Dead at 21

The victim of a government experiment to create superintelligent humans learns the cause of the strange dreams he has been having—and that he will self-destruct by his 21st birthday unless he finds the scientist who ""created"" him by implanting a chip in his brain. He becomes a fugitive when he and Maria, a girl who crashed his 20th birthday party, are accused of killing another ""cyb"" actually shot by a government agent named Winston, bent on tracking down all the cybs and killing them. Ed's only hope for survival is a doctor who worked on the project, Victor Heisenberg.

Ed checks into a hospital for brain surgery, and learns disheartening news about Victor Heisenberg.

Ed and Maria meet a cyb who wants to run away with them, but is ignorant of her condition.

Ed and Maria search for Victor Heisenberg's grave and become involved with animal-rights activists.

Maria's con-artist father tracks her down.

Ed and Maria find their exploits chronicled in a comic book created by a cyb who's plotting to kill the senator in charge of the neurocybernetics project.

Ed and Maria's feelings for each other are tested after partying with a surfer and his friends.

Ed prepares to give himself up when Winston kidnaps his mother, but Maria suspects a trap.

Winston trails Ed and Maria as they search for an abandoned baby's mother.

The host of a pirate TV show offers to help Ed and Maria expose the project.

Ed and Maria visit Cali, a 35 year-old cyb, to discover the secret of his longevity.

Winston finally catches up with Ed and Maria, who are hiding out in Los Angeles. Once captured, Ed is taken to a facility where he meets with others like him and is told that there may be a way to counteract the rapidly deteriorating chip in his head.