In Portland, Oregon, three high school friends - Leon, Chris, and Kayla - skateboard beneath the Burnside Bridge, study languages and classical music, and try to avoid the superficiality they witness in the world around them. The only adult they suspect might hold secrets worth knowing is Natalie - a strange, forgetful woman who hires them to illegally harvest copper wire from electrical lines outside the city. The three friends become intrigued by Natalie: her odd behavior, her obsession with the Playboy Playmates of 1976, the exposed wiring in her trailer, and her seeming ability to subsist on Tang and beef jerky. The more they learn, the less they understand. When a disastrous accident leads the three on an adventure through underground tunnels and into the back rooms of Chinatown, they discover a remarkable group of people who are almost impossible to recognize, yet possess unique needs and powers. And the friends are not alone in attempting to study, use, and perhaps even join the ranks of the bewildered.