In the year 2123, with all but nature destroyed and resources scarce, society has been divided into three kinds of people. There are Alphas, like Larissa, who work half of the time and spend the rest in a state of suspended animation called stasis. There are Betas, like Eric, who alternate work and ""sleep"" modes with the Alphas. And then there is the Elite, who form a privileged aristocracy that rules over the Alphas and Betas. In the face of increasing pressure from stasis-jumpers of the Resistance, the Elite insists that extreme measures are necessary for survival of the species. Their plan, however, doesn't account for the power of the human heart. Larissa and Eric have fallen in love even though their only contact, other than furtive holographic messages, is when they trade places in the stasis pod they share.