Rand and Will decide to start a war against people who don't think about the philosophical problems of life: What is the meaning of life? Why are morals important? Where do morals come from? As they travel through the western US, they ask people these questions. Those who answer poorly they shoot. The FBI and police pursue them, and the war comes to a violent end. Will survives though, and he struggles, with a new name, to reclaim his lost humanity. Fearful of arrest, he takes a job, makes friends, and falls in love, but the questions he thought he long ago answered now need new answers. What will the meaning of his life be? How can he make up for the lives he took?