at all, it means the right to speak publicly and without censorship, to organize in pursuit of our shared interests, and to call the governments that claim to represent us to account. And I think that's what is happening right now." Dub's protagonist, Lee, does not share his enthusiasm. A loner graduate of psychology, philosophy, and statistics, Lee is, in fact, remarkably apathetic, noting: Everyone, regardless of which side of the proverbial fence they stand on, was rapt before this crisis in organizing the world and the world's money. For the life of me I couldn't muster a fraction of the passion that pulsed through everyone else. It was the end of the fucking world, but it was a world I couldn't bring myself to care about. Yet it is Lee's very indifference that makes him the perfect candidate for the research assignment that drives Gates' narrative. He is hired by the director of an unnamed university department to investigate the source of strange happenings that occurred during meetings leading up to the economic conference. Attendees have been behaving uncharacteristically, exhibiting a "disinclination to weigh their words before speaking." Suspicious of the "possibility of a new drug's emergence, one with possible links to political or counter-cultural tendencies in the occupy movement," the authorities are anxious to restore order. Lee befriends Roomie, an elusive outsider with the inside scoop, and, following his tips, sets out to study a broad range of counterculture groups, focusing mainly on two: the Mals, a gorgeous