The story, set in the present day, centers on the plight of a hostage and the ensuing efforts of family and new acquaintances, many of them associated with a fictional MMORPG, to rescue her as her various captors drag her about the globe.

Topics covered range from online activities including gold farming and social networking to the criminal methods of the Russian mafia and Islamic terrorists.

Desperate for money, Peter sells a database of stolen credit card numbers to a shady contact, who is in fact working for the Russian mob.

Upon arriving in China, Peter, Zula, and Sokolov (a former Spetsnaz security consultant hired by Ivanov) locate the virus creators' apartment.

Olivia Halifax-Lin, an MI6 agent posted to Xiamen to manage surveillance on Jones, meets Sokolov during his escape from the building, and the two become romantically involved while attempting to flee China.

These various threads as the characters kidnap, aid, kill, or flee each other are interwoven with a narrative from Dodge Forthrast's point of view, as he gradually becomes aware of Zula's disappearance and begins taking action, along with his brothers.

In the meantime, he recalls the founding of T'rain and the roles of the various technical and creative people (Pluto, C+, D-squared, and Skeletor) involved, as well as his Chinese co-founder, Nolan.

The terrorists camp near the resort and inform Richard of their hostage, forcing him to lead them into the US while a small team detonates a suicide bomb near a border crossing as a distraction.

It is, Nolan went on, a "painstakingly-researched, deftly-plotted roller-coaster of gigabytes and gunplay, a pitch-perfect pastiche of Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy-style techno-thrillers and a comment on contemporary digitality and the ubiquity of online interconnectivity.