WHAT DO FREEDOM, STATE POWER, AND NATIONAL SECURITY LOOK LIKE ONCE THE HUMAN MIND IS REDUCED TO AN ALGORITHM?

The dust is still settling in America after the Second Civil War. The country (what's left of it) is a fractured, tribal mess. The Patriot Party rules a patchwork of military districts across 44 remaining states while the American overseas empire slowly crumbles as it faces off against the ascendant and hostile Eurasian Defense Pact. Lieutenant George Novak (an intel analyst and head of a Pentagon "kill team") is tasked with hunting down the agents and operatives (foreign and domestic) who crippled America years earlier.

As these events churn, the world is on the verge of something even bigger. A new revolution is taking shape as neural interfacing technology promises to fundamentally change what it means to be human. Visionary Dr. Ruby Monroe heads a New York neurotech firm at the forefront of this wave. It's more than just business for her — it's the post-ideological future of human civilization. She soon attracts the attention of foreign interests.

As international tensions continue to rise, Novak's team tracks down a major fugitive, bringing matters to a boil and unleashing forces that none of the players involved (Monroe herself included) fully understand.