The Chamber, a communist, totalitarian government driven by the desire to reduce healthcare costs and burden has risen to power. All citizens are marked with a chip in their fingertip. The chip contains everything about each citizen as well as an account provided by the government for spending on food and supplies. The government monitors each citizen's food intake based on spending, and healthcare outcomes and decisions are based on data obtained from each citizen's chip. 

Franky has been on his own since he was 12 when his father was taken into custody by The Chamber. He was left on his own to care for his baby brother, Joseph in the barrier communities, an outlying encampment for those with no chip. Joseph dies shortly afterward under Franky’s care. Now in the midst of survival, grief, anger, and a penchant for “Kicking up trouble”, Franky sets off to create a life of his own. 

In the province of New Ontario, a flood destroys a farm that provides produce and food staples to “the stalls”, a local market place. Imelda, the farm owner’s daughter, who delivers food to the stalls agrees to give Franky a job rebuilding after the flood. Ansel (Prominent stall owner and community leader) vouches for Franky and mentors him as he struggles in his relationship with the farm owner and his daughter, Imelda. Imelda and Franky’s tension reaches fever pitch over the boy following in his father’s footsteps in not complying with the government. Franky discovers his father is still alive, and the implications of his struggle over whether it is right to comply with the government or fight for his father threaten everything he has worked for. He is forced to confront who really killed Joseph. Was it the government, his father, or him? And he has to untangle how far back you have to travel to assign blame.