Downsiders

A snowflake falls onto the nose of a 19-year-old unhoused man, Robert Gunderson, outside Grand Central Station. People in expensive clothes scurry past, and Robert notices a set of eyes looking at him from a storm drain across the train station.

Numb from the cold, Robert enters the warm train station, where there are more unhoused people and people with mental health conditions. On track 25, Robert walks into the tunnel. As a train is about to hit him, he jumps out of the way.

Robert meets three 14-year-old Downsiders, Talon, Railborn, and Gutta. The teenagers have long hair shaved near the ears, shiny metallic vests, clothes composed of countless patches, wristlets and anklets featuring hieroglyphics from a strange language, and watches on their ankles. Robert wonders if they’re “mole people.”

Talon Angler, the leader, takes out his sword to behead Robert but lets him live after he renounces his Topside identity and promises to never visit above-ground New York again. They order him to remove his clothes (Gutta’s “favorite part” of the proceedings) and promise him a new name once he’s worthy. After Railborn pushes on a cinderblock wall in the tunnel, a passageway appears. Though Robert is supposed to find the Downside without help, Talon breaks protocol and gives him directions.

After Robert leaves, they return to the sidewalk grate, and Railborn complains that they should’ve killed him. Railborn doesn’t like Catching—he’d rather Hunt. Talon loves Catching—much more than Mapping or Tapping. With Catching, Talon gets to be near the Topside. He orders Railborn to block the hot air so they can experience the cold. Railborn thinks Topsiders are stupid for living with cold air, but Talon retorts that Champ says the cold helps people appreciate warmth. Railborn claims Talon could get in trouble for hanging out with Champ, but Gutta says Champ isn’t a true Topsider. The three argue before they go home to avoid the daylight.

There are many reasons for the Great Shaft Disaster, including the Topside’s faulty engineering, Downside’s rebellious youth, and “luck.” Two more reasons involve a snowflake and a teenage girl, a Topsider named Lindsay Matthias.

Lindsay’s parents are divorced. She lives in Texas with her mom, but her mom is about to move to Africa for three years to study white rhinos with her romantic partner, a zoology professor. Lindsay must therefore move to New York City to live with her dad, whom she typically sees twice a year.

Her dad, Mark Matthias, is a civil engineer building an aqueduct for the city. He lives on East 84th Street, and he’s combining two identical three-story brownstones. On the second floor, there’s a big hole in the hallway, so Lindsay can see into the hallway of the other brownstone. She can also see an unfamiliar face.

Living with Lindsay and Mark is Todd. Todd’s mom had him before she met Mark, but after she injured herself performing in the musical Cats and joined a cult in Brooklyn, Mark became his guardian. Todd has a “pretty face” but a putrid personality. He makes fun of Lindsay for reading The Time Machine on a Friday night, and he throws the novel down the hole.

Back in the Downside, Talon’s little sister, Pidge, is sick, but he tries to amuse her with her toy—a battery-operated puppy that lost most of its hair before it came Downside. Pidge wants to hear about the Topside, and Talon tells her about the “strange people” who chase money and possess minds burned by the sun. Talon isn’t sure if any Topsider is “good,” and he suspects all Topsiders wind up in jail somehow. Pidge thinks Downsiders should let Topsiders into their world so the former can inject the latter with some sense.

Worried about Pidge, Talon suggests that he, Railborn, and Gutta go on a raid for medicine, but Railborn thinks that’s a bad idea. During the last raid, 12 Downside men went up and faced thousands of runners with numbers on their backs. The men came back bloody, and Downside authorities sentenced them to the Chamber of Soft Walls. Raids violate Downside law, and Railborn doesn’t want to clean tunnels on a slime gang. Talon says people frequently go on covert raids—that’s how Downsiders procure items like lightbulbs, batteries, and “conditioning shampoo.” Gutta offers to go with him, but Railborn doesn’t think Talon should encourage his friends to break the law.

Talon admires Railborn’s commitment to Downside law. Years ago, Downsiders wouldn’t go to the Topside without clearance from authorities. Downsiders lack a genuine leader, and they haven’t had a “Most-Beloved” in a long time. The Wise Advisors have power, but people don’t listen to them because they’re not that wise.

