Bannecker is a rimjacker in Breaktown, which is a dangerous job. He has to protect his town against fangcats using dangerous but strong equipment that is capable of ripping holes in reality. He brings his little cousin Kally out with him to the "Other country" where they do their work to show her the ropes. Bannecker doesn't fell as though she is taking the danger seriously enough so he decides to spook her. He jumps behind her and shouts "boo!" but she reacted and accidentally uses he equipment to blast him off a cliff, into a cold abbyss that he would never escape from if he fell too far. Both Kally and Bannecker make attempts to fix the situation, but when they both use their equipment at the same time, their energies clash and open up a "rip," a portal to a hellish otherworld. Kally is sucked in before Bannecker can climb out of the abyss. Bannecker's supervisor tells him that there's nothing he can do, and that he should just come back. The rips are too unpredictable, Kally was a lost cause. But Bannecker decides to go and try to save her. He has to be in and out before a different rimjacker has to come seal the rip, so he races to find her, running into demon cratures along the way. He eventually finds Kally who is surrounded by creatures. He saves her, but she's lost her glasses. They start to leave without them when one of the creatures calls out to them in it's non human language. It returns the glasses to Kally, and they leave safely. Bannecker is left to coonsider what those creatures really are, and if the explanation that his parents gave him were correct.