The City and the City

Borlú watches film of Corwi’s and the shooter’s comrades’ interrogations. Breach is concerned that the shooter, Yorjavic, may have had contacts in the “deep state,” something hidden beyond even Breach’s sight, although a Besźel police report finds nothing to link him to Orciny.

The next morning, Borlú is escorted through the streets (Ul Qoma, he thinks, but he is unsure). His escort, Ashil, warns him not to run or draw attention to himself. Although he seems to be in Ul Qoma, he is actually in Breach. They cross borders at will, and his senses are distorted because he is actually in both cities at the same time. Ashil takes him to a university library, where he locates a worn copy of Between the City and the City. Borlú argues that Geary understood Orciny better than anyone, and the truth lies in her annotations of the book.

Borlú is given a copy of Geary’s annotated text and taken to a new location. The more he thinks about it, the more he believes Orciny’s existence is “inevitable.” His Breach captors brush the thought aside. He theorizes that Geary discovered some secret Orciny plan and was killed for it.

The next morning, Borlú is taken to a Breach “crisis meeting.” He is questioned about what Geary knew. He suggests they visit Bol Ye’an for answers. On the way, he asks to speak to Dhatt, but they refuse, as doing so would trigger breach again. At the site, they question the head of security about possible stolen artifacts, but he claims nothing could be smuggled past the guards. They find out that the night Geary was killed was the last time she locked up the site. Borlú digs through a collection of artifacts and finds, buried in the back, a worthless piece of wood. He takes it and begins to reconstruct Geary’s final night at the dig. He walks past the dig site to a park beyond, a crosshatched area. There, he demonstrates what he imagines Geary was doing—smuggling artifacts out of the site and depositing them in Besźel via the amorphous overlapping zones. He suggests that Geary was smuggling the items for Orciny. Breaching would occur in the process, although Orciny may not acknowledge the borders.

Back at the Breach crisis station, members are on high alert. Breaches are increasing; an incursion is coming. Geary has set something in motion, and Breach seems unable to stop it. As the debate rages within Breach, Borlú is locked in his room. He studies Geary’s notes and finally deduces that she was murdered “because she stopped believing in Orciny at all” (320).

As Borlú and Ashil try to piece together the various clues, they focus on the nights Geary locked up when she wasn’t scheduled to; those are the nights she received orders from her contact—perhaps a far-right group or politician—to drop an artifact across the border. Borlú suggests researching businesses that attended Chamber of Commerce events on the nights in question, and they find several, including Sear and Core, who were present each night Geary smuggled out an artifact. These companies, Borlú suggests, are researching the “questionable physics” of the artifacts, and they deluded Geary into believing she was getting close to Orciny. As they get closer to the truth, Ashil argues that Breach needs to present a strong, united front.

Just then, a commotion erupts in Breach headquarters. Two buses have collided and breached, releasing groups of passengers—refugees, who don’t know the rules and are causing breaches everywhere. The collision was deliberate, the beginning of a unificationist insurrection. Breach declares martial law. Borlú argues that the unificationists are too fractured to truly challenge Breach, and that their “insurrection” is just a distraction: “Someone’s engineered this because they’ve realized we’re on to them” (330).

Borlú and Ashil move through the burning cities, heading for the Sear and Core headquarters. As they near the building, they notice a helicopter hovering overhead—poised for a pickup. They force their way past security and take an elevator to the roof. Waiting on the helipad are two nationalists and Mikhel Buric, the liberal politician who has been conspiring with the far-right, as well as the organizer and point of contact between Geary, the unificationists, and Sear and Core. Ashil and Borlú approach the helicopter, weapons drawn, but Buric refuses to recognize Breach authority, arguing that Besźel is the one, rightful city. Borlú, asserting his authority as Besźel law enforcement, places him under arrest for the murders of Geary and Rodriguez. It turns out that Orciny is a fabrication, and Buric meant only to line his pockets by selling smuggled goods to a foreign company. As Buric aims a gun at Borlú, Ashil shoots him. In response, the nationalists shoot Ashil and then flee. A fourth man, a Sear and Core representative, boards the helicopter, unfazed by Ashil’s authority. The helicopter flies off, leaving Borlú and a wounded Ashil on the rooftop.

As they wait for assistance, they consider Buric, not convinced he is smart enough to have organized the entire uprising. Borlú wonders why Buric would want Bowden dead if Orciny isn’t real. Suddenly, he understands why it’s so important to get Bowden out of the cities. Breach assistance arrives to care for Ashil, who hands Borlú his credentials, telling him to get Bowden out.

Borlú calls Dhatt and tells him to secure Bowden until he gets there. Moments later, Dhatt calls back and informs him that Bowden is missing. The streets are in chaos, both cities’ police forces trying to reestablish borders. Dhatt puts out an APB on Bowden, hoping to find him before he escapes. Shortly after, Dhatt calls to tell Borlú they’ve found Bowden, but they can’t tell if he’s in Besźel or Ul Qoma despite being in full view. Further, none of Dhatt’s officers will risk seeing him to determine his exact location for fear of invoking breach. Borlú sends both Dhatt and Corwi to Copula Hall to cover both cities in case Bowden emerges into either one. Borlú arrives at Copula Hall and sees Bowden striding with “pathological neutrality,” careful not to breach either border. Borlú approaches him. Bowden carries a weapon excavated from the dig site—the weapon he used to murder Geary. He intends to walk out of both cities, carefully navigating the space between. He threatens to kill Borlú if he tries to stop him.

Borlú pieces together Bowden’s scheme. Bowden used Bol Ye’an to resurrect the myth of Orciny and lure Geary into his web; he manipulated all interested parties—students, corporate interests, and far-right politicians—to line his pockets and create distractions, including selling Bol Ye’an artifacts to the multi-national corporation Sear and Core. He killed Geary when she realized the truth, but the cover-up inevitably left loose ends—Geary’s body was supposed to be dumped in an estuary, for example, rather than in an open park; Rodriguez’s murder was another unintended consequence of the cover-up. With the entire plot revealed, Borlú convinces Bowden that he cannot escape justice, and he surrenders. 

Thirty-six hours later, the riots are quelled, and some measure of order is restored, as are borders. Bowden has been dealt with by Breach; Borlú is not privy to the details. He and Ashil walk the streets of Besźel and discuss the fallout from the case. Borlú asks when he can return home, but Ashil responds, “If you breach […] you can’t come back from that” (370). However, Breach wants to recruit him. His only other option is to remain in their custody, so he becomes a “Breach avatar,” not enforcing the laws but maintaining the borders, walking not in one city or the other but in both at once.