In Chicago, Wesley Allan Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and lives with his abrasive girlfriend Cathy who cheats on him with his co-worker and best friend, Barry. One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his recently murdered father was an assassin, and that his killer, Cross, is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shootout, Wesley panics and flees. Cross pursues Wesley, who Fox manages to help escape. Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group's leader, Mr. Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint to shoot the wings off several flies, which he does. Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to produce massive amounts of adrenaline, granting him superhuman strength and speed. Wesley's father and Cross were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world, headquartered in a repurposed textile mill. Sloan wants to train Wesley so that he may help kill Cross.