In the mid 21st century, the world has terminally divided.  Not only geographically, between the great Northern and Southern Blocs, but socially.

Social division has been provoked by a philosophy known as The Religion of the Self.  A mandate for personal isolation, The Religion of the Self has brought intensifying technological change and ultimately consigned those of lesser skills to massive urban prisons known as Gulags.

Now, technology dominates a world where humankind coexists with constructs, known as Agents, and sophisticated robots.  However, the revolution can only continue for so long.

With Gulag populations spiralling out of control, the Northern Bloc faces crisis.  To solve this problem, Ciaran Donovan, the world’s leading computer scientist, is ordered to create a device that will silently “cull” those people considered as “surplus”.

From initially being appalled and haunted by these notions, with time the solutions become clearer to Donovan as he lives these nightmarish questions through to an astonishing conclusion.

It’s time for humankind to start again…

David Morton, 9 May 2006