In 2051, around 20 years after the events of the previous Book, Leisha runs a successful law practice out of Chicago. Alice still lives in California, and her relationship with Leisha is somewhat strained, in part by Alice's enthusiasm for a pseudo-scientific organization known as the Twin Group, which tracks psychic connections between twins. Every day, Alice sends Leisha a bouquet of common flowers, as if to remind her sister that ordinary people matter too. Richard still lives in Sanctuary and is now married to Jennifer, with whom he has two Sleepless children, Ricky and Najla. For her part, Jennifer has become increasingly militant against the Sleeper community. Meanwhile, Alice's son Jordan lives in Mississippi and works for a man named Calvin Hawke who runs the We-Sleep scooter factory. The scooter factory is part of a broader We-Sleep movement in which Sleepers vow only to buy products made by Sleepers, a form of economic protest and organized resentment against the increasingly successful Sleepless class.

In an effort to mend relations between Sleeper and Sleepless, Leisha pays Hawke a visit to his factory, a meeting brokered by Jordan. She tells Hawke, “You—and all your followers in other industries—are splitting the country in two economically, Mr.