Told her friends are dead and all she knew was a lie, Elaine is a prisoner again, a borrowed soul in a broken body. Every night her psyche is whittled down by the enigmatic warden Darius and each day she blindly stumbles through the quicksand that is now her life, unable to resurrect memories of what transpired before. Vincent, the 'King of the Guards' is a beacon of hope, a respite from the torture she endures, but that light turns dark and she soon is trapped in an abusive relationship. Yet the man who came before all others, a guard of which memories are elusive and faint, waits in the shadow for her emotional resurrection. Elaine is split; Agilia is mesmerized by this forgotten guard, while Iona hunts for keys to her past and a reason to fight for her future. Pulling all the strings is the sentient computer known as The Manipulator, and it is determined to break Elaine and learn all her secrets. In the end, the balance of power may be determined by one little girl and how much she needs her mother.