National boundaries have been broken, two giant super-states remain—a bleak, decaying Hemisphere, and the sprawling media state Megaville.

The Hemisphere war against media is about to intensify with news of the introduction of "Dream-A-Life" (DAL) a hallucination-inducing consumer product.

Duprell explains that Palinov bears a striking physical resemblance to Newman's only known contact in the Hemisphere, Mr. Jensen.

As he slips into the role, he soon meets Jensen's almost lover, Christine, a former demolitions expert for the armed forces who went AWOL after being ordered to kill civilians.

Christine and Palinov travel to Megaville and meet Newman, who refuses to reveal any information about his operation.

Palinov suspects Newman is involved, but the only witness is the president's personal aide, who is now permanently trapped in a DAL induced hallucination.

Much of the filming for "the Hemisphere" scenes, especially the CKS headquarters, took place over a two-day period, on the weekend of the 17–18 February 1990.

It took place at the Oakland City Hall which was closed at the time due to damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.