Working with Interpol agent Thomas Wake, hacker Mpho, and Detective Sibusiso Ndlovu, Naledi uncovers an ancient warning system embedded in the victims' bones through microchips that have been in their bloodlines for millennia. The bone ciphers form a quantum network predicting a catastrophic solar event that occurs in 12,960-year cycles—one that threatens to devastate Earth imminently. As the countdown nears zero, Naledi's team races to complete the network by finding the seventh carrier, Dr. Helena Mabhena, who has been kidnapped by Dr. Elise Voigt. Voigt reveals herself as leader of the Custodians, an ancient order believing civilization requires periodic destruction to advance. While the opposing group—the Watchers—created the warning system to help humanity survive, the Custodians seek to control which knowledge passes to the next cycle.