Life is easy in 2647, unless you're a Diseased One... On the morning of her 16th birthday, Hollis Timewire receives the worst possible news. She can't become a citizen of the world. She's a Diseased One. Born with a biomarker that bestows dangerous, brain-altering powers, Hollis is forced to hide underground with other Diseased Ones, who believe that the government falsified history to cover up their genocide. Now Hollis must discover the truth, and is willing to risk anything, including her powers, to go back home.

After the government’s brutal attack on the Diseased Ones, Hollis Timewire must wade through the carnage of her treacherous mistake. The survivors want justice, and now Hollis faces impending execution. Each day, she must prove herself to be a model community member. But chopping firewood for the new camp in the forest isn’t enough. Hollis longs to redeem herself, and this sparks an idea to rescue the little boy from the Testing Center. Stealing the government’s secret weapon might just be the perfect way to destabilize the system – enough to bring the whole thing crumbling down. But unseen forces are at work. The world is not what it appears to be, and society has a dark secret that not even Hollis is prepared to face.

When Hollis Timewire and her friends are miraculously rescued from execution at the hands of President Camille, they discover there are other Diseased Ones in hiding—and their vast, clandestine society is more extensive than Hollis ever could have imagined. They are led by Arthur Evandrum, a fellow Diseased One who has big plans for Hollis. As she acclimates to a new way of life, Hollis is charged with seizing the Area 19 Testing Center and assassinating President Camille. But she pushes back. She fears killing the president will send a message that the Diseased Ones are just as dangerous as history says they are. Working with Jonah and her friends, both old and new, Hollis is under the wire to take over the government with as little bloodshed as possible. Questions and doubts arise as she formulates a plan, and a disturbing revelation thwarts her strategy, leading to a series of unspeakable tragedies that change her world forever.

Hollis Timewire never wanted to be a hero. But when Arthur Evandrum, the leader of the Pure Ones, forces her to use her incredible power to control and imprison citizens, Hollis has no choice but to fight back. As she struggles to resist Arthur's coercion and grapples with the responsibility of being a leader, Hollis discovers there is more at stake than her own freedom. Mysterious events are unfolding at the lab in Area 7, and she must uncover what they are before it's too late. With the help of her closest allies, Hollis races against time to unearth what’s happening behind the scenes. As she delves deeper into Arthur's twisted vision for the future, Hollis’s own morality is called into question. Will she make the ultimate sacrifice to protect what she believes in? Or will she succumb to Arthur's power and become another pawn in his game? The fate of society rests in her hands.