The ice caps have melted more quickly than expected, and coastal cities have been lost to 50-foot tides. Global politics are unstable, countries face civil wars, kids go to virtual schools, drones have replaced many jobs, and the next storm may sink New York City. In 2081, everyone is seeking an escape from an ever more chaotic reality, and the dream-sharing network, DreamNet, thrives. When F.B.I. Cyber Defense agent Song Atoroshi is asked to meet DreamNet's elderly creator, Charles Lenderson, a chain of events is set into motion that will change the popular, decades-old and revolutionary network far more than any update ever would. Charles, a man lost in his memories and who has locked himself away in an abandoned New York penthouse, has written some final changes for his system in order to cement his legacy. But he needs Song's help getting the update past his old company, and she soon finds herself approaching a temporal singularity, where multiple pasts and all possible futures will collide.