On the way back to his farm on Settlement 864, Justin rescues a young woman who is being brutally assaulted in the street. As it is very late and she is unconscious he decides to take her to his farm to recover. He lives alone except for his 'mechanicals', sophisticated robots, that have taken care of the land while he's been off world working as a Peacekeeping Soldier. Soon after the young woman, Hope, recovers from her ordeal Justin discovers part of her terrible secret. She is a criminal, and the man Justin fought had been in the act of capturing her. Before he can decide what to do about her his 'mechanicals' malfunction and viciously attack the pair. In the fight against the metal machines a fire breaks out which engulfs the house. Justin and Hope are lucky to escape with their lives. With the law enforcement officers beginning to close in the pair must run together if they are to survive. Justin takes Hope to his friends complex, but the couple there have an agenda of their own. In the Outworld region the violet crystals that litter the land begin to awaken. They have been waiting, dormant but watchful, and now guided by the Oracle they manipulate events to bring Hope, and Justin with her, to them. The beginning of an act that changes Settlement 864 forever.