The domestic terrorist attack on the city of Arcadia should have resulted in mass destruction. Instead, it ends with the arrival of a Benefactor: an alien intelligence so supreme that it cannot be comprehended.

In the confusion and panic that follows, Ember begins to experience painful headaches, as well as blackouts and visions of her fallen city. A chance meeting with a doctor specializing in research on those who connected with the gods who once protected Earth's inhabitants then reveals a stunning truth: that Ember is suffering from a parasitic fungus that may take her life.

The chance to rid herself of the alien inhabitant within her brain coincides with growing public unrest over Ember's involvement in both the fall of Utopia and the attack on Arcadia. But as she grows weaker, and as the fungus threatens her life, Ember must make a choice: to attempt surgical intervention, or forego it entirely.

The choice won't be easy—and in a world that is being not just watched, but judged by an intelligence that can make or break civilizations, Ember may be forced to make a choice that could change humanity's future forever.