Thomas Jefferson Stoneshield VII dies in World War II and enters a godless afterlife where souls are clouds upon a golden ocean surrounding the Earth. He blames himself for ending the legacy carried in his name. He doesn't know why he never married because he's buried it too deep: Thom is gay. To help him, Thom's dad reaches out from inside a soul well—a monster made of captured souls. But his dad is unable to communicate. Instead, Thom keeps rewatching his dad’s death in World War I, while his dad keeps apologizing for something. Determined to rescue his father, Thom teaches himself how to fight the soul wells with weaponized memories. His fellow soldier, David Lowenstein, wants to save his parents. Others want Thom to stop the soul wells before they unleash Earth’s Armageddon and consume all souls, living and dead. But Thom just wants to save his dad and atone for ending his family name.