A jobless agoraphobe, addicted to the man-made worlds of a distant descendant of the internet, has become targeted for assassination by forces beyond her understanding. With nobody she could really call an enemy or a friend, she must face the dangers of "meatspace", and survive a conspiracy that has invisibly ruled her entire life. An agent of the city's all-seeing secret police finds himself blackmailed with the lives of the unborn children of his long-dead wife. Pushed to the limits by his deceit and his past, how far is he willing to go to save his legacy? Follow their lives as a string of catastrophes threatens not only themselves, but everything they think they know about the city!
The city used to be a regional hub of manufacturing, before slave-labour became fashionable again in certain less-civilised parts. Unable to compete, a number of businesses went under, leaving a vast urban sprawl ripe for redevelopment. Until that happens, the young are quite happy to practice their art, and take what they can.