Calvin Jones, a computer programmer in his mid-twenties, decides to skip work and meet his girlfriend at the beach instead. However, because of an accident, a trip to the hospital, death, and cryogenic freezing, he never quite makes it there. When Calvin is revived, he finds himself in a utopian society three hundred years in the future.

But every society has its peculiarities.

This one happens to be governed by an artificial intelligence named Ariel. Using Ariel, this society has been able to identify its stupid, lazy, or otherwise detrimental individuals -and kill them. The result is a civilization of intelligent, hardworking inhabitants-except for Calvin.

Will Calvin be able to adapt to his new surroundings, or will the learning curve be too steep for him to survive?