Quantum is an outcast of the Moments, a race of inter-dimensional beings tasked with monitoring planetary life forms. He finds himself stuck in near humanoid form and intertwined with the humans he had once tried to kill. Among them is Joe Splitt, an orphan affected with a case of temporal schizophrenia that turns him into several superheroes. Joe's sister Julia has always been his champion and his closest ally in life, even in her ignorance of his malady.
Eight, a Moment designated with the recreation of humankind's journey, interacts with Doctor Daniel Kerr, a photographic scientist who has come upon a formula which threatens the existence of life in the entire universe. As Daniel faces the costs of having such knowledge, Eight observes and ascertains the human species will continue even as Momentkind rises to the apex of its mission.
Meanwhile, chaos ensues as human agencies strive to capture powered beings, a mysterious anti-hero named "The Crowd" chief among them, and a new unearthly entity comes forth to hunt down and destroy several of Joe's superheroes alter-egos.