In a future Europe, where technology has been driven underground and the Earth's population has been tribalized by nuclear war and political conflict, a young woman named Elisa is born into the Silent City, a final stronghold of science and knowledge, in which self-perpetuating technology maintains the handful of human survivors with rejuvenation treatments and cybernetics. Unwittingly, Elisa holds the key to the genetic changes which have the potential to preserve the human species. But first she must overcome the resistance of the city's elite, and discover her unique gift for changing herself and the world around her. But time is running out. The human race is threatened by a virus that prevents the conception of male babies - and women bear the blame. Elisa must determine her future ... and the future of humanity.