The Tri-City

A Journey to Uncover the Mystery of the Lost Manuscript

The Tri-City is a fictional place, somewhere in the fictional centre of a fictional Europe. For centuries, the destinies of three nations have intertwined here: Czechs, Jews, and Germans.

In the 21st century, the Tri-City has closed itself off from the outside world. The agglomeration is run by an oligarchic Council with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Its inhabitants, largely dependent on virtual reality and legal drugs, are slowly forgetting how to read, understand, and dream. Alethea Elias earns her living as a text interpreter; thanks to her extraordinary abilities, she can not only have vivid dreams but also visualise written content. One day, she receives a commission to decipher a mysterious 19th-century manuscript.

With the help of Neil, a personal artificial intelligence programmed by her grandfather, Alethea embarks on a journey into the past that will change her life forever. The story is brought to life by illustrations from František Svěrák.