Aleks Bivol, a sixteen year old resident of the dying town Toprak, is in the last stages of his plan to improve his family’s situation. The sheer poverty he's grown up with since his father's death, and watching his mother work 16 hour days, has pushed Aleks to an extreme course of action as he attempts to improve the world around him. However Aleks's plan comes toppling down on him as reports of minor-mass delusion spread through the town. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]