Cia Vale has passed The Testing and had her memory wiped, as is customary. Because the tests are so brutal, those who pass are allowed to forget what the endured, but Cia has used her brother's Transit Communicator to record her memories. She's sent to Tosu University in Kansas to study government, while her peers who didn't pass are redirected, meaning sent home. Her friends Will, Stacia, and Obadiah, along with her boyfriend, Tomas, all attend school with Cia. When Obadiah fails his tests, he is redirected. Cia catches sight of his body being carried out of the building and discovers that "redirection" really means government sanctioned murder.
Distraught by this discovery as well as her ebbing memories, Cia decides to run away, but she is stopped by a man named Michael Gallen who says he's part of a resistance. He claims that a Dr. Jedidiah Barnes is the one with all the power, who is sanctioning the redirections. Although Cia cannot leave, she may serve as a spy for Gallen and his crew. She decides to compete for a highly contested internship with the United Commonwealth President Annaline Collindar. Focusing on her secret mission, Cia pushes Tomas away in order to protect him from suspicion. She successfully aces the series of competitions among potential interns. Those who failed are redirected.
Once inside Collindar's cabinet, Cia is approached once more by Gallen who tells her he's hoping to unseat Collindar. She's nice enough and treats Cia kindly, often lamenting the drop-out rate of the university as if she doesn't know about Dr. Barnes' orders. After finding an opportunity to record evidence of the redirections to present to Collindar, Cia bikes out to the airfield where she runs into Damone. He's still intent upon her internship and tries to kill her, but Cia is rescued by Raffe. He and Tomas give her recordings they've embedded in bracelets. When Cia delivers this evidence to Gallen to present to the Debate Chamber, she witnesses Symon execute Michael. In the end it turns out Dr. Barnes has conspired with Symon to invent this fake rebellion in order to catch disloyal citizens like Gallen. Cia quickly sends a message to her brother, Zeen, who was among the rebels.
