Pete used to live a humdrum, nine to five existence before escaping into a world of travel, beer, study, sex and cigarette smoke. Searching for enlightenment, he instead began toiling with his ego, obsessing about gaining recognition and glory for himself. Glory on a nationwide scale, a worldwide scale! Now he teaches vulnerable adults at 14, Back Road, where he thought he had at last started to overcome the egotist inside him: Instead of thinking of himself, he found he was genuinely caring about the well being of others. Then the selfish, manipulative Deborah Styles joins the teaching staff. Gradually, Pete finds he is being dragged back into a battle against his own ego, only this time with potentially tragic results. Will tragedy be averted? Which side of his character will defeat the other? The altruist or the egotist?