The twenty-sixth century. After the Great Two Hundred-Year War, a United State was formed on Earth. People there have no names and last names—only numbers. Everyone wears the same uniform and eats artificial food. They live in transparent houses, woven as if out of air, and only in a prearranged “sexual hour” are they allowed to draw the curtains in order to meet the object of their desire. After breakfast and after the execution of the Anthem of the United State, everyone marches to work in lines of four.
At the head of the United State stands the Benefactor, elected again every year by the entire population. The main idea of the government is that people can be happy only if their freedom is taken away—which the residents of the State have successfully put into practice. But it turns out that even in such ideally arranged world, a person remains a person, and concepts like: soul, love, and faith can’t be replaced by any totalitarian regime—even the most rigorously designed one.