Emmett Atwater, a 15-year-old Black teenager from Detroit, sits at a boardroom table with nine other teenagers who have been recruited by Babel Communications, a multinational conglomerate. They are to leave on a mission to the inhabited planet of Eden. The native humanlike species on Eden, known as the Adamites, revere children and have agreed to let the human children visit the planet to gather nyxia, a highly valued interactive substance that Babel Communications wants. Babel tells Emmett and the others that while traveling through space to Eden over six months, they will compete against one another for one of eight spots on the nyxia mission. The winners will receive $50,000 a month for the rest of their lives and all the medical care they require for themselves and their families. Emmett’s mother has a devastating kidney disease, so he desperately wants to win. He wants to provide for her and his father, who have worked tirelessly their whole lives.

A Babel employee brings Emmett to a room to say his goodbyes before the spaceship launches. While he waits, Emmett listens to music and thinks about his best friend (PJ), his music group (the Most Excellent Brothers), and the home he is leaving behind.