When a computer hacker disappears from an elite private school, head boy Greg Owen faces the ultimate test of loyalty when he has to uncover an increasingly dark trail leading to the dark web, while keeping his own involvement a secret

SYNOPSIS:

THIS SYNOPSIS IS FOR THE COMPLETE YOUNG ADULT NOVEL THAT THE PILOT IS BASED ON. THIS COULD BE A LIMITED SERIES OF +/- 6 EPISODES.

Loosely based upon the legend of Faust, Underworld is told with a dual timeline, racking up the suspense and converging at the very end with a twist in the tale.

First timeline: The starting of a friendship, hacking lessons, rituals and secrets

Greg Owen is 18 years old and in his final year at Lawson College, an elite private boy’s high school in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. He is extremely popular, a brilliant sportsman and also the head boy. But his overbearing dad’s tremendous pressure to excel casts a shadow over Greg’s life.

A strange event marks Greg’s first day back at school: A new Grade 12 learner, Eckardt Wilken, arrives at Lawson College. This is unheard of for the school with its remarkably strict admission criteria. At first, Greg and Eckardt don’t see eye to eye, but during a secretive initiation ritual for new learners, Greg recognizes something of his deceased brother, John, in Eckardt. The two guys bury the hatchet and become good friends.

Soon, Eckardt reveals a dark secret: He dabbles in computer hacking. Tempted by the forbidden fruit, Greg grasps the opportunity and over the course of six months Eckardt teaches him various hacking techniques like social engineering, brute forcing and more. Greg becomes a very proficient hacker, but then disaster strikes …

Second Timeline: The disappearance, search and descent to the underground

One Thursday morning, Eckardt disappears without a trace, leaving behind only his clothes, cell phone and laptop. Greg is plunged into a crisis: He feels obligated to help the school and the police in finding Eckardt. But they absolutely can't get wind of their hacking activities.

With the police suspecting Greg might have a hand in the disappearance, he follows a dark trail of leads, each bringing him closer to the shocking truth while dragging him further and further down the underworld of hacking.

He uncovers a secretive plot: Project Nursery Rhyme, headed by the school principal doctor Alec Pienaar and his side-line company PlusUltraMed. The project aims to unleash a deadly virus on the world and then sell the vaccines to the desperate and dying.

When doctor Pienaar is finally arrested with Greg’s help, Eckardt makes an unexpected reappearance. He confesses his disappearance was part of a huge social engineering attack aimed at taking revenge on Doc Pienaar and … Greg’s father who was responsible for the death of Eckardt’s own dad years earlier.

In the end, Greg’s near-perfect life is torn apart and he realizes he is not as bulletproof as he once thought he was.