During an emergency breakdown at the Taggart Terminal in New York City, Dagny finds that John Galt is one of the railroad’s unskilled laborers. She sees him in the crowd of men ready to carry out her commands. After completing her task, Dagny walks into the abandoned tunnels, knowing that Galt will follow. They make love for the first time, and he then returns to his mindless labor.
The government smuggles its men into Rearden’s mills, pretending that they’re steelworkers. The union of steelworkers asks for a raise, but the government refuses, making it sound as if the refusal comes from Rearden. When Rearden rejects the Steel Unification Plan the government wants to spring on him, they use the thugs they’ve slipped into his mills to start a riot. The pretense of protecting Rearden is the government’s excuse for taking over his mills. But Francisco d’Anconia, under an assumed name, has taken a job at Rearden’s mills. He organizes the workers, and they successfully defend the mills against the government’s thugs. Afterward, Francisco tells Rearden the rest of the things he wants him to know. Rearden retires, disappears, and joins the strike.
Mr. Thompson, the head of state, is set to address the nation regarding its dire economic conditions. But before he begins to speak, he is preempted, cut off the air by a motor of incalculable power. John Galt addresses the nation instead. Galt informs citizens that the men of the mind are on strike, that they require freedom of thought and action, and that they refuse to work under the dictatorship in power. The thinkers won’t return, Galt says, until human society recognizes an individual’s right to live his own life. Only when the moral code of self-sacrifice is rejected will the thinkers be free to create, and only then will they return.
The government rulers are desperate. Frantically, they seek John Galt. They want him to become economic dictator of the country so the men of the mind will come back and save the government, but Galt refuses. Realizing that Dagny thinks the same way that Galt does, the government has her followed. Mr. Thompson makes clear to Dagny that certain members of the government fear and hate Galt, and that if they find him first, they may kill him. Terrified, Dagny goes to Galt’s apartment to see if he’s still alive. The government’s men follow her and take Galt into custody, and the rulers attempt to convince Galt to take charge of the country’s economy. He refuses. They torture him, yet still he refuses. In the end, the strikers come to his rescue. Francisco and Rearden, joined now by Dagny, assault the grounds of the State Science Institute where Galt is held captive. They kill some guards and incapacitate others, release Galt, and return to the valley. Dagny and Galt are united. Shortly after, the final collapse of the looters’ regime occurs, and the men of the mind are free to return to the world.
