It is twenty years after the catastrophic war between the United States and China that brought down the old American political order. The American president has control of the media, but he is beginning to lose control of the streets. Suddenly, he collapses in the middle of an address to the nation. After an initial flurry of misinformation, the administration reluctantly announces his death. All signs point to a profound breakthrough in AI. As some of the world's great powers struggle to outmaneuver one another in this new Great Game of scientific discovery, the outcome becomes entangled with the fate of American democracy.