Archaeologist Jacob Ramsey has spent the last two years wasting his time on a fruitless excavation. It seems like a miracle when he gets an invitation to join an elite group of archaeologists in the excavation of one of the Xel'Naga artefacts that are suddenly appearing on various worlds. When Jake stumbles across a dying Protoss and attempts to revive him, the alien psychically and violently begins to 'upload' its memories, essentially rewriting and rewiring Jake's human brain. Jake soon learns a terrible secret - one so important that the dying alien was willing to pass it on to an enemy in order to ensure that the knowledge survives. And what Jake decides to do with the information will seal the fate of worlds throughout the galaxy.