The book begins with the major character and narrator, Titus, sitting with his friends and shocking one another as a form of fun. Titus claims that even though they went to the moon, they find no satisfaction whatsoever. In the first chapter, Titus, Link, and Marty are on a plane going to the moon and Titus observes his friends.
Once they reach the moon, the friends go to a hotel and then they go out to eat. After that, they go to an entertainment spot called the Ricochet Lounge where Titus sees a beautiful woman. The chapter ends not with the description of the beautiful woman but rather with the description of the ads the characters receive on their feeds. Titus continues to watch the young woman as she drinks juice while sitting at a bar.
While the rest of the girls go to the bathroom, Titus and Link begin talking with the mystery girl at the bar about lesions. The girl’s name is Violet and the group invites her to join them to go to a party. The group can’t find a place to drink so they return to the hotel. One of Titus's friends named Marty notices how Violet is different from them and that she is not interested into the things that interest them. The group goes to a bar called the Rumble Spot and there they encounter a mad man who is actually a hacker and who takes control over everyone’s feed. The hacker stream lined a message in their feeds "We enter a time of calamity". The police soon show up and shuts off everyone affected in the club.
When Titus wakes up, he realizes that he was disconnected and can no longer communicate with his friends via the telepathic link. Titus realizes that he is in a hospital and that his friends are all asleep. The only person who is awake is Violet who asks Titus about what they should do next. Titus is told that until the police investigate their feeds, they will have to be unconnected.
A few days later, Titus is the only one who is awake. The only person in their group who wasn’t affected by the hacker is a girl named Loga who goes to visit Titus. Instead of talking with him, Loga sits on her feed, talking with people on earth. Enraged by this, Titus goes on the hallway where he meets with Violet. They sit in silence beside one another, and they feel more comfortable than ever.
When Titus’s father comes to visit him, he is just as detached as the rest of the people. Violet however is not visited by her parents.
The next day, Titus’s friends are awake, and they play a game throwing needles at a picture on the wall. When Loga comes once more, she gets distracted by her feed as the day before, but Titus and Violet continue talking about their childhood and their past memories.
Titus and Violet spend more and more time together and they even end up kissing. Violet opens up about her parents and tells Titus that her father is a teacher who knows dead languages. At the same time, she shows him her diary, something that intrigues Titus since no one really knows how to write anymore.
Days later, the children are given back their feeds and let to return to earth where they go about their lives as they did before. Titus continues to meet with Violet, and they agree to go to a party together. Then, Violet tells Titus that she was homeschooled, so she does not have that many friends or social connections. At the party, Violet feels strange because she is not like the others and because the other girls in the group began making fun of her for the way she was talking. Despite returning to his old life, Titus refuses to do some of the things he did before like getting high and because of this he is laughed at by the others. Violet and Titus talk about the others who have been affected by the virus and they don’t understand how they went so easily back to their old life. Violet also tells Titus that while the others went back to normal, her feed was not fixed because the doctors were still trying to figure out what went wrong with her.
Titus and Violent continue to meet, going on dates to the mall and spending time together. Titus finds that Violet didn't come from a wealthy family like he did, which is why she didn't get her feed implanted until she was seven years old. Violet is also homeschooled, so she has time and is allowed to learn about the environment and politics while Titus is forced to learn about various products sold by the companies running America.
Titus was gifted a car from his father and when he decided to test drive it, Violet joins in as well. During the test drive, Violet tells Titus that the hacker who attacked them was killed by the police. That night, Violet eats dinner with Titus and his family. During the dinner, Violet tells Titus that she can’t move her feet and that became something common since she was attacked by the hacker. As soon as Titus drops Violet off, he forgets about her health problems.
The next day, Titus visits Violet’s father and they tell him that they will go on a trip around the country. After the trip, Titus and Violet meet with Titus’s friends but Violet asks to go when they start making fun of her for using words they can’t understand. Violet then tells Titus that she will most likely lose her mental functions as a result of her feed malfunctioning.
A few days later, Titus and Violet go to Link’s house to attend a party. At the party, during a game, Violet begins to act hectically and insulting other girls, before having some type of seizure, becoming unable to move her hands and becoming unresponsive. Violet is taken to the hospital where her feed is restored. When Violet’s father comes to the hospital, Titus goes home. The next day, Titus visits Violet who asks him to ask for forgiveness from a girl she insulted at the party.
After that event, Titus begins to avoid Violet. The two meet one more time when they go to a resort in the mountains, but they have a fight and then return back home. During the ride back, Titus tells Violet that he wants to break up with her before dropping her off.
A few months later, Titus is dating another girl, Quendy. The situation in the world became critical as more and more people began getting lesions and their hair began falling out. It is then when Titus has enough courage to go and visit Violet again.
By the time Titus goes to Violet, she is unresponsive, and Titus is shocked to see her in such a state. The novel ends with Titus talking with Violet, telling her about his day and about some story he saw on his feed.
