The Golden Age of the human race was swept away like a tidal wave. For 30,000 years, intelligent machines have ruled the galactic empire established by humankind, opposed only by a small race of people living within two globular clusters of stars. But one man born within the perfectly ordered society must break free, and begin a violent odyssey that holds the keys to humankind's ultimate freedom and survival. Meanwhile, on a planet far away beyond the known galaxy, a dark experiment conducted over thousands of years nears the time of its final culmination: the release of an evil force thought to be destroyed for an age. A force that could ravage the universe and bring an end to the entire process of creation.