num_pages: 323
description: In a ruined nameless city of the future a woman named Rachel who makes her living as a scavenger finds a creature she names Borne entangled in the fur of Mord a gigantic despotic bear. Mord once prowled the corridors of the biotech organization known as the Company which lies at the outskirts of the city until he was experimented on grew large learned to fly and broke free. Driven insane by his torture at the Company Mord terrorizes the city even as he provides sustenance for scavengers like Rachel.At first Borne looks like nothing at alljust a green lump that might be a Company discard. The Company although severely damaged is rumoured to still make creatures and send them to distant places that have not yet suffered Collapse.Borne somehow reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment she resents; attachments are traps and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary the Balcony Cliffs Rachel convinces her lover Wick not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sellsshe cannot break that bond.Wick is a special kind of supplier because the drug dealers in the city dont sell the usual things. They sell tiny creatures that can be swallowed or stuck in the ear and that release powerful memories of other peoples happier times or pull out forgotten memories from the users own mindor just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren craterous landscapes of the city.Against his better judgment out of affection for Rachel or perhaps some other impulse Wick respects her decision. Rachel meanwhile despite her loyalty to Wick knows he has kept secrets from her. Searching his apartment she finds a burnt unreadable journal titled Mord a cryptic reference to the Magician (a rival drug dealer) and evidence that Wick has planned the layout of the Balcony Cliffs to match the blueprint of the Company building. What is he hiding? Why wont he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?
language: English
title: Borne
publisher: MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux