text: The Surge The Surge (also called The Operation) is an internationally standardized and performed medical procedure mandated by the new society that plays a central part in the plot of the Uglies series. The Surge consists of many steps, taking place over a single twenty-four-hour period, half of which is spent in anaesthetic stasis. The Surge is mostly cosmetic, but also involves major surgery being performed on the nervous, immune, and neurological systems. The point of The Surge itself is to promote and inspire peace among its recipients, with the idea that beauty ultimately trumps all forms of inequality and bigotry - Things like race and orientation don't matter when everyone is beautiful. The Surge is performed at the age of sixteen on every citizen in the world (although some cities perform it at age 18, and is hinted to be performed at 15 in some) and is strictly regulated by The International Committee For Morphological Standards ("The Pretty Committee"), which converges yearly to exchange notes on things such as innovations, anaesthesia techniques, and standard levels of attraction worldwide (because of the cities attitude towards codependence, these meetings are mostly just to make sure every city is making their recipients the same kind of pretty, and to not have any one city have more attractive post-ops).
  The schedule for The Surge is as follows:
  24 hours before: No food or liquid is to be ingested by the patient. It is requested that the patient rests as much as possible beforehand and dressed comfortably for the operation. It is also asked that the patient does not pack heavily for their transition into New Pretty Town, as they will most likely throw it away afterwards.
  1 hour before: The patient is collected by a warden of the state and is taken into peaceful custody. They are delivered to the city hospital and are taken to a waiting room while their operation tank is prepared.
  10 minutes before: the patient is stripped of all clothing and is lowered into a Surge Tank, a large glass tube which suspends the body in a thick fluid swarming with nanobots which deliver nutrients and oxygen to the body. The patient is anaesthetised.