No one questions the pills. Pregnant mothers must take them to ensure the health of the baby. It almost certainly prevents disaster. The people genuinely believe it's for their own good.

They are wrong.

Chemical brain rewiring links them to a computer, located in the government sector, a place not everyone knows exists. With a push of a button, a worker can control what hormones your brain releases or withholds. As long as you don't try to rise above your station, you are left well enough alone.

But Jun's mother is pregnant, and their family is going hungry. Per the orders of somebody with a clipboard in an office building miles away from him, he has never been able to get a job. Never been able to fight against the barriers in his brain. This time, somehow, he does it! He didn't know what it would cost. That he would have to deal with the consequences falling on those he was trying to protect. That it would trigger a war within his brain that threatens to kill him.

Kyra has no computer connected to her brain; she monitors computers. Jun is one of her individuals and she breaks the rules for him. But she was under orders, and the consequences of disobedience is her life. So she runs.