Set prior to the events of RAGE, the book revolves around a female Ark Survivor known as Elizabeth Cadence in-game, who is assisted by Antonin Kvasir in escaping the Authority research complex in the Dead City. In the beginning, Elizabeth finds her Ark pod to be lost in the Wasteland upon her awakening. She is forced to flee after Wasted Clan bandits appear on sight. She is captured by the Authority troops and is forced to work on the Black Cauldron Project in threat of her family being killed. They were working on a way to create super soldiers with Nanotrites, with the ultimate result being the creation of mutants. She meets Doctor Antonin Kvasir during her time there. After closely observing horrible results of their work, Kvasir is forced to leave everything behind and open all mutant