The Earth has been ruined by something in the distant past-- war, plague, ecological disaster, it is never revealed. The remains of humanity have lived within a sealed, domed city,
.. show full overview
The Earth has been ruined by something in the distant past-- war, plague, ecological disaster, it is never revealed. The remains of humanity have lived within a sealed, domed city, unaware of the condition of the outside or the origin of their own living conditions; to them, the city is and always has been the entire world.
To maintain the internal balance of the city, both reproduction and death are carefully controlled by a monolithic master computer. The only sex is loveless and nymphomaniacal; there are no relationships, no wives or husbands, only "the circuit" where you can obtain a temporary sex partner, as well as orgy rooms, filled with clouds of narcotic gas. Babies are born in glass boxes; the palm of their hand is implanted with a "life clock," a penny-sized lamp that looks like a crystal. At age 30, the life clock flashes red, and the bearer must report for a ceremony where he is told he is "renewed" but is in fact incinerated. Those who wish to avoid the 30-year-limit must become what is called a "runner." Runners are considered criminals, and hunted by policemen known as "sandmen."
