On July 4, 2005, a catastrophic event unfolds in a fictionalized alternate history of the United States, where two Texas towns, El Paso and Abilene, face destruction from twin nuclear attacks. This disaster leads to the deaths of thousands and triggers a state of sheer chaos, engulfing the nation in hysteria as it spirals into a Third World War—a grim reflection of what the United States might have become under the pressure of the War on Terror. In this maelstrom, the government resorts to reintroducing the draft, eliciting fear and confusion among its citizens.

Amidst this turmoil, the PATRIOT Act has granted extensive authority to a new surveillance agency known as US-IDent. This agency operates under the pretense of security, monitoring citizens incessantly. The extent of its measures includes the censorship of the Internet and the need for fingerprints merely to access computers and bank accounts, marking a significant erosion of personal freedoms.

Responding to the dire fuel shortages arising from the ongoing global warfare, the German company Treer has developed an innovative generator called Fluid Karma. This device, designed to harness the inexhaustible energy of perpetual ocean currents, promises a solution to the energy crisis. However, lurking beneath the surface is a troubling secret: its inventor, Baron von Westphalen, and his team conceal the fact that this technology disrupts ocean currents and slows down the rotation of Earth itself. Furthermore, the process of transmitting Fluid Karma to portable receivers via quantum entanglement is leading to catastrophic rifts in the very fabric of space and time, placing the world precariously at risk.

Fast forward to the near-future year of 2008, Los Angeles, or as the locals refer to it, “The Southland,” emerges as a dystopian city teetering on the brink of collapse. In this world overshadowed by the rise of a powerful underground neo-Marxist organization, the narrative weaves through the complex fates of key characters. Central to this tale is Boxer Santaros, an action film star burdened by amnesia, and Krysta Now, a psychic former porn star who is in the throes of producing a reality TV show. Their lives intersect with those of twin brothers Roland and Ronald Taverner, whose identities become intricately woven into a larger destiny that impacts all of humanity.

As the story unfolds, the Taverner twins reveal a shocking truth: they are, in fact, the same person, a result of Roland’s journey through a rift in space-time initiated by the very technology from Treer. Meanwhile, Boxer finds himself thrust into the spotlight as the most wanted man on the planet. Despite his connections to political circles, he holds in his grasp the future itself—encapsulated in a prophetic screenplay that ominously foretells the end of the world as they know it. The intertwining stories of these characters paint a vivid picture of desperation, hope, and the unyielding quest for truth in a world on the brink of apocalypse.