A woman decides to change the world by changing herself, literally altering the carbon basis of her life form. Through the application of a controversial technology able to program the RNA of synthetic enzymes she disassembles the molecules of her living cells in order to reassemble herself into a nanocarbon based life form. In this state her perception of time is transformed since her neural activity enjoys considerably less resistance. Her impulses are closer to the speed of light and so a moment is for her 30,000 times shorter than it is for the rest of us. A day for us is a life time for her. Driven by the futility of our age to master herself, she isolates herself from the world, striving to fathom the depths of all fields of knowledge in a desperate attempt to find the answers to the world’s greatest problems.

A boy is raised to be a freethinker. A prodigy of the arts destined for tenure, nevertheless, drops out of university at the admonition of his professor who funds his secretive research program into the development of a new theory. The theory claims that time, like space, is also three dimensional. However, the ramifications for the way people think are inconsequential as few humans have the time or discipline to embody the theory, so the young man and his friend design and construct the embodiment of the theory; a program which they hope can teach humanity to think outside the square. Using a new kind of computer that uses quadrary code instead of binary code, not to mention a new method of information storage that does away with silicon and embraces a radical plastic, they hope their synthetic guru will wake up with the answers to all their quandaries.

An enemy of the people suspects the woman and the boy are up to no good. Having the world exactly where it wants it, the enemy draws on its bottomless resources and clandestine technology to thwart their attempts, sicking an operative on each of them. The snake man, formidable in his own right, is given an autonomous defense system to ensure that the matter is assuredly in hand. Charged with the recovery of stolen nanotechnology, he is warned that should an outbreak occur the neighbourhood will be scoured clean. The other operative, sabre, a legendary, loose cannon, is let loose on the boy, his friend, and their families. The whole suburb is put in danger.

Will the woman find the answers in time, and if she does, what will those answers be? Can humanity even adopt enlightenment if the guru is made of plastic? When the world’s slew of catastrophes and epidemics suddenly escalate and the enemy shows its hand in it all, can anything be done about averting cataclysm? Is there wisdom enough left on Earth with the critical mass and energy to completely change the way we see the future? Is it even possible to see hope in the big picture instead of doom? Odette and Xenon see it, but few else can.