The opening centers on Jamie Winton, a man in an underground bunker in Slough, England. Jamie and a few other strangers are watching the end of the world on television.

We jump to 34 days earlier. Jamie sends a video message out to his wife Layla, who's been missing for seven years. Jamie goes to work at a bank, and his mom visits him for his birthday and urges him to move on from Layla. He is then arrested. The police believe he is the leader (The White Horse) of a hacker group called Deus Ex Machina. The group hacked into the White House and leaked thousands of files. The police show Jamie a picture of Layla with someone who looks just like him. Jamie's friend Dave provides an alibi, so the charges are dropped.

In New Mexico, a woman named Rhonda is experiencing her first day in jail. A white supremacist named Leanne tries to befriend Rhonda. Rhonda is a librarian, and is being charged with treason. It turns out that she's actually covering for her son Spike, who hacked into the NSA. Rhonda's husband is suffering from an illness in D.C., so her son is placed under his biological father's custody.

A nun named Sister Celine is sent from her convent in Umbria, Italy to the Vatican to interview for a researcher's position at the Devil's Advocate office. Father Jude is the head of the office, explaining that their job is to perform quality control when screening candidates who want to be canonized as saints. Jude grills Celine on her faith and insults her, causing her to run out in tears. When she comes back to throw water in his face, Jude offers her the job.

The US president makes a statement on television that a comet is on a direct collision course with Earth, and will impact in 34 days. This will be an Extinction Level Event. Everyone starts to panic and riot. Celine takes this as a sign that she should accept the job.

Jamie's mom reveals that Jamie was adopted, and it's possible he has a twin. Jamie wants to investigate further in order to find Layla.

At the prison, everyone wants to be let out. Deus Ex Machina takes over the prison system and frees the prisoners. As they're escaping, Jamie's twin (the real White Horse) drives up and rescues Rhonda. Leanne also hops aboard.