Distant planet Elem-19. The first colonization project beyond the solar system. A future paradise for a new humanity, built by the hands of renounced biological bodies known as "bootlegs" and their servants - "familiars". A planet-wide rift in the Enclave since receiving a distress signal hundreds of years ago. For Martian woman Esma, a medic and rescuer, who finds herself on the surface of Elem, it is only a matter of time before she uncovers the mystery of the unborn paradise's demise. And the mystery of the worship of the two only survivors by a strange creature that has taken hold of the human mind.