Plot Summary:Code 46 is a love story set in a Brave New World-type near-future where cities are heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People cannot travel unless they have "papeles" (papers in Spanish; words and sentences in many languages, especially Spanish, French and Chinese are mixed with English in this new world), a special travel permit issued by the totalitarian government, the "Sphinx". Outside these cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are jammed with non-citizens - people without IDs forced to live primitive lives. William is a family man who works as a government investigator. When he is sent to Shanghai to solve a case of fake IDs, he meets a woman named Maria. Although he realizes she is behind the forgeries, he cannot help but fall completely in love with her. He hides her crime and they have a wild, passionate affair that can only last as long as his visa: 24 hours. Back home, William is obsessed with the memory of Maria. When the original investigation is inevitably re-opened a week later and William is sent back to finish the work he started, he tracks her down, only to discover she has been accused of a Code 46 violation and any further relationship is impossible.
威廉被派到上海去調查斯芬克斯保險公司的一樁偽造證件案,由於他染上了一種奇特的病毒,使他能夠一清二楚地知道嫌疑犯的心理活動。瑪麗婭是斯芬克斯的雇員,這家公司發行一種特殊的證件「papelles」,這是保險、護照與信用卡的混合體。沒有這種證件的人就只能生活在被指派的次等區域內,那裡條件極其惡劣,基本就是沙漠般的荒地,這些低等公民被禁止進入文明地帶。 經過調查,威廉發現正是瑪麗婭在把偽造的證件賣給那些斯芬克斯公司拒絕與之交易的人。他很明白把瑪麗婭交給組織是自己的職責,但是似乎還有一股更大的力量在悄悄發生作用。威廉深深地愛上了她,他無法就此一手將瑪麗婭送上絕路。 事情甚至更復雜,最令威廉驚訝的是,瑪麗婭竟然是從他死去的母親腦部DNA克隆而成。 這對情侶受到驅逐,為了躲避當局追捕,他們不得不亡命天涯……