In a world hemmed in by the oppressive hum of the VOID, seventeen-year-old Gideon Maxwell faces a harrowing appointment that could shatter his family's fragile existence—or elevate him beyond the mechanized tyranny of society. As he prepares for the harrowing questions set to define his fate, he grapples with the weight of hope, fear, and a promise made to his innocent sister. Will he rise above the entrenched despair, or will the system consume him in its relentless quest for control?