In a dystopia of undefined place and time, a group of people living in a mining factory are being controlled by the omnipresent surveillance system of the Officials. Based on sorrow for the loss of his co-worker friend, the protagonist (the Miner) begins to doubt the system he lives in. After he gets infected by a mysterious disease in the mines, he becomes sick and scars begin to appear on his body that make him look like an animal. He tries to hide them from other workers and the surveillance system by covering the scars with clothes and mud. In his fear and despair to be discovered, the Miner begins to hope for help from marshes near the factory. This vain hope and strong doubt make him weaker and more desperate over time. This is when he realizes that his existence depends on the destruction of a system that is darker than he thought, and that he should be the one to destroy it.