Sixteen-year-old champion racer Renata Dane lives in a futuristic New York that has been partly submerged in what is known as the Wash Out. Her foster sister, Aven, is deathly ill from a strange Blight, thought to be caused by years of pollution. Accepting a job from the government to find a source of fresh water in what once was Manhattan, Renata discovers a web of lies about the true origin of the Blight and the Wash Out.