Aubrey Van Houten

Aubrey Van Houten is a fifteen year old boy who has grown up in an underground society in the aftermath of the destruction of the world in a nuclear war. Aubrey is a weak, bookish boy who is often bullied throughout his childhood and has no friends. Aubrey’s friends have always been the books in the Holocene II library.

At the age of fifteen, all Holocene II citizens are required to take a test that will assess their strengths and weaknesses, assigning them to jobs and a level in the compound where they will live. It is always preferable for the citizens to be assigned to Level 3 or higher. Aubrey worries when he takes the test that he will disappoint his father by being assigned to a lower level. Aubrey is surprised when he learns he got a perfect score and will be the first...