An infant, symbolizing the individual spirit, is born into a society in which individualism is suppressed through brute force. The infant's name is Mutilation, born on Orb-Earth, to collectivized humans calling themselves Outsiders who live in the Great Metropolis. Outsiders tolerate no opposition. Everyone must look, think, and, sound alike without dissent, and, up until Mutilation's appearance, there is none. But, with the child's birth, everything changes. The Outsiders are in for one heck of a ride. What follows is the pressure of the state to institute conformity, conflict, resistance, and reaction.