After narrowly escaping the horrors of The Red Death, a mysterious and terrifying pandemic, IRIS believes she is now safe aboard The Abbey, a luxurious floating city in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. However, soon after her arrival, one of her friends is executed, an innocent victim in a power struggle between the city's two rival factions. Devastated by the senseless death, Iris realises no one can be safe until the structures that control the city are overthrown.
In preparation for the day when she can enact her plan, Iris embarks on the dangerous business of seeking out an alliance with a secret cabal operating inside the city’s population of indentured workers.
At the same time, the struggle between the city’s rival factions intensifies until, in the bloody aftermath of a failed coup attempt, Iris is presented with the opportunity her plan needs. The winning faction's victory celebration – a decadent Masked Ball.