| The Darkest Legacy | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Author/s | Alexandra Bracken |
| Release Date | July 31st 2018 |
| Publisher | Disney-Hyperion |
| Series | The Darkest Minds |
| Pages | 569 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by Through the Dark |
Followed by Unknown |
Synopsis[]
Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids, seventeen-year-old Suzume "Zu" Kimura has assumed the role of spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on the run once more in order to stay alive.
Determined to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the people she knows she shouldn't trust, they uncover even darker things roiling beneath the veneer of the country's recovery. With her future-and the future of all Psi-on the line, Zu must use her powerful voice to fight back against forces that seek to drive the Psi into the shadows and save the friends who were once her protectors. As she travels around with her friends, she uncovers dark secrets which threatens all Psi...
Plot[]
Zu, now seventeen years old, has become a spokesperson for the interim government. She believes she is fighting for the rights of psi kids but is seen as a sellout by some of the psi. During her speech at the re-opening of a university, Zu is baited into using her powers publicly and framed for causing an explosion that leaves seven people dead. Priyanka Acharya and Roman Volkov attempt to help Zu escape. All three are kidnapped, but are able to escape their mysterious kidnappers together. Zu uses her powers to get them out of the situation.
She calls Chubs who tells Zu to find "a safe place". She realizes the code and she leads the two other teenagers to Haven. After discussing with some of the psi hiding at the place, a group of soldiers including Lana Volkov attack the place. Zu is confused when Lana starts using her powers. Since Lana was a limit, Zu temporarily loses her powers and is shaken up by it. The soldiers eventually leaves and Zu has to calm down Owen, who had been apart of Project Jamboree and the attack had sent him into a flashback.
Zu, Roman and Priyanka leave and as they drive they hear that Joseph Moore, a member of the Liberty Watch Party who was running for the presidency position, plane had exploded. He claimed that Zu was now the leader a psi terrorist organization called the Psion Ring. The three visit Clancy Gray, who was staying in South Carolina under an assumed name. Clancy tells Roman and Zu about how Ruby visited him from time to time and gives the pair a hint to find Ruby. Thanks to Clancy's hint they track down a possible lead to Athen's, Georgia. The house that they track down has several servers in it.
The server starts up and starts deleting files. Priyanka uses her powers in a attempt to stop the deletion of the files, but she gets starts getting strokes. Roman sends Zu to get her medicine, and while Zu is distracted, Lana sneaks into the house. Zu felt around and found out that Lana wasn't alone. She used her abilities to take out the soldiers who had been outside. Lana tells Zu about the fact that she, Roman and Priyanka had been apart of blue star. Lana eventually leaves, and Zu is able to take the three of them away.
When Zu finally stops, Roman fills in what happened with what Gregory Mercer and Jonathan Wendall did to them. He also admits that he and Priyanka had gone to the rally to talk with her, as well as theorizing that Blue Ring Was probably behind the bombing. He also theorized that Psion Ring didn't exist since Mercer never found anything relating to the group.
