In a world on the verge of environmental catastrophe, supercomputers have determined that the only way to sustain life is to run communities logically by rationing every resource and monitoring every action to make sure it is in accordance with the Common Good. Amidst a division between Names (naturally born people) and Numbers (those created through genetical engineering), detective Ben Travis and his Number partner Paula are on the case of a murdered plant prospector. They end up discovering a fatal corruption that leads Ben to uncover a random emotional error in his partner: a belief in love. On the run in the ruins of a world that has been abandoned for 60 years, Ben and Paula encounter other survivors and rediscover the reverence for nature, life, and love.