In a groundbreaking fusion of science fiction and noir, the story follows Peyton Westlake, a brilliant but eccentric scientist on the brink of a major breakthrough in synthetic skin technology. His invention promises to revolutionize treatments for burn victims, offering skin that can withstand exposure to light for 99 minutes. However, Westlake's personal and professional life takes a catastrophic turn when a gang, led by the ruthless Robert G. Durant, attacks him in his laboratory. The gang is searching for a critical document that has accidentally come into Westlake's possession, which incriminates a corrupt developer. The brutal assault leaves Westlake horrifically disfigured and presumed dead, his laboratory destroyed, and his research in ruins.

Fueled by vengeance and armed with his groundbreaking yet unstable technology, Westlake embarks on a quest to exact justice on those who mutilated him and shattered his life. Using his synthetic skin to assume a plethora of identities, he infiltrates the criminal underworld that sought to bury him. As he draws closer to Durant and his enforcers, the line between Peyton Westlake and the avatar of vengeance he has become blurs. Meanwhile, his relationship with his former lover, Julie, who believes him to be dead, faces new and challenging dynamics as he struggles to keep his remaining humanity intact in his pursuit of retribution, leading to a volatile confrontation with his tormentors.