In the aftermath of the Utopian city's devastation, Ember Hillen watches her people's god attempt to leave the planet—only for it to come spiraling down in the process. As it crashes in the distance, leaving in its wake a shockwave that reverberates across the landscape, Ember believes her purpose has ended.

At least until the people from a neighboring city arrive.

Believing them to be their saviors, Ember rises to meet their questioning, and is arrested in the process. Charged with countless crimes against her city and its people, she is transported to the neighboring city of Arcadia to be judged by an artificial intelligence that could either save her life, or end it in the process.

Ember has always believed that the truth would set her free. But in a world where gods have ruled for centuries, and madmen have sought to undermine her every move, how can she hope to escape the cruel hand of fate?