Set after the postwar collapse of an interstellar empire, a young orphan girl embarks on a quest for violent retribution. Six years old when her mother was killed, Buttercup endured an unforgiving adolescence on the streets of her home city. She's scraped by ever since, always searching for the man responsible, knowing one day she'll find him.

Ashley became an interrogator to support her family and protect her city from the anarchic Renegades. When Daniel enters her interrogation room, she can't decide whose mind is more corrupted: his or hers. ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ In the year 2130, water is both life and death. Ingesting water contaminated with Renegadea Protozoa can turn a person into a Renegade, or a destructive, anarchic criminal. It's 17-year-old Ashley Cummins's responsibility as a junior interrogator to filter out the petty thieves from the true Renegades. However, interrogating the cocky, defiant, and handsome Daniel Fadhill interferes with her duties. Swept up in Daniel's riptide, Ashley must decide for herself where her loyalties lie. After all, it only takes one contaminated sip to become a Renegade.

Adalie is a princess of the aviation industry who grew up in the lap of luxury thanks to her parents' company, but when she loses both of her parents in an accident, she inherits the position of CEO to what used to be an industry-leading company she barely understands. Pressures from the board and the prospect of soon shutting down the family airline don't make Adalie's adjustment to CEO any easier. At a loss for how she will save the business, she searches her father's office for an answer, finding only an old business card from a General Electric scientist in Munich with a note written on the top: "Call if you ever want to push the limits of technology to improve your airline." Pushing the limits is exactly what Adalie needs, so she travels to Munich to seek help from the scientists at General Electric's Global Research Center, unaware of how drastically this trip would not only change her company, but her life forever.