17-year-old Tye and his parents evacuate their home after an earthquake on planet G40 and move to Reality City. Tye is fanatical about the piano, and takes to constantly tapping out rhythms. His constant tinkling on his computer keyboard as if it were a set of 88s leads to an overload on the Internet-dominated, totalitarian state in which he now lives. While on a school field trip to a nuclear power plant, Tye discovers a radioactive rock whose powers enable him to pass through walls. He also meets a deaf alien shopgirl, NoNo, who can speak to him thanks to the bionic earpiece she wears. The pair begin an angsty romance that is truncated by the reappearance of her French-speaking ex-lover. Overwrought, NoNo disappears. With the aid of his glowing stone, Tye searches the world for his missing love. While NoNo remains elusive, Tye ends up in a barren region with a young, leather-clad hottie who also happens to be blind.