The Beat Series

The Bug wiped out more than 90 percent of humanity 100 years ago. The Bug has to be gone by now. Except everyone thinks the Bug still kills anyone whose heart rate goes over 140 beats per minutes. That is why the prime administrator gave citizens the Papas - digital wrist monitors that knock people out when their heart rate gets too high. The Papas saved the last of humanity. But one night after curfew, on the border of New Frisko, Nik tampers with his Papa with terrible consequences. And when a brutal, high-tech enforcement squad from the city shows up, Nik goes on the run.

Two months after the attack on New Frisko, Nik returns to camp to discover that Prime Administrator Holland's assassins have killed or captured most of their group - including Nik's parents. Barely escaping with their lives, Nik and his friends race to save their loved ones. Chasing clues and legends, they discover people and a world they only knew through distorted propaganda.