In the near future, Earth is becoming uninhabitable, leading scientists to launch a mission to colonize a distant habitable planet, a journey that will take 86 years. To ensure the success of the mission spanning multiple generations, genetically engineered humans are bred for intelligence and obedience and raised by a single adult, Richard. Thirty children, conditioned to avoid the messy distractions of typical adolescent development and emotions through a blue drink, make up the young crew destined to breed and rear the next generation en route to the new planet.

As the children grow into teenagers, they begin to question their purpose and the nature of their reality. Two of them, Christopher and Zac, accidentally discover the true effects of the blue drink—it suppresses their emotions and reproductive instincts. As they stop taking the drink, their natural emotions and desires surface, causing conflicts within the group and a power struggle that threatens the order of their micro-society. Their newfound feelings are further complicated when they begin to sense the enormity of their responsibility and the claustrophobia of their space-bound existence.