At the edge of the solar system, the Key York races through space. Launched with the mission of reaching the triple system of Proxima Centauri, after only twenty-five years of travel it finds itself on the return route. On board, the crew’s clones lie dormant inside cocoons that mimic artificial wombs, while their consciousnesses exist within a software system known as the Dream Loop. Body and mind were meant to reunite only once the final destination was reached. But the mission has changed. 

The awakening of Jo, a consciousness that seems out of place, and of Emily, the acting commander and the only member of the command group to have awakened, triggers a chain of irreversible events that drags the rest of the crew into a struggle for survival.

Life forms generated by unknown spores. Maintenance units repurposed into a military force. Artificial intelligences created to protect humanity, now interpreting it through logics increasingly distant from the intentions of their creator. Each of them is a piece on the ship’s chessboard, yet no one truly knows the rules of the game. The Key York is a tangle of secrets. Which of them will be the hardest to bear?