Sam Stelle is a being shackled on many levels - to a physical form that is not quite human;to the politically powerful Science Marga;to a lover who stands as a living firewall between the reality of humanity and the lands of a virtual reality game;to simple data file that is fast becoming yet another world, building itself upon Sam's imagination and dreams yet deeply inimical to him.And he is tied to an artificial intelligence that threatens to bring it all under her sway, sweeping away individuality and free will in the name of Unity.What shackles must he break? What will be the cost? In the end, three separate realities balance on his choices because fate has decreed him the master Architect of it all.