Imagine growing up in a generation of people who have never been outside. In the years between 2030 and 2050, corporations have poisoned our meat with hormones and our crops with chemicals to make them more appealing and give them long shelf lives. People like May Butler, however, daughter of full-blooded Anishinaabe people, had the foresight to gather and preserve seeds from organic plants grown in gardens or found in the woods. They knew enough to keep away from the meat that was slowly poisoning the rest of the population. Enter the New World Eco Order Convention (NWOC), the saviors of humanity. They've replaced all traditional governmental bodies and have contracted engineers and scientists to design and construct envirospheres, where the upcoming generations can live protected from the outside world. When several groups refuse to leave their homes and emigrate to these centers, NWOC starts using scare tactics in the form of news to coerce everyone into the envirospheres. May, her husband, Jack, and young daughter, Flora, remain outside until Jack and Flora begin showing signs of environmentally induced illness. That's when they reluctantly decide to move into ENV20. From that point on, even though the majority of the population has moved into the envirospheres, lack of natural sunlight, true nutrition, and meaningful relationships cause people to live much shorter lives. May, and several others who had lived healthy lifestyles on the outside, continue to live on. They become known as the Ancients. NWOC, concerned that others will find out that their reports had been greatly exaggerated, quickly builds the AAH-Ancients Archival Home. Flora is the only person to secretly keep her mother, May, living with her. Flora's life span is shortened, so her daughter, Jurell, unwillingly inherits May. Jurell is a materials researcher who worries about NWOC finding out about May. She's a conformist and pragmatist. Jurell's daughter, Zephyr, is a throwback to her Anishinaabe ancestors, however. She and May share a loving bond that prompts May, at 101 years old in the present year 2131, to take her family outside the envirosphere. That means convincing Jurell, and even more difficult, evading NWOC's ever watchful eyes.
