The hero, Adi Cherryson, also known as Sneer (named after one of Zajdel's fellow science fiction writers Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg), is a "lifter" who "helps" people cheat during the computer controlled IQ exams by giving them the correct answers through a micro-radio communicator or taking the exam for them. Sneer, who is officially only a level 4, could easily become the top level 0, but he prefers his medium level which doesn't attract much attention. In addition to "lifters" a whole gallery of black market figures is presented - there are "downers" (who use their low IQ to provide realistic 'stupid' answers for those who want to keep their class artificially low like Sneer), "chameleons" (black market point dealers), "key-makers" (providing all sorts of illegal, special purpose Keys).