A bloodthirsty judge railroads an unfortunate seventeen year old, who is tried as an adult and sent to prison. From inside the machine he learns about the gears that turn both the prison system and the economic control grid from which its power is derived, unraveling their hidden, terrifying relations. Sporting a dangerous combination of intelligence, charisma and rebelliousness, the convict adapts to and plucks from his tumultuous environment the many intellectual fruits he discovers.
A search for the truth guides him as his life begins to coincide with national history and the modern fight...