Reginald Champlain (“The Champ” or “Champ”) lives in a swimming pool in a deserted municipal building near 115th Street and FDR Drive. Technically, the pool is on Topside turf. However, the lack of windows makes it part of the Downside’s High Perimeter. Talon and his friends tried to make Champ a Downsider, but he wanted to keep his Topside life. He has a white beard and brown skin. Talon’s great-grandpa had skin that color, but Talon’s skin is paler, like his mom’s.

Champ served on the USS Arizona and watched the Japanese air force destroy it during Pearl Harbor. He has painted the pool gunmetal gray to commemorate the event. The pool also features couches, a chandelier, a dining set, shelves of canned food, and a bare-bones bed with an army blanket.

As Talon and Champ play Monopoly, they discuss death. When a Downsider dies, water is redirected from a water main, and the “surge” pushes them into the “world beyond.” Champ quips that the Downsiders “flush” each other. Champ writes Talon a list of medicines that could help Pidge.

Downsiders mark the New Year in the Brass Junction and Flood Concourse. Topside, Mark attends a New Year’s Eve gala for urban planners, and Todd throws a house party. Lindsay likes looking at the girls’ outfits, and she dances with some of the boys, but she can’t tolerate their conversation. Todd performs a mean impression of Mark, making fun of the aqueduct and how it’ll supposedly give New Yorkers drinking water for 500 years. Lindsay defends her dad, criticizes Todd, then goes to her room, where she finds a couple making out on her bed. She kicks them out.

Lindsay feels a cold breeze from the hole in the hallway, and she gets a flashlight to inspect the hole. A shifting sound makes her drop the flashlight in the hole, and then she notices dusty footprints. She fears they belong to a “serial killer” who escaped Rikers Island.

Back in her room, Lindsay watches the Times Square celebration on TV and notices a crisp, earthy smell before a stranger leaps from the closet. Having taken a self-defense class, Lindsay grabs his wrist, flips him to the ground, then pepper-sprays him. Talon runs around the room, and Lindsay feels sorry for him.

Todd arrives and ties Talon to the bedpost. Todd also hits him in the face, and one of the partygoers calls the cops. Todd and the others return to the party, leaving Talon alone with Lindsay. Talon calls Lindsay “you people” and accuses Topsiders of being cruel and having “stupid names.” Talon explains that he got his name because a bat clawed his cheek when he was a baby. Talon likens Lindsay’s braid to a “gator tail” and explains that he wears his watch on his ankle because time has a “low importance.”

Lindsay asks why Talon is after her, but Talon insists he isn’t interested in her and says his mom still “recognizes” him. Lindsay doesn’t understand him and thinks he is using coded language to trick her. Talon tells Lindsay about his sister and shows him Champ’s list of antibiotics. Feeling guilty, Lindsay gets Biaxin from Todd’s medicine chest and unchains Talon as the cops arrive. He leaves behind a sock featuring every color on the spectrum.

At Icarus Academy, where Todd and Lindsay go to school, Todd brags about saving Lindsay’s life. Lindsay feels differently. Her dad thinks a cool haircut will help her fit in; instead, Lindsay searches the subways for Talon. She speaks to an older, unhoused woman who claims that she’s seen the “Under-Angels,” and she’s waiting for them to come and escort her down to heaven.

Champ tells Talon to leave Lindsay alone. Rejecting Champ’s advice, Talon stalks the High Perimeter, trying to find Lindsay. Railborn trails Talon, and they fight. Railborn accuses Talon of endangering him and Gutta, and warns Talon that all three of them could wind up “septic-deep.” Railborn thinks Talon is acting like a “freak,” but Talon wants to know what’s happening above his head—maybe Topsiders aren’t all bad.

The one student who doesn’t stay away from Lindsay at her new school is “motormouth” Becky Peckerling. As Becky advises Lindsay on how to remember the names of their classmates, Lindsay spots Talon’s eyes staring out from a storm gutter. She bends down, and his vest catches her hair. Talon pulls her into the drain to save her from an oncoming bus. Becky is confused and alarmed, but Lindsay assures her she is fine and wants to be alone.

Lindsay asks Talon why he’s following her. Talon claims he has to give her back The Time Machine, which he found in the hole. She gives him back the sock, but Talon says it’s payment for the antibiotics. Lindsay offers to help Talon find a home, but Talon says he already has a home. Lindsay asks Talon to take her there—she doesn’t care if she ever returns.