Michelle, is a bored Florida teenager with no real ambitions in life. Having recently graduated from high school, she longs for something exciting to happen to her, yet doesn't really want to do much of anything except hang out with her boyfriend and watch UFO footage online. In fact, what she'd really like is to have an encounter with an alien species. Much to her surprise, she gets her wish, but on a much more intimate level than she'd expected, when Tavy, a humanoid from the planet Cassiopeia, is convicted of murder and sentenced to spend some time on Earth...imprisoned within Michelle's body. Humanoids from Cassiopeia don't feel pain and they have chose Earth as a perfect place for punishment of their perpetrators. Cassiopeians call that process "the rehabilitation." A soul of a criminal has to suffer and die with its human host in order to learn about the pain and appreciation of a life. The bloodshed measures the sentence. As Tavy enters Michelle's body (on a spiritual level; this is not exactly a gruesome, hostile, physical encampment), she first begins to experience some disturbing visions. Distracted and worried that her mental health is in jeopardy, Michelle is involved in a catastrophic accident that will have a significant impact on her life. Eventually she comes to understand Tavy's presence and to communicate with him, thus finding herself dually coping with not only an alien body invasion, but also a profound personal tragedy. Furthermore, when she finds out that the only way for the terms of Tavy's sentence to be met is for the two of them to experience intensely painful situations together, Michelle is forced to face yet another seemingly unsurmountable obstacle. Along the way, she has quite a bit of growing up to do, as she is forced out of her unmotivated lifestyle and into one more fitting of a responsible adult.