Literary genre of the plot: science fiction | Oharena - Planet Sirius, 2342
Main characters
Frank and Nick are two eleven-year-old peers, two orphans scrambling to survive in the largest city in the known universe, Oharena. Ohanera is a megalopolis consisting of one hundred concentric floors stacked on top of each other, sinking into the ground from the surface. Each floor possesses its own particularity and not everyone can (or wants to) move between them.
Frank and Nick have very different characters: the former is posed, thoughtful; the latter is cunning, aggressive. Frank always tends to reason, Nick to do. Like thousands of kids in Oharena they are among those who have been abandoned, and the alleys of the city are their refuge and their trap. The two make their living from petty theft and together with about 50 other kids have started an organized gang.
But it is not the only one; Ohanera is home to hundreds of similar gangs, the more dangerous the deeper you go.
The call to adventure
Frank and Nick are thirteen years old when their gang falls into the trap of Galactic Security: Frank and Nick are sentenced to be transferred to Neo a class 2 planet, forced to submit to the life of a reform school that houses the youngest offenders. But Nick takes advantage of a distraction and, proving to be the more cunning of the two, escapes before the transfer and escapes back into the deepest circles of the city. The lives of the two seem permanently separated.
The conflict
Thirty years later, Frank - adopted by a wealthy family on the planet - has become the owner of a very famous intergalactic law firm. One night he will be awakened by an unexpected call: Nick needs his help. Nick has also made a career for himself, becoming the head of one of the most violent smuggling organizations in the universe.
Nick turns to his old friend Frank since he has been captured by Galactic Security. Nick confides his admiration for what Frank has achieved in life. Frank's firm has always been dedicated to defending prominent figures and never thugs; therefore, the firm's partners are against it, but Frank pulls his weight and accepts the assignment. Not only that, he manages to find a legal loophole to get his friend freed and offers himself as a bondsman.
The key
Too much time and too much has happened for the two to understand each other as they did when they were children. Frank houses Nick in his beautiful house set in the first level of Oharena, but the man's presence frightens Frank's wife, who decides to leave home, taking her 11-year-old son with her. Nick has become a cruel man, difficult to frame, controversial.
Yet, Frank continues to trust him and talks to him confiding his fortunes. When the two say goodbye, everything seems to return to normal: Frank's wife returns, work at the firm resumes normally, and Nick is never heard from again.
Until the night he reappears and kidnaps Frank's 11-year-old son. The ransom is equal to all the lawyer's property. Frank decides to submit but the exchange is blocked by Galactic Security who intervenes and kills Nick. The properties are saved, but there is no news of the boy: he is somewhere in the depths of Oharena.
The Alternatives
The plot tells a story of friendship and trust, both betrayed, and for that reason it is easily translatable to the present day or even the past: to the favelas of Rio or the dark suburbs of 1600s London. As always, you can also change the types of characters, their gender, character and other details.
What I recommend is that you consider creating other strong characters: a policeman or magistrate who tries to advise Frank or keeps the pressure on the investigation; or the wife's parents, who have always opposed the union and now find reason to reinforce their opinion. In short, try to create other archetypes that enrich the story.
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