Vel did something forbidden, something so unspeakable she was exiled from the warm embrace of her people and imprisoned here on Earth. Her only hope of ever getting back home is to accept a seemingly impossible mission: spy on one of her own kind, uncover his research, and report her findings. As an alien consciousness this is no easy task for Vel. Forced to inhabit a human body, she is thrown into the sprawl of Los Angeles where she discovers the joys and sorrows of what it means to be human, all while her target weaves his own game of intrigue in the name of a new and very dangerous kind of science.