A man wakes up in the middle of the desert not knowing where he is or who he is for that matter. He comes across an elderly, dying man who tells him to find 544. The man soon makes his way to what everyone refers to The Village. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere and while the residents all seem happy, they are also unquestioning about anything about the outside world. They are also nameless, being referred to only by number. The man from the desert learns that he is Number 6 and lives in a luxurious home. People seem to know him but he has no recollection of ...
Number 6's feeble attempt at escape soon comes to an end and he is returned to the Village. There he is introduced to Number 16 who claims to be his brother. Number 6 is understandably skeptical about it all and has no recollection of 16. He also learns that he is a bus driver by profession, giving tours around the the Village. When he comes across a ship's anchor in the middle of the desert he begins to think there may be another way to escape. We learn more about Number 6's life in New York City and that he had resigned as an analyst with a security company that ...
Number 2 asks Number 6 to work for him as an agent to locate dreamers, that is those who dream of a world other than the Village. Number 6 is under no illusions however and while he agrees to work for him, he does so only to hopefully gain some type of advantage over him. He's paired with 909 and is placed as a teacher of surveillance in a school to observe Number 1955, also a teacher. He uses his position to his advantage by asking his students to find out what exactly is going on. He also learns about Number 1. Life becomes more complicated when 303 learns that he ...
Six is forced into attending a matchmaking service, the matchmaker, 1891, who appears unwanted on his television screen. He is matched with a blind woman named 4-15, who looks exactly like Lucy with whom Six had a sexual liaison in New York. Six is convinced that she is indeed Lucy, although 4-15 appears not to know anything about life outside of The Village. Both Two and 11-12 ask 313 for assistance on specific matters. With Two and 313, she knows that he is aware that she is a dreamer, the reason why she feels she needs to help him. But she still has to decide if ...
Both 313 and 147 mention encounters with Six that Six denies remembering. While 313 and 147 believe it's because Six is having a mental breakdown, Six soon realizes it is because there is a double of him wandering around The Village. Calling himself 2x6, the double, who is a vengeful version of Six, has the sole mission of killing Two. Despite his disdain for Two, Six wants to stop his double from accomplishing this task as he believes it will make him no better than those he despises. There is also a double of Two wandering around the Village, calling himself the ...
The Village is expanding since there are more and more newcomers arriving. Unlike Six, these newcomers believe they are arriving from The Village as opposed to from another world. Six begins to feel increasing pain, and learns that he is beginning to die. Two explains to Six the nature of Village death, and that Six does have a choice as to his future. 313 increasingly understands that she has a life in another world, and has to control how that life affects her in The Village. She wants to do whatever she can to help Six in having a better future, as does 147. 11-12 ...