In a society where morals are determined by a public opinion system, and social rating is the currency, truth can be a dangerous notion. Sixteen-year-old Rena has few memories of her childhood before adoption. A forest teeming with wildlife. Mountains reaching up to a blue sky. The voice of the man who raised her. The problem—they're not real. Such things don't exist in Esh, a self-governed metropolis shielded from the harsh environment by a transparent canopy. And beyond the city is only the Barrens, an endless wasteland of fog and freezing rain. When Rena's violent instincts save the lives of her friends, her delusional past begins disrupting her prospects for the future. To find the source of her impulses, she'll have to sort through the fragments in her mind. But what awaits is a connection between her true identity, the city's forgotten past, and the secret war being waged beneath the surface of her polite society.

Rena’s delusions feel more like repressed memories, and exploring them with the help of her counselor is only making them more vivid … and harder to explain. As she retraces the steps of her past in hopes of validating her intuition, Rena discovers that Esh’s history has been lost to the distractions of the present. And she isn't the only one concerned with the truth of her identity. Others are willing to kill for it.

Leaving her old life shouldn’t have harmed Rena’s family. But Esh’s influence extends further than she realized, defining even her new life as little more than a response to OCON’s aggression. Whether Citizen or Outlier, aboveground or below, it seems that Rena can only choose an illusion of freedom. As war breaks out, a renegade will look beyond the options of the present to unlock the truth of her past and hope for the future.

Rena has found acceptance within a hidden society. A place and purpose for her unique talents. The source of her delusions now feels closer than ever, but choosing this new life means picking sides in an escalating war, leaving no time to follow her trail of fractured memories. Past or present. Where is her identity hiding?

A message from her father transforms Rena’s perception of herself and finally reveals the truth about Esh and the fate of humanity. But the war between OCON and the Outliers could jeopardize everyone’s future. And those with the power to end it are trapped at the center of the conflict. Reaching them will put all of Rena’s instincts and skills to the test, and she’ll discover that knowing her identity isn’t the same as living it.