Four and Nine are partners working for the same company sent without passports to a nation recovering from ten years of civil war Together operating under pseudonyms and anonymous to potential kidnappers they are given a new machine the RS and tasked with building a highway that connects the country s far flung villages with the capital Four nicknamed The Clock is one of the highway s most experienced operators never falling short of his assigned schedule He drives the RS stopping only to sleep and eat the food provided by the company But Nine is an agent of chaos speeding ahead on his vehicle chatting and joking with locals eating at nearby bars and roadside food stands he threatens the schedule breaks protocol and endangers the work that they must complete in time for a planned government parade His every action draws Four s ire but when illness corruption and theft compromise their high stakes mission Four and Nine discover danger far greater than anything they could pose to one another