In the year 2055, technology has transformed the human experience, using Nerve Reading Devices (N.R.D.s) to share dreams and Emo-Regs to filter and regulate emotions, leading pain and suffering to become commodities in a world that has made them virtually illegal. But a growing group of addicts, called eJunkies, continue to seek every kind of human experience by using drugs containing other people's memories, including painful ones, in the form of an alternative drug (ALT) known as Torch. When Hector Holmes, a disgraced investigator and eJunky, nearly overdoses on Torch, his previous partner from the Alternative Reality Investigation Squad (A.R.I.S.) requests his help to stop The Guardians of Pain-a terrorist group distributing Torch to 'wake' people to a painful and buried past in an effort to start a revolution. Hector enlists Astra, a dream celebrity whose television channel is hacked by the Guardians to promote their revolutionary message. Astra's celebrity status gives Hector access to every level of society, helping him get close to the cult group's leader, a mysterious figure known as X. With Astra's help, Hector scours the city and his own mind in pursuit of the Guardians, hoping to find some clues in the memory experiences they sell on the black market. But dosing these experiences comes with a price, and after several doses of Torch Hector's reality blurs, pulling people from his life into his Torch-induced visions. As Hector's mind unravels, he must confront a forgotten and painful past to stop a horrific future.
