A source found dead—his skull sawed open by NeuroChip vandals in a Dallas back alley. The sole witness? Reporter Ryker Morris, whose stubborn resistance to a different kind of chip—the globally mandated IDChip—cost him his job, apartment, and credibility. Ryker flees the gruesome scene, a young, homeless technophobe disappearing into a fast-paced city of augmented working stiffs and sexy chipped socialites. But Ryker’s reprieve doesn’t last long. Under orders from a local hacker and tipped off by an invisible tracking device, the vandals kidnap Ryker’s best friend, leaving only a blood-soaked wallet behind. Even worse, they inject Ryker’s brain with a refurbished NeuroChip. Without money or resources, he must find his friend and deactivate the corrupt NeuroChip, before the twisted hacker who programmed it gains full control over Ryker’s own thoughts.