The story follows two corporate extraction agents, who perform the new version of corporate espionage, grabbing scientists and engineers from rival firms. Given the level of protection offered, extracting them from a company is a highly dangerous affair. In the story, the narrator and his partner Fox have joined up with a new associate, Sandii, in an attempt to extract an extremely talented biologist from a hot new German research company. The company's security is superb, and the attempt takes considerable time to plan.

John Difool, a low-class detective in a degenerate dystopian world, finds his life turned upside down when he discovers an ancient, mystical artifact called "The Incal." Difool s adventures will bring him into conflict with the galaxy s greatest warrior, the Metabaron, and will pit him against the awesome powers of the Technopope. These encounters and many more make up a tale of comic and cosmic proportions that has Difool fighting for not only his very survival, but also the survival of the entire universe.

The story follows the progress of a group of computer hackers (called "warlocks" in the story) who are early adopters of a new full-immersion virtual reality technology, called the "Other Plane". Warlocks penetrate computers around the world for personal profit or curiosity. Forming a cabal, they must keep their true identities—their "True Names"—secret even to each other and to the "Great Adversary", the United States government, as those who know a warlock's True Name can force him to work on their behalf, or even cause a "True Death" by killing the warlock in real life.