Inspector 'Tiny' Tears is ready for retirement when the most unusual case lands on his desk. A young girl, chased through a network of sewers, sits in the interview room while the uniformed man who followed her lies dead.
The unusual part? The dead man is not human. After Ana escapes from custody, Tears pursues her and steps into a world that is at once similar to ours, but shockingly different in a number of ways. After Tiny and Ana come across a desperate individual, also on the run, directions change and they form a grudging bond. The man appears to be one of many agitators, determined to overthrow the rule of a group called the Silencers.
They soon learn of the Transference Engine, through which one of its inventors crossed over during a failed experiment. The fabric of space and time is irreparably damaged and Tears must find a way to undo the catastrophe before the Silencers mount an invasion into our world.