Beschreibung
Produktdetails
Format
ePUB
Kopierschutz
Ja
Family Sharing
Ja
Text-to-Speech
Ja
Erscheinungsdatum
07.07.2025
Verlag
Soufiane EssafiSeitenzahl
(Printausgabe)
Dateigröße
113 KB
Sprache
Englisch
EAN
9798231344918
The story is set in the futuristic city of Aethelburg, a society where physical appearance is a commodity and perfect, manufactured faces are a sign of wealth and status. The protagonist, Nour, lives as an outcast, her face severely scarred from a childhood fire. Each day, she hides her disfigurement behind a hood, feeling invisible and judged in a world that worships aesthetic perfection. She works as a restorer of old photographs for a kind man, Mr. Silas, finding solace in the genuine, imperfect faces of the past.
Her only friend, Kael, a data-ghost with a synthetic face, urges her to get a cheap digital overlay-a mask of light-to blend in. However, Nour rejects this temporary solution, yearning for something real and permanent to escape the trauma written on her skin. This desperation leads her to inquire about the mythical and dangerous black market known as "The Gallery."
Despite Kael's stark warning that The Gallery trades in stolen identities and souls, Nour's hope for a new life outweighs her fear. She uses her technical skills to navigate the deep web, finally gaining access by answering a cryptic question: "What is the price of a mirror's lie?" with her own desperate truth: "The cost of seeing myself."
Following coordinates to a derelict warehouse, she discovers The Gallery. It is a sterile, museum-like space displaying an array of faces on headless mannequins-stolen "Naturals," artistic "Synthetics," and eerie "Recreations" of historical figures. This is a place where new lives are sold.
There, she is confronted by the Curator, an unnerving figure with a completely blank, white porcelain face. He tells her they don't just sell faces, but "new beginnings." The story ends on a monumental cliffhanger as he looks upon the scarred, hidden Nour and asks, "What beginning do you wish to purchase?" leaving her to make a choice that will irrevocably define her future.
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