On the terraformed industrial hub of Chatoyance, everyone is a cog in the machine, until they break.

Pleo Tanzer’s father is the only survivor of the latest mining accident, and Pleo’s twin sister has died by suicide from the terrors of the latest government experimental enhancement projects. Now the government wants Pleo to participate in an artificial enhancement project that would leave her classified more as equipment than employee. And Pleo has had enough.

But Pleo’s attempts to escape Chatoyance are complicated when she is framed for the murder of a rival student—the daughter of one of the colony’s wealthy, squabbling clans. As she goes on the run, she sets off a chain of events that could spark revolution, or destruction, in a fight against something bigger than she could ever imagine.