In Synapse City, an emotional monitoring system called SEC measures the feelings of every citizen in real time. Stress, loneliness, desire — all of it feeds into a rank score that determines housing, access, and survival.

The protagonist is a former Synapse engineer who left the department under unclear circumstances and now lives alone in a Tier 2 apartment, watching his rank slowly decline. To keep his housing he needs to solve two problems — poverty and loneliness — before the system decides he no longer qualifies for Tier 2 access.

He takes a risky job for a local fixer to earn some credits. The job goes well. Shortly after, someone breaks into his apartment while he sleeps and leaves a message on the wall.
He has 48 hours to fix his mistake. He doesn't know yet that this is only the beginning.