Exquisite Decay
Exquisite Decay is a queer young adult cyberpunk retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, that explores class, honor, obsession, and betrayal.
Set in the futuristic and socio-economically fractured, Axis City, Exquisite Decay follows non-binary teen, Rian Gray. An orphan living in poverty, Rian becomes heir-apparent to a fortune courtesy of their recently deceased ultra-rich grandmother on condition they graduate from the elite
Curzon Academy their own mother once attended. Rian accepts a place at Curzon Academy armed with their own agenda to down the corrupt upper-echelons of society from the inside out. A plan that will only work if Rian isn’t seduced and corrupted by the very
world they vowed to destroy.
Meanwhile, Baz, a trans and autistic science nerd, is working on a project that he hopes will win him the Monmouth Prize, and allow his family to retain the status to which they’ve become accustomed. When Rian agrees to help Baz with his ambitious and dubious project involving uploaded intelligence in the hopes of creating virtual empathy, the two become close and develop surprising feelings for each other. But when Baz's protocol, requiring Rian to upload their own memories, slowly erodes Rian's compassion and corrupts their humanity, Baz realizes he has so much more to lose than a prestigious prize. With the fate of Axis City resting in Baz's hands, he'll have to choose between his love for Rian and doing what's right.
CW: death, self-harm, violence, police brutality, suicide
