Alex-Sander McGregor buys back his digital universe, replicates 20th Century Earth in it, and plants there the living duplicates of dead babies from his generation. One child, Malcolm, has been duplicated before and used as a digital actor forced to follow a show's script. Alex-Sander sets Malcolm up for a good life and raises a planetary shield that blocks even Sander out. Fifteen years later, the shield fails, revealing the life alterations robbed Malcolm of vital parts of himself. Restoring those requires taking Malcolm to the 22nd Century and breaking him without killing him. Sander must also face why he avoided beloved teammates from a superhero show he hated. He also risks again rankling Elisha, who was mad that Malcolm is his duplicated stillborn twin.