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Ruby White has burnt her bridges. She has no job, no direction in life, and just enough money to last a month if she eats only rice and her cat catches his own meals. When her best friend, Anise, holds a dress-up party, Ruby drowns her sorrows and meets Damien, whose vampire costume belies his sweet nature. With time on her hands, Ruby soon finds herself at a seminar for those who are Hyper Auto-Aware, a condition she never knew existed, run by the Jaasmyn Empire, a company she's never heard of. To Ruby's astonishment, and that of those who know her, she is offered a job.

Providing everything from meditation CDs, candles and 'specialised sleeping aides' to private classes with a psychic therapist, the Empire offers solutions for every physical and metaphysical problem ever conceived, and many that haven't been. Ruby swiftly gains a reputation within the Empire for possessing extraordinary abilities even though her 'talents' are in fact no more than guesswork and sarcasm. Attracting the attention of the charismatic head of the Empire, Jaasmyn, Ruby ignores her misgivings about the Empire's ethics and enjoys fitting in somewhere for the first time in her life.