When Jack Stormway receives the chance to apply for the Arete Scholarship he jumps at the opportunity. After all, there isn't anything keeping him in Arius. Jack feels completely disconnected from his family and former friends. Life just hasn't been the same since his father disappeared five years ago amid allegations of treason. Winning the Arete Scholarship would give Jack a chance at a new life far away in Sea City.Everything changes with the arrival of three new classmates. Oin is friendly and open and doesn't care about the fact that Jack is the son of a traitor. Zev is cold and aloof, but not a bully like his other classmates.

Tos, beautiful and brilliant, is a puzzle that he can't seem to solve. As the four kids grow closer together Jack is drawn deeper into the mysterious world of Keslar Labs. The Keslar Corporation has effectively dominated the planet; producing everything from food and clothes to the latest advancements in medicine and machinery-every part of daily life in Arius is supplied by Keslar Corporation. As wards of the Labs, Jack's three new classmates have grown up among extraordinary technology and unbelievably powerful people. People like Janus Richards.Janus Richards, owner and CEO of Keslar Corp., is the most powerful man in the world. He takes a sudden inexplicable interest in his wards and their new friend.

Charming yet devious, the man offers Jack an amazing opportunity at his Labs, but the more Jack becomes embroiled in life at the Labs the more questions he has. Why would a man with such connections and resources want the help of a Danarii? Why would he trust Jack with a classified project? What is the Infinity Matrix? Why is Janus so desperate to have it completed? And could it all somehow be linked to his father's disappearance?Now, in a race against time, Jack may discover not only Janus Richards' darkest secret, but the secret to his father's past as well.