"Torn Present" is the third volume in the series "The Underground Complex", a dystopian future story about the descendants of the last humans to survive the catastrophic fall of civilization. It follows the epilogue of the first part (Gloomy Future).After the exploration of the surface by the expedition group led by Founder Horrwex ends in disaster, Dunwall, the last survivor of the six, is picked up by three strangers who turn out to be the owners of the ominous drone that has been watching the group from the air for days. The strangers are from an underwater colony called Newbay, previously unknown to the center. The colony, unlike the complex, is an utopia: equality and freedom reign. A religion called "dignified altruism" lets people deal with each other in an accommodating and loving way.Dunwall is brought to Newbay because the colonists want to question him about the details of his origins, but the insane peripheral cannot shed any light on the matter. Dunwall dies shortly after from his withdrawal symptoms. A short time later, the drone sights two androids who have emerged from the complex to search for the expedition group. To understand what has happened on the island, Newbay also sends a team of observers to the island.However, the team of observers no longer meets the androids, but Founder Ghani and her guards. She and the founders of the underground complex have made it their mission to promote the repopulation of the Earth's surface at any cost. To do this, Ghani wants to find out what exactly is going on up there and who lives there. After the two parties meet, errors and confusions ensure that within 48 days a horrible war breaks out, which will have a terrible end for those involved...