The tasks of ensuring that souls leave this world and travel to the afterlife is apparently a bureaucratic business like any other. Charlie Dawson is the most successful Ferryman in the history of the Institute, called in whenever a transfer goes sideways. But he's burning out, having been in the position for over 250 years. Then he gets a mysterious message during the job to usher suicide Alice Spiegel, offering him the chance to save the girl and finally stop being a Ferryman . But breaking all the rules of the Institute has consequences, and Charlie and Alice are soon on the run from Javrouche, a fanatical internal affairs inspector.