The ember that never burns out

In the year 205, survival has a subscription fee. ​Inside a colossal, circular walled city where it never stops snowing, human life is treated like disposable corporate property. If you can’t pay your weekly residency fee, or if a workplace accident renders you "useless," the penalty is immediate termination. Towering over the frozen slums is the pristine corporate Tower, broadcasting a seductive, artificial promise to every eighteen-year-old: Discard your weak, starving flesh and apply for a flawless, powerful, handsome new body. ​But the "New Body" program is a golden cage. ​Eighteen-year-olds Robert and Alex have spent years starving in the slums, earning a measly 12 coins a day, and studying by flashlight after the city cuts the power. Unlike the rest of the brainwashed youth, they have deliberately refused the operations that allow the Tower to control them. To the five security cameras monitoring their exam classroom, they must wear the ultimate mask—pretending to be submissive, loyal corporate drones eager to sign away their souls. ​They don't want a new body. They want a promotion. And once they infiltrate the upper levels of the Tower, they will stop playing the part and burn the corrupt system to the ground. Will it work?