You are thrown into the book with Maxo finding a 'crack' on his face. Due to their genetic makeup people no longer get wrinkles, but GemX's all over the Polis are finding them on their faces. Gala and her family do not have these enhancements and constantly struggle to survive with water on rotation and frequent blackouts. Her mother is ill, but as cancer is an EradicatedDisease it no longer exists to the Polis, and they cannot get the correct medication. The Polis tell the city that they have to check up on the Dreggies and so are shown freeze frames of various people and asked to describe someone afterwards. During one of these freeze frames Maxo sees Gala and is drawn to her. He heads to the hospital where the GemX's are supposedly being given a pill to correct their wrinkles when a bomb explodes. The Polis blame it on the Dreggies, but Maxo helps Phylo take Gala home.

Phylo finds out that Maxo's GenPap is the chief scientist who created the GemX's, and also called for clean cells. Phylo's father went to give cells and went missing 4 years ago and so he decides to hold Maxo hostage, take his clothes and pretend to be him to get into the Polis to confront Maxo's GenPap. When in the city Phylo finds out that his father is still there, working under a different name as he owed money to a casino. He reunites with his family in the Museo then they leave with Mortimer Malkin.

I'm not sure how well I have described the storyline; I tried to give the main story but obviously I left some things out (I'm not rewriting the book here!). The problem I have with this book is that it feels as though it is a prequel to some longer, much more exciting book. I find Maxo hard to like at first, in fact, only when he seems to take an interest in Gala's toes does he become a little less robotic to me. Although the story begins with the cracks in his face, and the decriptions of him not being able to look at himself, and the walls not knowing which colour to be take place, I didn't fully appreciate the impact it would make on society until he meets with Catspaw in the VDP.

" 'Look at me,' shrieked Lydida Malkin. 'I'm fifteen, I'm a GemX and I've got WRINKLES.' "

That's when it sunk in.

The government seem to have complete control over everyone in the Polis - and most of them are happy about it, but also those who live outside the Polis. However they are not happy about it, but seem to do nothing about it except fight amongst themselves for what little they do have. The question bugging me there is why don't they just move away? Surely there are other cities, or even places that aren't near cities, or is the whole world filled with these 'perfect' cities with Naturals surrounding them. The one thing the book does make clear is that it is the people with money that are able to get these enhancements.

The Naturals call their parents Mother and Father, however the GemX's call theirs GenPap and GenMa. I can only imagine from this, and the part where Phylo says that his father is his blood and guts (I couldn't find the quite I meant), that Maxo and the other children in the city are not naturally conceived or born.

In the background of the story is Clodrone 1640. He has had some new cells spliced into his DNA to prevent degradation, but the cells from the other person seem to include a personality (which just happens to be that of Finn) which constantly interferes with what the Clodrone knows.