Brianna Moulton-Packer THE CITY (SYNOPSIS) 1

The City opens on a scene where two characters, Huxley and a mystery man, interact
with one another in a convoluted situation in which the person tells Huxley that he will reveal the
truth about the city to her, and she is both confused and devastated at the identity of her captor.
The story then jumps to six months earlier. Huxleys father, Andrew, has just passed
away, and she was the only witness to his death. She is given a Coping Treatment which alters
her perspective and makes her happy. Her friend, Conan, comes across the city to aid in her
recovery, but soon finds out that she doesnt need him, because her treatment is working.
Suspicious of her and of the missing links in the events that led to Andrews death, Conan uses
his job as an Officer of the Law to find the truth behind what happened. His interest in the
subject causes Peter Montgomery, chairman of the Technocracy, to put him on the Criminal
Watchlist. At the same time, Huxley meets a designer named Tennyson, and they are both put on
a committee to host the Technocracy Galaan event the Technocracy holds to showcase their
advancements in their AI Agents, (the mode of free labor the city created so that the citizens can
live comfortable lives.) The night of the Gala, Huxley, Tennyson, and Conan are supposedly
kidnapped from right off the street, looping the story back to the confusing scene in the
beginning, where Huxley becomes aware of the alarming identity of her captor.
At an indiscernible time in the past, a Deviant named Alex, living in the desert, lives to
protect his wife, Monti, and daughter, Harper, from Dronesmachines that pick Deviants up
from the desert. After failing to save them, Alex joins a band of Deviants led by an ex-
Technocracy man, Stein, who wants to destroy the Technocracy. He reveals to Alex that the
Drones pick up Deviants to fulfill three purposes: to 1. Replace, 2. Repurpose, and 3. Recycle.
Recaptured Deviants are recycled into AIs, Deviants children are used to replace children
who have died, and Deviants with the right organs and blood types are repurposed to give
dying Obedients the chance to live. Alex discovers that Harper had been a replacement and
Monti had been repurposed in order to save her biological father, Peter Montgomerys, life. Stein
assigns Alex the task of killing Andrew, which he does, but is captured. So, in order to protect
Stein and his cause, he detonates the bomb in his earpiece and supposedly dies.
Presently, where Huxley is being held captive in a basement, she realizes that her captor
is Tennyson, but he does not respond to that name, and claims that he is Alex Hawthorne, and
that he had been recycled after hed assassinated her father. Theyd reconstructed his face and
memory. However, Stein had found a way to hack into the chip theyd installed in his brain, and
brought him back. Lucid now, Alex tells Huxley the truth about the Technocracys Recycle,
Repurpose, and Replace method and reveals to Huxley that she, too, had been a Replacement.
Andrew had invented the method in order to justify his taking of her from her parents who had
been banned. Alex had become lucid on the street on their way to the Gala, and knocked both
Conan and Huxley out in order to bring them to a safe place to be delivered the truth to. Through
his chip, Stein tells Alex that their plan had worked, and that they will be hacking the system at
the gala, and all of the AIs will become lucid. Alex warns Huxley and Conan to leave the City
and get to a place called the Desert Basehis old home, so that they will be safe from the
anarchy. As for Alex, he will be searching the city for his daughter, Harper.
From this point, it is left open-ended for a sequel novella.