New York City has fallen.

It happened faster than anyone thought possible. An alien invader took Manhattan and made it hers, and before humanity could organize a response, more of them arrived. They are still arriving. The Ebonflame Empire is not conquering the city so much as simply occupying it, the way a hand occupies a glove.

You are one of thousands taken. But you were not chosen at random.

Crystalis is the Empire's Chief Scientist, and her interest in humanity is neither hostile nor sympathetic. It is clinical. She views your species as an unfinished draft, full of potential that evolution has been too slow and too careless to realize. That is where she comes in. Genetic modification is her first language, her deepest pleasure, and her imperial mandate. She will improve you. She will take her time doing it. Whether you want it is a variable she has already accounted for and set aside.

The table is ready. So is she.