Anchored in the earthly slice of coexistent realities from their secret off-grid location, Keeto and Elize must transcend the lies that govern world order. Even their Gadlin hosts, whose innovations and virtues had saved humanity from three mass extinctions, are vulnerable to treason from within. Only mastery of an ancient art form can hone the skills the twins need to escape the entities that hunt them. But will old alliances stay true?

In this fifth episode of the Nemecene(TM) series, the now twenty-two-year-old fugitives struggle to discern friend from foe just as Elize's recovery depends on stability. With the trauma of Nóttdisirheim eighteen months behind her and recollections of it shrouded in mental fog, anxiety clings to her waking thoughts. Endless questions haunt her whereas Keeto carries the burden of truth for them both. The pages of his journal bleed with the horror he continues to process while Izionnis, the pretend young academic from Eadonberg's Museum of Antiquities who has been mentoring him in the versal arts for the past few years, challenges Keeto's courage and deepens his allegiance to their not-exactly-human kind.

And where is their hip-jiggling dweeb-of-a-genius half-Gadlin cohort in all this? Rumors of his whereabouts do not reassure his mother Sakari, nor do they impress his poke-worthy best chum Elize. United by shared affection for Zafarian, the two women develop a fondness for each other that fills a void laced in loss.

Nevertheless, as storm the oceans, so shatters the illusory serenity of their village sanctuary. The various Unification factions intensify their covert power games with the twins as the bounty; the manifestations living inside the dreamless sleep begin to awaken; ecological experiments accelerate. Now, throw in a planet with her own amoral agenda, and urgency can leave any well-conceived plan partially executed -- to the peril of all.

Will haste be the invisible enemy that stoppers time? Or will time itself stretch to give Keeto and Elize another year to uncover their origins? In any case ... they will be watching ... They are always watching.