Alanna, a SlaveGirl on the island Slavery Nation of Tagero, awakens to find herself in the Gauntlet, a lethal run through a, well, gauntlet, of monsters, by a group of naked SlaveGirls. Usually no one survives the horrors of the Gauntlet Run, and an audience of cruel male masters watch through a viewing crystal as one by one, or in groups, the women fall in various unpleasant ways.

Somehow Alanna survives, barely to be sure, but to all the spectators' utter disbelief. Her master, Marick, collects her, an even heals her wounds, but asks her why she couldn't just die like she was supposed to. Later back at his home, Alanna witnesses an odd exchange, via a red communication crystal, between Marick and a mysterious woman. The woman orders him to murder Alanna immediately, but Alanna knocks Marick out and escapes into the night...