In the dystopian future of 2178, cyborg soldier Mission is sent to undertake a special job – a journey into the past to assassinate the source of a dangerous temporal anomaly threatening to disrupt all of time and space.

Meanwhile, in the present day, Patrick Baker is starting year eleven and finally realising that he will never be as strong, handsome or smart as he thought he would be. His increasingly elaborate lies have made him a target for bullies and thugs. He believes there is no hope he meets a girl named Sam and a freak accident at the local skating rink unlocks his true mental potential.

Paddy Baker discovers that he's actually a genius.

But before Paddy can start enjoying his new acuity, the cyborg Mission arrives to kill him.

Paddy, his mother Emily, her strange cockney friend Linnet and Paddy's girlfriend Sam find themselves drawn into the strangest adventure yet; spanning three different time-periods and journeying across the post-apocalyptic landscape of Australia 2178 to the Oasis, an artificial paradise on the shores of a new inland sea.

They must confront the evil mad scientist responsible for the creation of time travel. But Dr Douglas Grayson runs "the Sire", a powerful scientific organisation, and knows they are coming for him. He is lying in wait with more soldiers, cybernetic assassins – and his fully functional time-machine.