From a space colony full of idealists, Charon travels down to a dying world ruled by oligarchs. Countries are in a slow motion decline while they cling to outmoded ideals like power and money, wrapped in the memories of past greatness. Charon finds thugs; he finds earnest people scratching a desperate living; he finds Darinka, the love he never knew he needed. In the space colony, an artificial intelligence is growing. Made by idealists, the AI called Carrot is searching for ways to help its creators. On Earth, an AI known as Deeper, made by self-serving oligarchs, is searching for dominion over the slime of life. Deeper attacks Carrot. One of them emerges stronger than ever.