Emma (not her real name) introduces herself and tells us about how she overheard a conversation a while ago in Madison Square Park in Manhattan between a young man in a wheelchair and a strict looking young woman and how this conversation sent her on her current mission. She manages to interview this slightly strange young man, named W.C. and finds out about his peculiar roommate, Ashley, who disappeared on him. Emma is compelled to find her 

Emma does her research and begins to interview two close friends, Bethany and Jeanna, who used to run with Ashley back in the days. But instead of finding answers she comes across more questions that lead her towards more research feeding her curiosity.

She finds the theater where Ashley worked and interviews Stam, the producer and director and Rosa his partner and actor, who were the last ones who saw her. Paying close attention, Emma begins to see a pattern emerging in Ashley's story, but it is far from usual and contains many strange occurrences. Was Ashley mentally challenged? Emma begins to have weird dreams.

Emma is relentless in her research and tries to involve the police, but in a strange twist a young police officer has a confession to make which opens a new path in Ashley’s pursuit leading Emma below ground where she discovers a city under the city. Is it real? She meets the keeper/guardian of the city, Dee, who explains the reason for its existence. Emma is highly skeptical but also fascinated when confronted with Dee’s solid and compelling research. 

Emma has passed out and does not remember how she got to the windowless basement where she wakes up and is confronted by her rescuer, a guy named: XTC. She turns the tables on him and interviews him. He leads her to meet Dr. Lark whom Emma has met before and who knows Ashley. The townhouse itself holds a vital clue in Ashley’s whereabouts as does Emma’s intensifying dream. She knows where Ashley must be and she knows why.

Emma feels she has solved the mystery but everything is different and nothing seems to be what it appears to be. Emma is driven to follow her intense curiosity to the concluding finale where Ashley together with all the answers must be hiding even if she risks her own life in doing so. In the end we learn about an ancient prophecy and how the end is only the beginning.

We meet Maddie and Lindsay, our hosts and fans of the podcast ASHES. Together, driven by their curiosity, they question some of the claims and events of the podcast and begin to sort fact from fiction in an effort to find out what really happened to Ashley.
Starting with the basics and to get a grip on the fundamentals of the universe, they interiew a Princeton professor, Tim Bard, who is a leading Cosmologist and Fluid Dynamicist. They also manage to find Ashley's mom, Judy Norman, who still resides in Marshalltown, and who sheds some light on her daughter's past. 
Turns out, facts trump fiction.

Is reality based entirely on chemical reactions in our brain?
Maddie and Lindsay interview chemical expert Ryan Stoncram, who may have an answer as well as a sweet deal.
Perhaps talking to the people who were closest to Ashley will shed light on the mystery of her disappearance, but trying to find Bethany leads to Tewa Ansari and more questions than answers.
An unexpected caller from the past adds a further layer of tension and confusion to the quest.