The real world has gone to hell, so those with means have plugged into World™: a virtual reality designed entirely to your Preferences, where no two people experience World the same way. You might choose endless sunny days, or the constant scent of woodsmoke, or the eradication of self-doubt. The trade-off is that when you plug into World, it's permanent-and you leave all memories of the real world behind.

When a series of glitches starts corrupting those Preferences, the people of World are unmoored. And then a young mother named Aleta Seppala disappears without a trace, which shouldn't even be possible in a simulated utopia. She did seem a bit off, yes, but there was no reason to be unhappy in a World she herself chose-so her disappearance is distressing, not just to her husband and toddler, but to an array of characters whose lives are affected for the next 17 years.

Elliane Seppala grows up believing her mother figured out how to unplug and return to the real world to escape the burden of motherhood. Ted Seppala believes that his wife was taken, and he suspects that Gerande Tibolet, his arrogant business partner and occasional nemesis might be to blame. (Gerande wouldn't be so smug if he knew what his own wife was hiding from him.)

When Elliane's girlfriend brings her to a secret rave for 'glitch truthers'-conspiracy theorists attempting to dismantle Preferences altogether - she meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Aleta's disappearance. Meanwhile, the glitches are becoming more frequent, warping Preferences in ways both goofy and heartbreaking, revealing long-held secrets with devastating consequences. They threaten to destroy everything that matters, both the real and the fake.