After that they regroup. Furious about what had happened earlier, they realize that Gregory Mercer and Joseph Moore built another camp holding Psi kids in them. After some thinking, Roman, Priyanka and Zu decide to get themselves into the camp. They found out that Max has some map abilities which can locate other Psi hundreds of Miles away. But then they realize that he's stuck in a "prison" in Texas. When they reach the prison, they realize its another camp filled with Psi kids which Mercer and a few other people from the Blue Ring organized, to do experiments on them and take away their powers from them. The also found out that Max "turned" himself in to local authorities not knowing that he got thrown into a prison camp with other Psi kids. They need Max to help them locate Ruby, since Ruby disappeared earlier inside the book. After getting captured, they realized that the camp was very similar to the camps of Caledonia and Thurnwood. Moore created another camp, which nobody knew about. Not even Cruz knew about this. It also turned out that it was very familier to Caledonia the prison camp Zu managed to escape a while ago earlier in the series. Soon they meet the other inmates and find Max who is scared to escape claiming that all hope is lost for them. They also meet one of the leaders Cubby who knows alot about the camp. Slowly with Pryianka's skills the kids inside the new prison camp slowly get their powers back. Max also tells them that his father worked for Leda Corp which was another group. Max explains that for whatever reason Mercer was super obsessed with Ruby and wanted to do experiments on her. He even tried to make his own version of her with Max or one of the other kids that he had before but it didn't work. Priyanka during the invasion goes to the security and downloads security footage of what happened inside the camp to expose Mercer and Moore later on in the story. The rebellion of the new camp was easy. Priyanka also uses some of her abilites to shut off the electricity in the new camp called "The Pit". The whole invasion lasted no more than a few mere hours leaving Priyanka seriously injured just like the last invasion in the house where she almost died. Cubby and most of the other escapers say their last goodbyes and leave and are never mentioned again in the rest of the book.
After the successful invasion, Zu, Roman, Priyanka and Max all get into a car and drive to Kansas where Liam was staying after Ruby disappeared. It turns out that three years earlier in a flashback, Liam and Ruby hid in a secret house in Kansas a little while the government gave out new rules for Psi kids who didn't get "treated". It also had a secret area which was a treehouse which was the Haven(which doesn't make sense becasue they would have found Liam earlier after the invaders invaded the Haven.) That's where Zu met Lisa, Miguel and Jacob three years earlier. Liam begs them to stay but Chubs gets into an argument with Liam and decides not to stay. Zu scared of not being a child anymore and not having that much freedom under Liam and Ruby decides to follow Chubs back. When they return three year later with Zu's new friends, Liam was shocked to see her.
Zu tells Liam about Max who can trace Ruby with his abilities. Liam shows them around the house and the changes that happened while Zu was gone. It turned out that Vida was "faking" hating Ruby to make good excuses to try to search for her with the FBI and some other governmental groups she worked with. While this happened Moore made up more lies about Zu and how evil she is. It also turned out that Vida was following Zu ever since they left the Haven. A little shortly after, Vida, Chubs arrive and the former friends reunite once again. Liam tells them how he ended up in Kansas and it turned out that after getting attacked by some evildoers, Sam and Lucas brought him there to recover. Liam also knew a bit about the Blue Star and what they were up too fitting the puzzle pieces together. While they were at the hideout, they talk about how bad Cruz is and some other things the government was doing with Moore and some other Psi haters. They also ponder about Moore's motives and the Blue Star's point behind kidnapping Zu. This leads to another argument which causes some more standoff between the old friends. Max does his reading and tells them that Leda Corp another experimental group similar to Blue Star has Ruby. This throws all the friends into a frenzy.
While everyone was too shocked or alarmed by what happend Zu sneaks out of the house inspired by the thunderstorm to test out her abilities. Hearing Roman they start talking during the thunderstorm. Roman wants to return to the Blue Star to take care or Lisa and return her home which is a dumb idea to think about it since thier father is an evil trafficker, but Zu is too scared to tell Roman to stay with her. They start talking about how its disappointing not to fail others, then Roman asks Zu what it will feel like to hold a storm in her hands. It was more of Roman seeing her power on him, so Zu decides to do that knowing she might hurt him seriously. More like an excuse for Zu to start making out with him while they were doing it....
