Pierce Steadman returns home expecting a hero's welcome, but instead finds himself out of a job and witnessing a Martian colony on the brink of collapse. Soon after, citizens are sorted by a futuristic Network tracking algorithm and the religious undesirables are rounded up. Yet will the crackdown bring the settlements one step closer to Eden? Can the Network really predict the future? And why is a former smuggler walking the streets at night talking to streetlights?