THE FEAR is set in The Smoke a few months after Cerval Frankenstein and the Incorruptibles went up against The Commission and the Silencios, killing psychopathic mob boss Rooseveldt Franklyn Pfarrer and laying the foundations for a new, more democratic city-state. But the idealistic young guerrillas paid a heavy price - during the showdown Evangeline Evionne's legs were terribly injured and later amputated. The Incorruptibles holed up on the Frankenstein estate, Evangeline brooding on her incapacity, Cerval deep in guilty depression. When Battersby Power Station explodes, causing chaos on the streets, The Commission blames the architect of clean energy Doctor Pedro Efrain and the progressive forces who align with him. The Commission starts to take back lost ground, plunging the Smokies back into poverty and subservience. Finally, after Evangeline has been fitted with powerful steam-driven prosthetic legs, the Incorruptibles fly in to take on in The Commission and their cohorts once more..