For Harlow, a young widower who’s turned his back on the tech life, gigging at a retirement home and his friend’s arcade are just means of supporting his meager life… as he waits for it to end. The world is f*d. Sure, there are bright spots. For instance, Neuroreality has become a necessary outlet for people’s frustrations and desires. But when Harlow’s neighborly concern makes him open the broken door of Rose’s apartment — where he finds her lying, unresponsive in her tricked-out dentistry chair — he has no idea what he’s just joined. Her guttural scream, as she returns from a hack-induced coma, marks the start of a partnership to hunt down the culprit, and drags Harlow back to his old life. Along their journey, Harlow and Rose stumble on two massive conspiracies: one by a mysterious being set to save humanity from itself, the other a megacorporation steering humanity for its own means. As they navigate these conflicting forces, it becomes increasingly apparent that both are deeply personal for Harlow.