In 1935, when Sam Diaz is seven years old, his father teaches him how to shoot a rifle.
On October 20th, 2008, the US government declares a state of national emergency. People board their windows and lock their doors— no one knows how to combat the fearful Aberrations tormenting low-populated areas. All around the world, people have been reported missing, as if disappeared into thin air. At the same time, people who claim to be from the past or the future start to turn up. Tess Okeke is 14 years old when Tobenna, her father, thought to be working overseas, stops sending her letters, and her mother Katherine suddenly vanishes.
Increasingly concerned for their safety as their silence stretches on, Tess begs her two “uncles,” Jay and Charlie Walsh-Bennett, to help her find her missing parents. Charlie is resistant to leave two of his (mysterious) patients behind, but he eventually agrees to help. So, under the guidance of these two men and armed with her father’s last known return address, Tess sets out from Maryland to Ireland.
On September 15, 1950, 2nd Lt. Sam Diaz lands in Incheon, in present-day South Korea, where he meets Sgt. Lee Kyung-Soo. The 7th Infantry Division fights non-stop until September 29th, when Seoul falls back into the hands of the Republic of Korea. During this time, Sam gets to know Lee a bit better, finding him exhibiting strange behaviors; he is inhumanly strong, and fire sometimes seems to dance across his fingertips. But maybe it’s just a trick of the light. Either way, Lee quickly takes a great liking to Sam, and Sam to him.
When they finally reach the southern shores of Ireland, Tobenna and Kathy are nowhere to be found, but they do discover Tobenna’s workshop. A quick look around reveals discarded robot parts, blueprints, and Pentagon-stamped classified documents. It comes as a surprise to Tess that her father had worked creating military weapons, as she thought he had been a peaceful man. Of note, Tess pockets two sets of dog tags marked “LEE, KYUNG-SOO” and “DIAZ, SAMUEL G.” that are practically vibrating with strange energy. Tess then uncovers a room that looks like it's been lived in, and comes face-to-face with a Tactical Integrated Ground Engagement Robot (TIGER). The line was thought to be decommissioned and scrapped, and Jay, who interned under Tobenna over a decade ago, is ecstatic to see one of his creations alive and well. It’s not long before a group of US-uniformed soldiers raid the lab. They try to take the TIGER, but the trio (now a quartet, with the addition of the TIGER) fends them off and makes an epic getaway.
Back in Korea, Sam’s platoon is advancing towards the Yalu River, searching through abandoned villages for supplies. His men are surprise attacked by the Communist Chinese Forces, and Sam is taken to a POW camp, where he endures “brainwashing,” A.K.A. physical and psychological torture. After about a month, Lee’s squad is able to rescue him.
Upon returning to Maryland, Jay and Charlie find their country home ravaged by Aberrations. To Charlie’s dismay, his mysterious patients are missing. A flaming, golden sword marked with a rudimentary “USE THIS” sticky note is in their place. When Jay or Charlie tries to grab it, it burns their hands. For some strange reason, Tess is the only one able to use it without getting harmed. After much bickering, her uncles allow her to keep the weapon. With the help of the TIGER and magical sword, they fight their way out of the countryside and into Baltimore City, where Charlie has an apartment. A familiar voice welcomes them in…
War has been raging for over a year, and already there is talk of an armistice. The 7th Infantry Division is assigned to the Reserve in June 1951, and Sam and Lee daydream about a picket-fence life away from the horrors. But they’re called back in October, and a year later, on October 14, 1952, Operation Showdown, A.K.A. Battle of Triangle Hill, in Kimhwa County, commences. At 2:21 pm, Sam is horrifically injured in a bomb blast and Lee rushes to his side. In a rush of adrenaline, mixed with star-crossed devotion and bone-chilling fear, Lee, really Aempyriel the Fallen Angel, bends the rules of time and space, time-traveling them into 2008, where Ashley Walsh’s brother is married to a surgeon, Charlie.
Tess meets Sam and Lee (now Ashley) in Charlie’s apartment. The two have been conducting their own investigation into the missing peoples event, and suggest going to Kimhwa county, where it all started. The group travels to Korea, but North Korea has the county locked down tight. They are able to infiltrate the security, mostly thanks to the two soldiers out of time.
As they venture deeper into the undeveloped county, they find it harder and harder to move, as if their bodies are stuck in molasses. The increasing number of skeletal remains gives the group the bright idea to double back. It seems as though time has come to a halt in this zone. Because TIGERs are made using technology across past, present, and future, though, their robot friend is unaffected. Strangely, Tess is also unaffected. She pulls out the dog-tags from her pocket, handing them back to their rightful owners. These blessed objects and assistance from the TIGER allows Sam and Ashley passage through the time-deadzone.
Once the trio makes it to the rift, Aempyriel calls upon God. It, finally, turns its eye upon the Earth, startled when It finds Its domain in such disarray. It demands Aempyriel to explain themself, which they do — recounting a long tale of love and loss. Overall, God is impressed that a lowly Fallen angel accomplished such a feat as time travel, but actions must have consequences. It allows Aempyriel to keep their treasured human, but with one condition: Aempyriel will become fully human and die when Sam does. Sam will be the only one who remembers Lee, as Aempyriel’s memories of their past lives slowly fade away. Ashley accepts these terms.
Thus, everything else in the world slowly heals, though maybe ‘heal’ isn’t the right word so much as ‘reverts.’ 2008-humans return home and find their lovers from 1830 missing, scientists’ research is lost forever as future technology vanishes. TIGERs’ sentient AI rights are debated in government, as they are no longer needed to fight Aberrations. But Tess returns home and has a much-needed conversation with her mother, and Sam & Ashley finally have the peace and quiet they need to figure out how to live.
More fallout manifests in humans’ desire to figure out why and how the fast fifty years happened. Some report seeing and even interacting with angel-like beings, but this is all rumor.
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