60 years after a massive solar flare destroyed electrical grids worldwide, the New American Federation was, remarkably, nearly functional. Jack is sent to observe the violent, isolated, and often totally absurd town of Augustana. Once he befriends a young trio of rowdy Augustinians, their stumbles through illegal synth-pop records, romantic catastrophes, corn and corn products, and the all-encompassing allure of the sacred computer could crumble their home-- and their lives-- into ruins.