Status Updates From Hund 51

Gaudé doesn't get attached to his main characters. Flooding the brain with all kinds of filth, violence and gore is a new kind of torture. Perception of real life is destroyed, only a low chance of recovery. The other deliberately chooses to erase his real life brain and flood it with nostalgic memories to escape the violence and betrayal. Justice has its own way.

Nice world building done on the side while we follow the protagonists. LOve day is an odd one. A public orgy once a year everybody willingly participates in to have sex with random people.

Zem gains depth with the betrayal he did in Greece. He's a broken character. Salia remains a bit shallow. Her motivations aren't as clear and her actions less believable. Her close relation with Zem doesn't fit.

Zem spends his nights on a new addictive drug giving him selected dreams. His is about Athens as it was and never will be again. He'll lose his lucidity with this drug. Salia's boss and protector just died. Her position is threatened now.
Goldtex corporation suppresses resistance violently. Its top managers get implants prolonging life eternally. A climate cupola only protects zones 1 and 2.