A street preacher in denim robes is among the first to notice them: the growing number of mental patients being released from the local facility onto the city's backstreets. The preacher's attempt to protect his flock and find out what is going on propels him into an epic quest, whereby he encounters the mysterious cardinals flitting through the chaos; a part of town that seems to be run by cats; and an enigmatic smoking man who knows everything to come.