begin trading their empathy, happiness, or love for more practical gains—power, knowledge, and control. A young couple, Nina and Derek, struggling financially, decide to sell some of their more "useless" emotions to afford a better life. Initially, they feel liberated, shedding parts of their personalities they viewed as weaknesses. As they continue trading away their traits, the couple’s personalities begin to shift in bizarre, haunting ways. Nina loses her ability to love, while Derek becomes frighteningly stoic, unable to express joy. Their once harmonious relationship disintegrates as they devolve into a state of apathy and moral detachment. Meanwhile, they become entangled in the schemes of a rich, enigmatic collector, Anton, who hoards others’ emotions and uses them for his manipulative pleasures. Throughout the story, the audience questions the true cost of stripping oneself of humanity in favor of "advancement" and the emptiness that comes with a life devoid of core emotions.