In a hostile, dystopian world, a young boy flees through a forest pursued by masked guards with flashlights, vehicles, and attack dogs. Escaping the patrols, he crosses into farmland overrun by parasitic worms and rampaging animals, then reaches a seemingly abandoned city where lines of zombie-like people are moved through mind control. Using a mind-control helmet, the boy manipulates these drone-like figures to press deeper into a vast underground facility of flooded chambers and laboratories, where scientists conduct disturbing underwater experiments on human bodies. An underwater creature attaches a device to the boy, allowing him to breathe beneath the surface as he pushes further into the complex, drawn toward something at its center.