White Noise City is a gigantic, glittering structure of steel and glass, rising above a lifeless desert. The government, the "Optimizing Board," controls every aspect of its citizens' lives, using surveillance and neuro-linguistic programming to ensure absolute happiness and obedience. No violence, no war, no famine. Just a serene, sterile happiness, devoid of any spontaneity or individuality.

One of the city's residents, Marcus, a senior with a cold face and shaved temples, was against this world. He hated this structure.