In the year 2065, the world has changed. After the fall of the United States Empire, the formation of the Australasian Alliance brought stability to the Asia-Pacific region, along with the powerful Greater Asian Republic. Intelligent technology has solved the dangers of climate change but not without consequences.

At the Waikato Institute of the Mentally Distressed on the small island state of Aotearoa, psychiatrist Janet Reilly helps those with the inability to adapt to this new paradigm of existence. These people are cared for and, once strong enough, released back into the wilds of this new world.

But something is amiss. Some of the Institute's "guests" have been deprived of their only remaining right - that of life. They are found alone in their rooms, dead without cause or explanation. The only link between them appears to be the way they died and the fact that no one seems to have noticed, or cared, about their passing - except for Janet. To her, it's almost as if they have become ghosts in a world that has moved on.

Determined to uncover the reasons behind the suspicious deaths, Janet begins searching for answers, even if the truth might jeopardise her own life.