Incarceration

In the dystopian world of Madina City, officials are determined to enforce all rules and punish all offenders. So they've built Ranum Correctional Institute , where people, including kids, are incarcerated for even the most minor offenses.

And no one know Ranum Correctional Institute better than Harriet Maxwell. The daughter of a former guard, Maxwell can expertly navigate the place - including its secret tunnels and corridors. After her father's death, Maxwell is determined to follow in his footsteps, helping prisoners escape the cruel life so many of them have not truly earned.

But when Maxwell gets caught, she learns what it's like to be a prisoner herself. Now, like other inmates, she's locked in a tiny cell, released only for meals, and forced to play the game inside the "Sim" - a brutal virtual reality experiment designed to punish inmates for their "crimes."

Much of the idea of the Sim had been to provide closure for the victim. The ability and legal right to exact revenge on those who had wronged them. The Sim gives ultimate control over another human being. And control, for many, makes them drunk with power.

When guards begin forcing prisoners to play more frequently, Maxwell realizes that "the game" has other motives.