The backdrop is that aliens have been able to influence humans by inhabiting a 'parallel dimension' which comes to be known as the Realm. This place is where humans' consciousness exists during sleep and certain 'altered states' entered by meditation or ritual. The aliens try to cause chaos and destruction amongst humans, as a means to clear the planet of obstructions before arriving to make use of it themselves. The influence comes partly through human religion as the aliens are behind all major human belief systems and are able to influence human behaviour through this. This also includes occult belief systems like the Astral Plane (=the Realm)
Certain coma patients can live a 'normal' life in this Realm while being kept alive in the real world. Their unfortunate situation gives them special abilities in the Realm. A cameraman (Mason) encounters one such patient (Gail), while filming a documentary and then begins to see her in his dreams. She convinces him that he is unusual as he experiences the Realm and the real world with equal clarity and moves between the worlds with ease. Mason enlists the help of an intern at the film company (Molly) to help him understand what is happening to him.
In the US a charismatic leader of a new church (Rev. Daniels) enters politics and looks headed for high office, maybe the Whitehouse. His religion appears to be little more than a cult. They begin to build a mysterious machine in a secret location. They believe the device is a Tower of Babel shown to their leader in revelations he had before starting the church and will enable the second coming.
A secret organisation made up of influential figures in government, science, defence and industry suspects this 'alien influence' and works in secret to understand and counter this threat. They detect indications of this new device and try to find the source of the disturbance. A technician working for this organisation (Zach) is implanted with a prototype chip designed to facilitate some sort of communication with others implanted or coma patients that exhibit unusual brain activity. This chip has the effect of switching the person into the Realm, with perfect recall and consciousness. It becomes clear that Rev. Daniels' Church is building a device that could distort spacetime, using details supplied by the aliens through interactions in the Realm (the revelation). The secret organisation realise this and try to stop him. Working together Mason, Gail and eventually Zach realise the dangers of this church as well and Molly volunteers to infiltrate it.
The aliens fear this new kind of person (Mason) that can more easily move between the Realm and real world and influence an occult order to kill Mason and Gail in the real world.
Can Mason, Gail, Zach and Molly stop the aliens influence in the Realm? Can the secret organisation stop the building of the machine? Will the occultists succeed in killing Mason or Gail? Will the Church succeed in building the machine and welcome the Second Coming as the aliens could use the device as one end of a bridge to their world and initiate an invasion....
