Jamie lives is an apocalyptic world, that occurred after the government decided that people would be easier to control if they prevented technological advances. Deciding this in the year 1902, they purposefully destroyed every industrial plant in the British isles, releasing methyl isocyanate, hydrogen sulphate, and carbon monoxide into the air. This did not have the intended consequence, thousands died on that fateful June day, thousands more died in the following weeks… The air was toxic in a great radius around the various sites of destruction… very few survived the next few months.

It is the year of 1922 when the story commences, with Jamie being 31 of age. They were relatively close to a gas leak during “The Beginning of the End Times,” this left with generalised muscle weakness, leaving them wheelchair dependent and unable to lift heavy objects. They were only able to survive due to their father being the doctor in their small town and him having access to sufficient medical resources. However, they, like many left in the British Isles, are quite disabled, though this does not deter them from their passion of clock repair and maintenance. Clocks are their passion and the main job they supply for the anarchist group that they have found some solidarity with. In this group they have found companionship in a fellow member of the name of August, the two of them are in a romantic partnership. Despite their differences they are a fierce match and love each other deeply, no matter what one of them may argue.