Distant future. Max Stranger is a teenage actor in the Emperial Metropolis. It might seem that his life has played out perfectly; he signed a movie contract and has a girlfriend. And that would be true if it weren't for the fact that he is starring in film productions in which everything happens for real.
Like the other Actors, he is sedated before every scene so that the film coordinators can turn on an artificial consciousness hidden in a special nanochip in his brain. The Actors call this consciousness the Movie Character. When Max starts to play the role, coordinators send orders and impulses to the nanochip, forcing the Character to do everything that the script requires. Max never knows what kind of scenario the filmmakers may set up for him. Will he die or kill someone in the next scene?
The worst begins when Max and his girlfriend, Lara, are drawn by the ruthless autarch into a dangerous cinematographic experiment called the Seven Players series, which will be filmed in the outer mutant-infested wilderness. Thrusted by the filmmakers into the mysterious place filled with unknown energy, Max discovers a terrible behind-the-scenes truth...
Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner.
Previously published as Seven Players: Episode One.