Dr. No

The narrator introduces himself by his pseudonym, Wala Kitu, a distinguished professor of mathematics at Brown University who specializes in the study of "nothing." His given name is Ralph Townsend. Throughout the story, Wala processes events in recurring, philosophical dream conversations with his one-legged bulldog, Trigo. He meets with John Milton Bradley Sill, a self-made billionaire who aspires to be a James Bond villain. Sill presents a paradox, claiming the vault at Fort Knox contains "nothing" but is "not empty." He offers Wala three million dollars to consult on his plan to steal this "nothing." Intrigued, Wala accepts, recalling a theory by physicist Jean Luc Retard which posits that if "nothing" contacts "something," that something ceases to exist.

In Providence, Wala introduces Trigo, whom he carries in a baby carrier. After depositing Sill's check at the Bank of America, where it draws scrutiny, he meets his socially awkward colleague, the topologist Eigen Vector. To prepare for his work with Sill, Wala buys a used BMW from a woman named Priscilla Peterman, who gives him his first driving lesson. He decides to drive without a license, reasoning that any fines would be less trouble than dealing with the DMV.

The narrative shifts to Sill's backstory. His mother, Loretta, became a powerful Memphis racketeer after her husband, Milton, was murdered. Milton had been killed after witnessing a policeman, Sinbad Willis, with another man near the Lorraine Motel on the day of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Years later, when Sill is seventeen, Willis, now the chief of police, murders Loretta as well. Sill later interviews the assassin James Earl Ray in prison, who confirms he killed Milton on Willis's orders. These events cement his resolve to dismantle the American system.

Back in the present, Wala's student, Sam, visits his house just before it is stormed by armed men. A tear gas canister is thrown inside, and Wala is knocked unconscious. He is interrogated by two agents from an unnamed government agency, Bill Clinton and his partner, Mitchell, about the large sum of money from Sill. The agents release Sam and are later ordered by a director to release Wala. Wala sends Sill a cryptic email, and Sill responds by revealing he has planted cell phones with calls to known terrorists in Wala's house, effectively blackmailing him. Sill and Eigen Vector, now dressed in a black jumpsuit and seeking adventure, meet Wala at a diner. Eigen declares she wants to "be bad." Sill pressures Wala into accompanying them to Miami by leveraging the planted evidence and depositing more money into his account to attract further government attention. Wala agrees, feeling he has nothing to lose.

The group flies to Sill's Miami mansion on Star Island, where they are greeted by his servant, DeMarcus. In Sill's library, Wala explains sexism and racism to Eigen, who becomes disillusioned with the world. They have lunch with General Auric B. Takitall, the commanding officer of the US Army Human Resources Command, located at Fort Knox, revealing his alliance with Sill. Sill takes Wala to a secret submarine bay for a joyride, taunting the Coast Guard, and later reveals he stole the real Mona Lisa. Wala finds Eigen in his room, appearing drugged with GHB and psychologically manipulated, with significant memory gaps.

Sill flies the group to his secret compound in Corsica. During a lunch with his international associates, Sill has a man named Agostinho Aguedo dropped through a trapdoor into a shark pool for underperforming. Gloria, Sill's pilot, confirms Aguedo's death to Wala and claims Sill recruited her from Caltech. Wala finds Eigen in a catatonic state and resolves to rescue her. He gets lost in the compound's identical white corridors before finally finding her room.

After returning to Miami, Gloria flies Wala back to Providence. On Sill's orders, Wala drives to Washington D.C. He is pulled over by a New Jersey state trooper for being Black but is mysteriously ordered to be released. In D.C., Sill reveals his new target: a secret government stealth telescope in orbit called COPPO, which he describes as "absolutely nothing." He plans to seize control of it with the help of an astronomer, Jean Luc Monfils. At the Four Seasons hotel, Wala escapes with Eigen, who is beginning to recover, and deliberately uses his debit card to alert government agents to their location. They seek refuge with Father Damien Karras, an atheistic priest and astrophysicist.

Karras agrees to help them re-enter the Naval Observatory, and they hide in the library after a public tour. The plan is a trap, as Karras has betrayed them to Sill. Gloria shoots and kills Karras. Sill, now allied with Vice President Neal Shilling and powerful corporate leaders, uses COPPO to target Quincy, Massachusetts. Wala runs to the telescope's eyepiece but is too late. His observation of "nothing" is what allows the weapon to function, causing Quincy to retroactively cease to exist. Trigo is taken hostage, and Wala and Eigen are knocked unconscious and taken to the Vice President's residence.

Wala and Eigen escape their basement confinement with the help of a 92-year-old cook, Leon Coltrane, who is secretly a German BND agent. Wala entrusts Trigo to Coltrane's care. They are soon captured by Clinton and Mitchell. As the agents question them, they smell lilacs, the signal of the sleeping gas used by Sill's team to ambush them and recapture Wala and Eigen. DeMarcus reveals to Wala that General Takitall has been murdered. Takitall had previously visited Wala, revealing his mercenary motives and threatening Eigen to ensure Wala's cooperation. Sill's forces then assault Fort Knox using sleeping gas dispersed by crop dusters. Sill murders a sleeping guard. Inside, the vault is full of gold. Sill is shocked until he finds a P.F. Flyers shoebox that feels both heavy and empty, which he believes contains the true "nothing." Outside, Sill betrays and murders Vice President Shilling and his detail.

Back at Sill's Kentucky home, Wala deduces Gloria is a robot after she freezes in response to a logical paradox. Clinton and Mitchell infiltrate the house but are killed by Sill's snipers. The scene escalates into a series of reveals: Wala's student Sam is an MI6 agent named Chris, DeMarcus is a Chinese MSS agent named Xue Wenqing, and the cook Leon Coltrane is a German BND agent. As the spies face off, Sill threatens to open the shoebox. He removes the lid. The narrative ends with the ambiguous line: "Nothing happened."