In order to set himself up with a cushy job post graduation, Heller Wilson takes on a subject for his PhD thesis at the behest of his advisor. This leads him to meet with Dr. Spencer Brownfield, a disgraced Columbia professor who spent his career researching Complex Theory, the idea that one can use mathematics to predict the large-scale outcomes caused by minute changes in environment. At first, Dr. Brownfield seems crazy, but Heller soon discovers that the doctor's research might be the only thing keeping New York City from destroying itself from the inside out.
