Drifting in New York City, Lincoln searches for something, anything. His military service has left him nihilistic. Human connection only comes from a prostitute in Brooklyn, Edie. Aware he's a cliche, he falls for her. It's June, 2014, and ISIS cloaks Iraq in black. "It was all for nothing."

Desperate, he decides—as only someone so dislocated can—"to find the most powerful person in the world and tell them I matter." Success or death, nihilism is his greatest weapon. A politician visits Edie, so Lincoln blackmails him. This leads to the Governor of New York, who leads to a billionaire, who leads to a shadowy tyrant, the Master. Indulging Lincoln's fantasies, the Master speaks of the Monster. However, Lincoln is led to his ex-wife, Olivia, who recalls his violent alcoholism and breakdown, the Monster. Lincoln realises that while the Monster is real, the 'Master' is a prank by the billionaire to teach him "there is a mirror at the end of the corridor of power". Resolved to find Edie, the underworld catches up with Lincoln, who sacrifices himself to Edie's violent pimp so she can escape with the knowledge that she is the master of
her own destiny.