In the next Adrian Shelter story, Adrian is hired by a wealthy client to travel to Mars. The client controls a large amount of shares in a powerful corporation, but his health is failing. He seeks to find his estranged son who lives in a colony on Mars. He has decided to hire Adrian because he figures his son will be more willing to comply with him instead of a Law Enforcement Agent. However, when Adrian finds the son, he is alone in a closed and locked room, logged into a virtual reality network—dead. Signs point to asphyxiation, but security footage shows that he was alone at the time of death. Adrian must find a killer that can murder someone through a virtual reality interface—and he has to do it fast. His partner, Reiko may be attacked next.