With no understanding of what the tower is or why they've been chosen, thirteen seemingly random strangers must battle to reach the top of a tower before the countdown clock reaches zero... and the world faces a potentially catastrophic fate.
Teacher Alden and artist Nia lead a cast of characters as our heroes battle to climb the levels of an alien tower in the clouds for unknown reasons, to avert what they believe (correctly) to be an unthinkable world-ending catastrophe.
Pulled from their lives as the tower comes to life, they find themselves adrift on its floating base with only one instruction: ASCEND. Yet as one of their number is cut down in front of them, they understand that whatever the reason for them being chosen for this challenge, it will be fraught with danger.
While the countdown continues for the world to see, the survivors argue about what to do. Some want to jump. Others want to wait for help. But help isn't coming and it soon becomes clear that the only way off this island in the sky is to enter the tower and try to survive as they climb the levels. Besides, nobody knows what the countdown will do when it reaches zero. It's possible they are humanity's last hope. They have to go in and get to the top.
This they do, with Alden and Nia leading a father and daughter, a narcissistic celebrity children's author, a hardcore football fan, a stewardess, a priest, and five others, into the tower. Where they discover they must battle up and survive nine, illogical, mind-bending levels designed to test their collective humanity, from cliched fantasy dungeons to sinking ships to haunted houses. Each one different from the last, but no less dangerous.
Yet as they battle the levels, they also battle each other, as tensions rise within the group and factions form. With each level climbed, people are lost, while information is gained. It soon becomes clear that the tower represents some kind of otherworldly test, set by unknown forces, for civilisations that have been found wanting on the evolutionary scale. But what awaits our chosen few at the top? Redemption? Or revelation?
Under enormous pressure, will Alden and Nia hold onto their humanity long enough to help their friends through the danger, find out why they're here, and ultimately save the world by reaching the top of the tower? Or will they be left to die by those others who quickly let greed twist and darken their humanity in pursuit of beating others to what they soon think may be a prize waiting for them beyond any they can imagine?
