In 2113 A.D., a team of scientists is dispatched to Antarctica to investigate unusual seismic activity. While exploring, they discover markings resembling the Nazca paleoglyphs and stumble upon an underground cavern with a massive tower protruding from it. They snap photos of the star map inscribed on the tower's surface to send back to their command center, but the tower emits a piercing noise that causes the team to writhe and perish, followed by their colleagues back home. Upon further investigation, they find out that the tower was transmitting a beacon towards a planet named Elysium, situated beyond the reaches of our solar system. Our protagonist, Van, is an 18-year-old pizza delivery boy who competes in turbo jai alai racing, a popular high-speed sport of the future. He's smitten with Lydia, a ballerina, and together they long to escape the polluted city. Van competes in a race in hopes of winning tickets so that Lydia can audition for a ballet spot at a scenic galactic resort. During this time, an Elysian ambassador is annihilated by humans' deep space observation vessel, inciting a full-blown assault on our planet. As the stadium where he's competing comes under fire, Van bravely tries to save Lydia as they navigate through burning streets, relying on their wits to find refuge in a fallout shelter after numerous close calls.