As a result of past wars, Earth is almost uninhabitable, so the search is on for another planet. The lesson of conflict has been learnt, and so to avoid it in the future, the remaining Scientific Community hooks up to a machine – RESOLVE3 the dream-eater and memory-eater – which controls dreams, memories and emotions – the foundations of war.

Deborah and Daniel leave this community to join others who have opted for a more natural life. But Daniel's brother, Mordecai, has built another machine, the HYPERTROPHY5, which can get people space-fit for the journeys they must endure to reach a new planet by instantly bulking muscles and thickening bones. The combination of RSV3 and HT5 might ultimately destroy the community by creating unstable gods. But in unplugging from the machines, the danger of conflict re-surfaces. Deborah and Daniel's choice is a dangerous one, not least in the threat posed by the 'Others', beautiful Lion-mutants that will kill. Can peace be maintained without the help of machines?