The growing tension between the last two remaining superpowers -
China and
Google - escalates in the early 21st century, and results in the global inferno of the "Google Wars". But as the decades go by, radioactive dust settles on old battlegrounds, and a New World rises from the ashes of the old. Fratt Aigner, a seedy journalist, and Alalia Grundschober, a nerdy technician, live and work in Mega City
Schwechat: the biggest semi-urban sprawl in the foothills of what remained of the
Alps. Thurnher von Pjölk, who invented the printing press and runs the only newspaper around, feels threatened by the rise of a new generation of tech-savvy
DIY nerds, who he fears will ruin his monopoly. He gives Alalia and Fratt the task to venture into the depths of Niederpröll and conduct a tele-o-vision interview with Echsenfriedl; a mythical genius that has a large fan base among the nerds. Pjölk sends off Alalia and Fratt equipped with a broadcasting vehicle (a wheelbarrow full of recording equipment) to live broadcast the interview with Echsenfriedl on tele-o-vision. Fratt is very skeptical of leaving the safety of the Mega City, but Alalia is a huge fan of Echsenfriedl and has investigated into his hiding place on earlier occasions. She sees this as a golden opportunity to find Echsenfriedl and boost her agenda of social change through technology. The road to finding Echsenfriedl is not an easy task and things start to go wrong as soon as they reach the border, which is protected by the Postal Service, who try to uphold civilization and fight structurelessness. The Postal Service confiscates their recording equipment and send Alalia and Fratt away in despair. They are abducted by a group of barbarians: descendants of farmers, in a cargo cult based on relics of office material, bureaucracy and vague memories of
European Union agricultural grants. Alalia and Fratt have to blast their way out and manage to escape before they end up as a sacrifice. Aliana and Fratt wander the post-nuclear boondocks until they stumble upon a mining colony. They find shelter in a seemingly-abandoned underground structure, but discover a wondrous old lady, Philine-Codec Comtesse de Cybersdorf, who used to be married to Pjölk until he tried to kill her in a rage, which ends in her losing a leg. She tells Aliana and Fratt that it was actually Echsenfriedl who was the re-inventor of the printing press, and he the creative brain behind Pjölk's ideas and thoughts. Pjölk was the man in public only because it was impossible for Echsenfriedl. The Comtesse is about to tell them crucial information about Echsenfriedl, but then cannibalizing undead striking miners invade the room and kill her before she gets the chance to reveal the truth. Having managed to escape the working-class zombie miners, they encounter the bearded
libertarian drag queen Heinz Rand of Raiká, who leads a group of tinsel-dressed free market enthusiasts living on trading useless pre-war electronics for more useless pre-war electronics. Alalia sees that Heinz has the equipment that the Postal Service took from them and she trades it back by helping the group to get their useless electronics working again. Having helped out Heinz, he then tells them where to find Echsenfriedl and even offers his daughter Ayn as a guide to the location. Alalia and Fratt, with the guidance of Ayn, finally reach their destination and prepare for the live broadcast. They contact Pjölk, who happily commands them to begin the transmission, then he turns off his tele-o-visor and sits down in front of his typewriter to create the headline article for tomorrow's issue of his tabloid. He fabricates an entire story based on how he is distressed for being responsible for killing the nerd viewers, and where he makes a statement saying that there should be a law banning tele-o-vision forever. Not yet aware of the danger they are putting themselves in, Alalia and Fratt start broadcasting and begin their quest through the lair, following Ayn of Raiká. On seeing Echsenfriedl, Ayn gets turned into stone: Echsenfriedl is a
basilisk. Hiding behind a corner and out of view, Echsenfriedl tells Alalia and Fratt about his life. By dating the Comtesse, he upset his greedy partner Pjölk. Pjölk's sinister plan was to murder all the early adopters of tele-o-vision with a single broadcast of Echsenfriedl's deadly eyes. The nerds can hear the audio of this broadcast, and react with repulsion and anger, attacking Pjölk's office. Echsenfriedl hires Alalia and Fratt as his crew to build a new media empire based on his marvelous new technologies. The films ends with Alalia and Fratt live broadcasting a lynch mob of book-burning nerds, who are the fervent supporters of Echsenfriedl's New World Order of technological dominance. ==Cast==