In the near future, a patriarchal world government controls the entire planet. After a massive decline in population due to a devastating virus that made more than 90% of humans infertile, the authoritarian government imprisons women, forcibly impregnates them, and makes them give birth. A fanatical female cult leads a rebellion that assists people in committing mass abortions and suicides to stop the continuation of the human species. The rebellion succeeds and forms a new regime where all humans are sterilized at birth and given a microchip implant to access basic services and participate in society. Private births are illegal and punishable by death. Sperm and eggs are extracted at the onset of puberty and the cells are stored in cryo in the Life Bank Temple. A new sacerdotal role known as the Priestess, handpicked from biological females, gives birth to all humanity through in vitro fertilization. The unnamed narrator is an illegal, born to natural parents, living off the grid with a community of her kind, unable to secure food, shelter, health care, or protection. The new regime, aware of this resistance, is doing everything it can to hunt down and kill them all.

"The first mother died on the stars to save our future."

Lilith, the first woman, secretly encounters a beautiful angel who shows her the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Lilith eats the fruit and gains tremendous insights into the universe but decides that her partner, Adam, isn't ready for it.

That night, Adam tries to rape Lilith. Elohim, the Creator, interferes and puts Adam to sleep. Lilith challenges Elohim's authority and confesses that the angel also gave her a fruit of the Tree of Life, making her partially immortal. In a rage, Elohim banishes Lilith from Eden forever, preventing her from accessing the rest of the fruits of the Tree in order to become God.