Following the Interstellar Alliance's success in forging peace across most of the galaxy, they founded the Cosmo Academy. The institution is celebrated as the pinnacle of education, with its alumni assured nearly any career they pursue. Yet admission requires triumphing in entrance trials conducted every three years, rendering the selection process intensely competitive.
Lane Tadatos, a native of Terra, has advanced to the final phase of the exams. Selected as one of ten candidates, he is dispatched aboard the Esperanza—a derelict vessel drifting in orbit. Their ultimate assessment demands surviving 53 days aboard the craft, with no external contact except an emergency surrender switch. However, a critical issue surfaces when the cohort tallies its members: eleven individuals are present on the Esperanza, indicating that one among them is a fraud. This revelation threatens the program's integrity and questions who could infiltrate such a rigorous selection for all.