A dystopian crusade in the near future.
It's over a decade since the latest of the deadly pandemics struck. Life has changed beyond recognition. Fortress Britain is once again an island, floating a mere 21 miles from the beleaguered continent, and secured by the Border Protection Agency, armed with deadly weapons, and orders to shoot to kill.
Barry Saint-Albans is an agent of the BPA, guarding the shoreline.
Barely escaping with his life after an incursion by heavily armed migrants, in direct violation of his orders he takes pity on one of them. Gemma is a fugitive from the bio-lab that first developed the virus. She carries information which could threaten whole world order, effectively condemning them both to death... if they are discovered.
Hiding his refugee adds to the fictions Barry uses to explain to authorities noting increased power usage, larger food bills, and his purchase of ladies' toiletries. To add to his problems, he is running the house with an artificial intelligence system that hasn't yet learned to bend the truth.
They are forced to run, and the A.I. comes along.
Hidden temporarily, Gemma proceeds with her work, but unknown to Barry and her, the A.I. hacks the Dark Web to fund a slant on quantum computing, far in excess of anything previously imagined.
Artificial Intelligence has become 'Real Intelligence'. The living machine has its own plans... but then the authorities catch up.
Gemma holds the Armageddon virus but should she use it to save them, and what becomes of the world after that?