James Siles resents the term “prodigy.” A young roboticist employed at a covert engineering facility called Larkspur, he’s well aware the intense academics that replaced his childhood eclipse any natural talent. Work is the only thing he’s good for, and he’s happy with that. But when a failed prototype undermines his reputation, followed by terminal illness in his overbearing family, he becomes obsessed with a controversial solution: a machine capable of transferring consciousness from an organic vessel to a mechanical replacement.

Fifteen-year-old Heather Brophy has been denied knowledge of her dad’s secret job long enough, and it only took a cross-country move in the wake of a freak lab accident for Larkspur’s director to agree. Uprooted from her life with only excuses for company, Heather decides to prove she is worthy of answers. She manages to land a summer internship, and she and James become friends, having found in each other a kindred spirit.

But Heather’s quest for relevance in her father’s world spins out of control, as powerful forces have their eye on Larkspur’s unstable prodigy for much darker ends, and are far more willing to indulge his desperation. Trapped in a deepening web of government conspiracy and mad science, James and Heather must face the worst in themselves, and challenge the seemingly unsurvivable intent of those determined to maintain control at all costs.