Plot Summaries (The Unremembered Gate)

One-Sentence Summary

A haunted scholar and a ruthless mercenary team up to prevent a cataclysmic virus unleashed by an ancient text.

One-Paragraph Summary

In a world dominated by megacities and AI-driven corporations, a rebellious linguistics scholar and a ruthless bounty hunter join forces after discovering an ancient text that could upend humanity’s understanding of language and itself. When their analysis of the text unleashes a virus that robs people of their ability to process language, the pair-assisted by a member of the legendary hacking collective known as The Low Gods-must evade corporate forces seeking power under the guise of a cure. As the pandemic spreads through the global network, the team faces impossible choices and personal sacrifice, ultimately risking everything to halt the virus and free humanity from corporate control.

One-Page Summary

In a world dominated by sprawling megacities and AI-driven megacorporations, most humans, implanted with cybernetic Weak AIs known as Spryts, live within a global society in which they work to improve their social standing. Darius Caxton is a naive but rebellious linguistics scholar. Jael Todorov is a ruthless bounty hunter. When Pilate Windsor, Minister of Research and likely next Magistrate of ElCorp, the company that dominates the province of Fez, hires Darius to find Hassan Maldonado, an old friend who has gone missing while on an archeological dig, he finds his friend in an almost comatose state and discovers a table containing an ancient text that, if real, suggests a radical alteration of our understanding of linguistic -- and human -- development. Meanwhile, Jael, hired by the rival corporation TS Group, attempts to steal the tablet. Before Jael can accomplish her mission, though, a strike force sent by yet another megacorporation attacks, killing Hassan. Darius and Jael reluctantly team up to save themselves and the tablet.

While on the run from competing forces, Darius and Jael make the connection between reports of a rapidly spreading global pandemic that causes humans to lose the ability to process language and the tablet, which tells the story of a stranger mistreated by his hosts. Soon they discover that the virus spreads not from human to human but through the computer systems Darius is using to analyze the text. Darius sees M3747r0n, a mysterious member of the hacker collective known as the Low Gods. The Low Gods, believed by many to be an urban legend, are individuals who have transferred their consciousnesses into the global network while their bodies remain hidden on life support. As M3747r0n makes contact, Jael's ship is shot down and the tablet is destroyed.

A group of the Unseen, people who live in the wastelands between the megacities and who no longer engage with technology, rescue the pair from the wreckage. While the virus spreads through the global network, the megacorporations vie for possession of Darius's digital scan of the tablet -- all claiming to want to find cure, but hoping for more power. Darius, committed to saving as many people as possible, learns he is immune to the virus because he long ago rooted his Spryt. He agrees to deliver the tablet copy to ElCorp, believing them in the best position to stop the pandemic and do the least damage. Inside the massive corporate headquarters, Jael discovers that Darius and M3747r0n have rooted her Spryt, giving her extraordinary control and abilities. As a result, she learns that the corporate leaders plan on killing Darius to steal his knowledge of the ancient text. After a risky escape, Jael destroys the headquarters of ElCorp and a significant area of Denver.

The team attempts to stop the pandemic while fleeing from the authorities. On the run, Jael revels in her new abilities that far exceed anything Darius has been willing to attempt. She also realizes she is no longer burdened by the social restrictions she had so long struggled against. Darius, angry at the betrayal of the leaders of ElCorp and his own naivety, untangles the puzzle contained within the story, but becomes frustrated that the answer offers no solution to the virus. Darius's discovery leads to his telling of the story of how he met M3747r0n, which leads to a realization that he and he alone can offer The Low Gods the information they need to break the virus's code. Before he can share his discovery with M3747r0n, their hiding place is attacked, forcing them once again on the run.

Retreating to the one place Darius imagines the megacorporations cannot find them -- M3747r0n's secure bunker -- Darius explains that The Low Gods are the only ones who can determine a cure for the virus, but only if he joins the collective to share with them his unique understanding of the language of the text. Because the Low Gods can only have 121 members, for Darius to join, an existing Low God must disconnect. M3747r0n agrees to separate from the collective even though it means bodily death. Jael tries to dissuade them of the plan, but M3747r0n and Darius convince her it is the only option. After the switch, the Low Gods are able to develop the code that can act as a virucide to destroy the virus. But, those affected by it already cannot be cured. Darius, overwhelmed by the freedom he feels within the digital collective, takes the name 3L3L37h, as Jael cradles Me747r0n's dying body.

Five-Page Summary

(Expand the one-page plot synopsis of the novel to a four-page synopsis. Basically, you will again be expanding each paragraph from step (4) into a full page.)