The Beast Code

Metro 2033: The Beast Code is the debut novel by Kira Ilarionova, written as part of the Metro 2033 universe. Released in January 2015, this is the fifty-sixth book of the series and serves as the first entry of Project Celestis.

Synopsis
There is a beast lurking within the soul of each of us, but only a few people think about how small this dream is. And very few have made it their profession to awaken the beastly essence of man. As a rule, they covered themselves with clever or beautiful words about the triumph of science, expediency, safety, and forced necessity, but more often - simply followed the orders from files marked "top secret" and never ask such unnecessary questions. And then the Last War broke out, and almost all the secrets of the old world died with them. But only almost. Now, in the new world, it seems that the beastly essence is much preferable to the human one. But it only seems that way...

Main

 * Vika (Victoria) is a hunter and resident of the refuge located in Kemi. She is approached by Polar Zori, to accompany an expedition into Moscow. While in St. Petersburg, it turns out that she is a woman (she hid her identity, and the costume allowed others not to see her face). In the finale, she defeats her brother and, at the cost of her own strength, saves Max's life.
 * Max is a survivor from St. Petersburg. He sheltered the expedition in his CNIITA bunker, and later joins them because of an impending war in the subway. Near the end, he ran in to help Vika, but is almost killed himself.

Secondary

 * Alexei "Hussar" Yermolov is the commander of the Northmen's expedition to Moscow. As captain, he cunningly forced Vika to join the expedition (antibiotics in exchange for the services of a guide). At the end, he is killed under orders by Korbut.
 * Nikolay "Lesnik" Lvovich- One of the guards for "Project: Celestis". During the climax, Lesnik manages to reach Moscow and is regretfully killed by Korbut.
 * Anton "Chugun" Chugunov - Ensigned during the expedition, he serves as Yermolov's assistant and is armed with a Pecheneg ("cookie"). He treats the fighters as if they were his own children (because he was the one who took care of them). In the finale, he decides to save both Vika and Max at the cost of his own life.
 * Andrei "Som" Somov - One of the fighters in Yermolov's squad, he's the last regular fighter in their platoon. He was killed during the approach to Moscow, a little earlier than Chugun and Vadim (murderer of almost the entire squad).
 * Vadim is Vika's brother, an experimental specimen just like her. He escaped from the facility where the experiments occurred and stayed low for a while. He later appears in a bunker near Vochage and has been stalking the squad ever since. In the finale, he was killed by Vika, but before that he nearly disembowled Max (if not for Vika, the "almost" would have been absent) and killed Chugun.

Interesting Facts

 * Working titles included "Carriers", "Project Integrum", and "Perfect Man".
 * Second cover in a row by Yana Polovtseva.
 * It takes into account the setting of Kira's debut story, "Working on Errors".
 * The author of the novel became the youngest novelist in the series.
 * Together with "Working on Errors" and a sequel announced online by Kira herself, The Beast Code is part of the series under the author's title Project Celestis.