Syd, his bodyguard Liam, and his friend Marie struggle to find a solution when a mysterious disease begins to spread in their newly reorganized society. Syd, also known as Yovel, is known as the symbol of the recent revolution that destroyed his society's networks and frowns on the use of technology. He must act at the discretion of the Advisory Council, and he now has a bodyguard, Liam, age 17, who is trained as a soldier. His friend Marie, formerly of the upper class, is now one of their Purifiers (or guards) and in addition to following her own youthful ideals (rare for one of her class), she can also protect her parents through her position. But there are problems. Liam allows him little privacy with the constant dangers; not all support the revolution. Liam is frustrated by Syd's seeming lack of cooperation so that he can protect his charge; yet Syd understandably resents his lack of privacy and freedom. Syd also believes himself to be an empty “puppet” symbol, since his friend Knox died carrying out the vital actions with which Syd has been credited.
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Talk begins of a disease among the former Guardians, now most commonly known as “nopes,” who kept order before the revolution. As guardians, they were controlled by biodata; now, they are mute and deaf and their blood is becoming infected, causing itching, pain, burning, and, it seems for most, death. Leaders claim they cannot feel pain and Purifiers regularly club them to death, burning their bodies, to prevent interference or disturbance of the remainder of the population. This greatly bothers Syd; the Advisory Council doesn't seem concerned about the nopes or the potential spread of the disease, and doesn't seem to prioritize seeking a cure.
The Advisory Council does have a Dr. Khan working on the disease, they learn later, but not before a mysterious political player known as “Cousin” tricks Liam into leaving his post and eliminating Dr. Khan as a potential “danger” to Syd. Liam, unable to read, picks up her handwritten journal, as he feels guilty about Syd's situation, is beginning to develop a crush on Syd, and knows Syd might appreciate some reading material.
Meanwhile, Liam has had to protect Syd from a former classmate, and they have run into Syd's revolutionary friend Marie. She seeks them out after visiting her parents in their commune to see how they are doing and to explain the reduction in their rations, which are a punishment for one of Marie's recent shortcomings. During her visit, she discovered that the disease has been spreading to non-nope humans, which the Advisory Council claimed was impossible. Syd pressures Liam to go with them on a few unauthorized visits, which lead Syd and Liam to a prison cell with Knox's father. He has the blood disease and has been sentenced to death for advocating the return of the networks to cure the disease. He confirms that this had also been Dr. Khan's idea; basically, people are getting the disease because they are in a sort of withdrawal after the network was shut off and the biodata in their bloodstream was disconnected. Anyone who has had biodata in their bloodstream (ie most people) will become sick. The way to fix it is to turn the network back on. (Liam and Cousin, the reader learns as the book continues, are two of the rare people it will not affect.)
Cousin comes to the cell to bring out Knox's father for execution, and locks them in with a bomb. They work together (Liam's strength and Syd's technical knowledge) to get out before it goes off. When Marie comes to the Council with this information about the disease, they politely listen and give little feedback. Then Cousin's bomb goes off. As Liam runs off on an errand after leaving Syd at his room, two assassins nearly kill Syd, and Cousin captures Marie. Liam rescues Marie and Syd, but fails to kill Cousin, who has consistently and successfully used his conversational ability to stall until he can find a way out. Liam, Marie, and Syd escape, however, and head towards a mountain city that was the center of the networked world.
The mountain city is filled with gangs that immitate former corporate structures, and that wish to bring back the old system and the network. Bringing back the network is now Syd, Liam, and Marie's goal also, because in doing so they can cure so many. They observe that the children within the city have begun to suffer from the blood disease also, and Syd and Marie begin to suffer from it while they are there. By offering two of them as proxies and pretending Liam is actually Syd, they manage to bargain with the leading member of the leading gang for a chance at her resources, as well as a gang that has access to technology. This later gang is effectively run by an immature and very frustrating eight-year-old boy who tries to make Liam and Syd fight to the death. Liam at first tries to make Syd kill him, but when the opportunity arises, he changes tactics and eliminates the boy's protection, gaining the upper hand.
Cousin arrives and tries to make Liam join him and to thwart their efforts to retrieve technology for the machine, but fails on both counts. His primary victory isn't really entirely his doing; Syd cannot complete the machine because sufficient parts don't exist, and a sufficient prototype or model also doesn't exist for Syd to follow. Cousin does make things more difficult for Syd and Liam's team, however (which has now been joined by some of the people they have been dealing with from the gangs). He drives them to a hot rooftop, where Liam takes them after Cousin knocks them unconscious.
When all have regained consciousness, all but Liam are still sick, but find that many nopes have recovered. They follow the nopes down some ropes to the ground, find and thwart Cousin, and take Cousin's vehicle back to Marie's commune. Of those who had been sick, some have died but some have recovered. Marie's mother died, but her father is now better. Syd is still sick, but he and Liam have become closer and come to understand each other better. Liam also has found out that Syd returns his feelings. Liam stays by Syd and promises to stay with him until he is well.
Best part of story, including ending:
The main characters are able to recognize that their replacement government, instead of solving all their problems, has not in fact solved everything. Marie notices that in spite of banning technology, the Advisory Council and Purifiers don't hesitate to use it. All eventually note their government's refusal to address the problem of the nopes' disease, and its effect on ordinary citizens. Just as it was capable of becoming extreme in one direction, it was capable of becoming extreme in another way.
Best scene in story:
On the top of the tower, Liam, Syd, and Marie realize that some of the nopes have recovered. They didn't succeed in their mission, but in the end, not everything was lost; some would survive anyway, so there was hope.
Opinion about the main character:
Syd and Liam are very close in importance. Syd's gradual internal clarity improved throughout the book; he was able to find purpose. Liam was able to begin breaking away from the cold, unfeeling, brutal side he had cultivated. While this brutal side made him effective as a bodyguard, it didn't lend itself well to interpersonal communication, understanding, or moral support.
