As the new millennium approaches, cults, sects, and crackpot prophets flood the worldwide media with warnings of catastrophe. But computer-virus hunter Michael Arcangelo has more mundane concerns: how to debug the highly sophisticated Goodknight system, a computer designed to play chess against the world's grandmasters. But soon Goodknight's virus appears in systems throughout the world, showing alarming signs of growth, intelligence, and self-awareness. Michael suspects it is the work of mysterious programming genius Roger Dworkin, who designed it to create a computerized role-playing game so real it can kill. Michael and his team of techno-wizards must descend into Dworkin's twisted game, tracking him through a harrowing and convoluted world of reality and fantasy.