The grid-locked wonder of Tent’th’tenth enthralls Zea from the moment the Vault approaches. Bro’sys and Sys’bro plot to get help gaining control of the Vault. After being captured by the Awd, pious leader of the Awdlings, Zea barely escapes being dissected and leaps through a portal into the Simul’at, Tent’th’tenth’s mirrored virtual world. After Bro’sys and Sys’bro fail to break the Vault ship open without Zea, Bro’sys convinces Sys’bro to enter the Simul’at in search of her. Zea encounters the harsh reality of losing lives in the game of the Simul’at. With the help of a new friend named Sir Kit, she changes her avatar, meets other avatars of users in the physical world, as well as digital consciousnesses. The conflict between the virtual world and the no-less-real physical world intensifies. Zea and Sir Kit are forced to compete against Bro'sys and Sys'bro in a race to return to Tent’th’tenth. Upon returning, they must contend with mushrooming tensions that threaten to destabilize the Simul’at.