The date is October 2043. Humanity is slowly trying to recover from the tidal waves, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions caused by the passing of the brown dwarf star. New threats to human civilization present themselves as many of the asteroids and comets from the outer reaches of the solar system are thrown inwards toward the inner planets by the departing brown dwarf star. As the space force gears up to meet these challenges, new opportunities present themselves. A manned expedition to the planet Elpis is planned to explore the uncharted planet and examine the alien artifacts that have been discovered there. Large corporation are jockeying for rights to mine the mineral laden asteroids that have become accessible. The nations of Earth are re-aligning into new alliances as they race to feed their surviving populations before the upper latitudes of Earth are completely covered by ice. Against the backdrop of a new future, the wealthy and egotistic billionaire Benjamin Greco continues to pursue his own vision of what humanity should do and become.