In the happy, clean community of Austin Valley, everything appears to be perfect. Seventeen-year-old Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect—one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth. The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves.

Em returns to Austin Valley, but there are many things that don’t add up about her homecoming. She’s left Rogue behind and is adamant that Dr. Parker must leave the Valley with her. Zack agrees to help her, but soon learns she’s not telling the whole truth when Rogue comes storming back. With the threesome reunited, they work on a plan to stop the Defect crisis. Their plan places all of them at risk, but Em knows they have no other choice. Hundreds of kids are being injected with poison every day and Nona, her sister, is one of them. Em Fuller has one mission and will stop at nothing to achieve it: Bring the government of Austin Valley down.

Austin Valley appears as it always has, but Em Fuller knows that appearances aren’t what they seem. She knows under the surface, that cracks are starting to form in this seemingly well-manicured society. She’s responsible for creating these cracks and for planting a slow dissension among many of the residents of this once happy city. Broken in a way Em never thought possible, she turns into a well-calculated, strategic leader. With the help of the brightest minds in Austin Valley, Em begins building an army whose only purpose is to protect the population of Austin Valley from their President, Victor Vider. Em firmly believes the success of her army is inevitable, that is until a new blow strikes her heart and she questions whether she has the tenacity to go on.