Book 3, "A Simple Shade of Gray," is in three parts, each having to do with how a set of unique characters deal with the realization that a geomagnetic pole reversal has changed their world. Part I follows a deep-sea technician plagued with navigation problems who stumbles onto an undersea missile base and is subsequently assigned to an ill-fated mission that leads him to a new spiritual awareness. Part II chronicles a crew of cargo handlers on a shallow-sea platform struggling to gain control after the storms and chaos caused by the magnetic pole shift leaves them marooned. The people stranded on the station scramble to cope with failing technology, corrupt politicians, and pirates that challenge the moral underpinnings of the generally apathetic crew. Part III explores a deeply dysfunctional reality that builds on social interactions founded in the political bell-curve of caste dogma. A 'Green' level transit-tube technician helps a young woman stranded by an earthquake and discovers that she is a member of the 'Gray' level caste that he's forbidden to associate with. They defy protocol and join in an effort to escape their failing urban culture. Conflicts across the caste boundaries culminate when a 'Blue' level organizer leaves them captive at a tissue bank. Their eventual escape pivots on the ACoG spiritual foundation held by the 'Grays'.