Beneath their perfect society hides an ugly truth

Clockworld's General Rules of Conduct—the very foundations of order—have kept its citizens productive, compliant, and radiantly healthy for generations. There is no room for imperfection: illness, age, injury are all dealt with the same way: Reprocessing. No one Reprocessed ever returns.

His whole life, Technician Cory questioned Clockworld's beliefs and practices, thoughts he usually kept to himself. But when his friend Owen is suddenly Reprocessed for a minor injury, Cory openly rebels against the Authority. He's arrested and sentenced to three months of hard labor among Clockworld's slave-class, the Grayshirts.

Intellectuals, weeded out early as likely revolutionaries, the Grayshirts are separated from the rest of society. Here, though Cory's lost the privileges of the exerciser class, he is unrestricted by the conventions of society and soon finds himself part of a secret revolution. With his new allies, Cory sets off to debunk Clockworld's obscure rules and look for Owen. What they discover will shatter everything they know about Clockworld…and their own existence.