Well, we asked for it, and here it is: a short story that serves as the final installment/epilogue for Alex London’s young adult duology. After all these years, let us talk about the sequel to “Proxy” and “Guardian”, a short story appropriately titled, “Daydreamers”.

By the way, it’s important to note there will be MASSIVE SPOILERS, both for “Proxy”, “Guardian”, and this one. If you haven’t read either this or the previous books, go and read them by subscribing onto his newsletter here. Alex London is an amazing author with incredible talent and passionate characters.

After the events of “Guardian”, the sickness that’s plagued the entire continent has taken its toll. Those originally connected to the network are either dead or slowly recovering to a new world, one where the proxy/patron system is gone with the Reconciliation.

Our main protagonist Syd Carton is still recuperating from the sickness, with his bodyguard/boyfriend Liam protecting him. As Liam helps Marie and her father build a new community for the survivors of the camp, the story focuses on the backstory of how he came to be, and a revelation involving Knox Brindle.

It turns out, after Knox’s sacrifice at the end of “Proxy”, a copy of his consciousness was downloaded onto a holographic flash drive (somehow) from the same machine that uploaded the Jubilee. Now, after discovering the flash drive—as well as having a hilarious/heartwarming conversation with the copy of Knox—Liam is conflicted on whether or not to tell Syd. After all the heartbreak and moving on he’s done since Knox’s death, why give another reason for his boyfriend to go through more heartache? Even the copy of Knox acknowledges how he isn’t the original, and pleads with Liam, a boy that knows Syd more than he has as a patron to a proxy, to destroy the memory.

However…Liam cannot do it, and decides to leave it turned off. For now, he and Syd have a future together. While the plague couldn’t be cured or prevented, the main characters have survived, and are now joining with the survivors to build a new community together. No more proxies, no more debt, no more sickness, and no more oppressive leaderships. After all the death, the destruction and economic turmoil, Syd, Liam and Marie and now truly free.

Holy shit do I love this.

Not only are we given a clear epilogue than we were at the end of “Guardian”, but this is in every way a very perfect ending to a sci-fi dystopia. While Syd is obviously still my most favorite character, the idea of putting it in Liam’s POV is nice, as we’re given a better perspective of his backstory he plans to tell. It fleshes him out more, and we’re given the same understanding of how much he loves Syd.

While I would’ve liked to see more of Syd and Liam after the former’s awakening, I think the way Alex London sums up the epilogue is a perfect ending. It showcases the optimistic hope our characters now hold for their survival, the cost of the Jubilee, with the deaths of both Mountain City and the Reconciliation now in the past, leaving a hopeful future for Syd, Liam and Marie to rebuild. Written wonderfully, executed wonderfully, this is just a wonderful epilogue to a great young adult dystopian series I enjoy! 🙂

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