After the nearly fatal re-embodiment of the first of Earth's last survivors, the resident AI aboard the Phoenix takes desperate measures to ensure his survival. Meanwhile, a deadly threat for the ship manifests itself as one of its fusion reactors approaches a critical overload.

Venturing out into an unfamiliar world far from anyone and anything he has ever known, CASSIE tries her best to help her companion to find some notion of familiarity. Easy no longer does it as the imminent critical overload of one of the ship's reactors draws much closer than anticipated...