Power is in the mind. The mind is in the network.

As the NAU's "Shift" approaches, the Directorate and Enterprise parties are doing whatever they can both on-Beam and off- to win the citizen's minds. The Beam itself, however, seems to be evolving. As more and more people become addicted to connectivity, a question arises: Does the Beam serve our minds ... or do our minds serve the Beam?

Meanwhile, using politics as cover, an organization is pushing human enhancements further than they were ever meant to go — further than the struggling NAU with its hyperconnected minds can hope to survive.