The Gelaming general, Ashmael Aldebaran, and a unit of his troops are on duty in Megalithica, when they uncover the hidden facility, which has been abandoned by its administrators. Only a group of struggling survivors remain: former hostling Lisia and nearly two hundred harlings.

Lisia, suspicious of the Gelaming, fears the possibility of death or imprisonment, or at the very least eviction from his home. Will Ashmael follow orders to the letter and tear this community apart, or will he show mercy to the living products of the facility? And how will Lisia and his charges react to those who have come to liberate them, when liberation feels like conquest?

The past and the present begin to overlap, as Lisia's chilling history is told through the pages of his diary and he struggles to fight for his future, and the welfare of those in his care.