Child psychology Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is hired to conduct an experimental virtual reality treatment for coma patients: a "Neurological Cartography and Synaptic Transfer System" device managed by doctors Henry West and Miriam Kent that allows her to enter a comatose mind and attempt to coax them into consciousness. The technology is funded by the parents of her patient, Edward Baines (Colton James), a young boy left comatose by a latent viral infection that causes an unusual form of schizophrenia. Despite Deane's lack of progress, West and Kent reject Deane's suggestion to reverse the feed to bring Baines into her mind, fearing the unknown consequences of him experiencing an unfamiliar world.