The first Infected is on a killing spree. And he doesn't need a body to do itTwenty years after Geneticorp was taken down, the Usas have settled into their lives and have had a high success rate converting the newly infected and helping the enlightened. Everything changes in the middle of the night when Kaelen stumbles across a viral video where an enlightened appears to be in a trance doing awful things on live webcam.

The Usas investigation takes them to Louisiana, where a group of enlightened college students appear to be targeted by an infected who can force them to do things without occupying their bodies. New faces show up to help and they suspect the very first infected is involved, in a form they don't know how to fight. Somehow, a secret fourth floor in the art building, tunnels underneath campus, a decrepit pool, and mysterious mounds on campus are important to this infected, as is a female art student whose energy is unlike anything the Usas have heard about before.