Humanity is on the brink of self-destruction. A secret council of alien leaders, the Conclave of 13, has convened at a nexus point between galaxies to decide Earth's fate. They are a fractured council, debating whether to save the human race with a technological "Break" or allow it to endure a "Crucible of Pain" to earn its own wisdom. The debate's outcome seems certain until a bombshell revelation changes everything. The planet's self-destructive nature is not entirely its own; an ancient, external force is actively suppressing humanity's capacity for unity.The Conclave votes to grant a Conditional Intervention-a limited, two-generation "Gift of Time" to allow humanity a fair fight. But the gift isn't for everyone. The Conclave's wisdom is downloaded into a single, unlikely human vessel: Elara Vance, a cynical, eighteen-year-old girl who feels utterly disconnected from her dying world.The debate is over, but Elara's mission has just begun. She must convince a fragmented species to unite against an invisible enemy before her two generations of borrowed time run out. Elara must find a way to make her people believe in a hope they've never truly felt, and in doing so, prove that humanity is worth saving.