Giraut Leones, special agent for the shadowy instrumentality in charge of reintegrating humanity's sundered fragments, had been betrayed by his closest friend and superior. The result was the destruction of the planet Briand and the end of Giraut's marriage. Giraut swore then that he would never work for the Office of Special Projects again -- but now he must. Now a new movement on Earth seeks to use the recorded personalities of the dead as helpless virtual-reality playthings. To the worlds of the interstellar Thousand Cultures, where the reborn are accepted as normal citizens, it's a monstrous crime and reinforces their distaste for Earth, which they consider the stagnant heart of humanity.
If Giraut cannot stop Earth from ratifying its plans, the tenuous structure of interstellar human civilization will collapse. Complicating matters, Giraut's brain now hosts a second consciousness -- the revived consciousness of his old, long-dead friend Raimbaut. Together, Giraut and Raimbaut must confront their shared past while struggling with a deadly present.
