Exurbia, a planet lightyears out in the galactic backwaters. Life is far from mundane. Underground cults beaver away in secret, trying to build that machine most abhorred by the empire - an artificial mind. A furious energy phenomenon is devouring cities whole without explanation. A sagely butterfly appears to a chosen few and talks of building god. Four lives reluctantly intertwine: Jura - a conflicted ageing physicist, Fortmann - a fanatical cult leader, Moxiana - a young girl in hiding with a devastating ability, and the moralising imp - a creature engineered only for the sake of impartial decision making. The empire has been conspicuously quiet for centuries, leaving the Exurbians to themselves. But a fast approaching craft, and its peculiar passenger - Miss Butterworth, is about to shatter that independence and shepherd Exurbia into its final days.