The next day Priyanka using her abilities finds more info about Mercer and Moore working together. So it did turn out that Mercer and Moore were on the same plan with the Psi kids. Theyd decide to head out on two separate vehicles to where the Leda corp were located somewhere in the Northeastern United States. On thier way, they turn on the radio and find out that the United Nations will extend their stay for two more years. That doesn't help their fight either, because they also find out that the election was called up and the election results are never mentioned in the rest of the story. It turns out that Leda Corp and the other bad doers where located in Philadelphia(thanks to Max's location abilities)
When they reach Philadelphia, it was chaotic. Protesters in support of Moore was protesting, and the police was acting against them. It turns out that Leda Corp had funding from Cruz meaning that Cruz's deep feelings deep down was almost no different than Moore. The funding by Cruz was kept a secret while the location wasn't. Max also knows a secret hideout that leads to the Leda corp lab. They decide to take his information and with the help of Priyanka, they break into the building. After getting through protesters and horrible defenses they finally get to the exact location where Ruby is. And Zu wasn't excited to see the shape she was in. Somehow while they were going, Priyanka's senses got very sensitive and worried that her ex-girlfriend Lana was there. There they break into the old hospital to find Ruby shaved and waxed surrounded by stupid surgeons doing their evil job. THe surgeons are easily killed and defeated, but Ruby plants a memory into Zu's mind saying that there are more kids upstairs. Zu decides to be a good person and decides to go upstairs to help the other kids. Priyanka meanwhile was recording everything as they entered the room where the other kids were in the quarantine, just in time to bump into Lana. THe fight Lana who easily got knocked off her feet by Vida. Priyanka tries to flirt with her but it doesn't work so instead Lana turns off the fire alarm altering the Blue Ring people and some other people that are there that they are intruders who need to be cleaned from the area. Panicked, Zu, Vida, and the others rush out to the vehicles where they had. FOr whatever reason Vida out of carelessness or fearness decides to leave Ruby int he building and take the other kids out, leaving Zu to go back to complete her main mission of the task. She is only confromed by Lana who tries to scare her from saving Ruby. Roman comes out of nowhere and pins her to the ground while Blue Ring captures both of them. Unfourtinately for Zu, Roman gets captured by the Blue Ring and is forced to retreat back to safety in one of the UN trucks.
NOt that much happens after this assault on Moore and his allies. Ruby wasn't waking up on the way back to the new safehouse with Cate and a few others. Zu is very saddened that Roman decided to go back to the Blue Ring with her sister. They end up going to another safehouse in Dover, where Cate was living with a few other after the Children's League dissolved. Ruby was also in a skeletal form meaning that the Blue Star must have abused her really badly. A random therapist/doctor named Maria claims that she doesn't know when she will wake up.
In the Epilogue, probably depressed and saddened that her love left her, Zu, Priyanka, Vida and a few others somehow find a secret hideout the Blue Ring used which was Mercer's warehouse. The intersting thing is the Blue Ring wasn't there at the time of the breaking. Mercer was probably doing a hunt to get more kids. Zu also somehow got another group of random Psi kids to help with the breaking meaning that the Psi kids are growing in numbers to support each other. There were some also superstrength characters named the Kin who were allied with them. Priynaka finds Dr.Wendall and furiously beats him out of the building and drags him out. Vida and Jacob save some more kids from Mercer's warehouse while Zu and Priyanka go into the interior to find Roman and LIsa badly assaulted. They must have abused Lisa because Lisa couldn't speak and Roman was brutally injured. Lisa holds Priyanka's hand as they guide themselves out of the warehouse. While this was going on Chubs contacted some government leaders exposing Moore and Mercer. The thing is we don't know where they went at the end of the story. Zu also sends a message to Chubs about what have happened. Then after that they run in the dark most likely back to the warehouse or back to wherever they were before but we don't really know where they went after they escaped the warehouse. Mercer and Moore are not mentioned in the epilogue and what happened to them so it's a cliff hanger on what they will do after and the election results was still up in the air by the end of the book. They don't even know if the government will respond to the footage that they sent them meaning that the Psi kids still have a lot of work to do in order to live normal again with their powers. These statements are unknown at the end of the book, and it's unclear whether they will be a fifth book, but the author said that she won't add another book in the series unless she finds motivation to do so. So the fifth book for now is up in the sky. It's also thinkable to the readers whether or not Lisa apologized to Priyanka, but it seems like they got back to dating seriously at the end of the book.