Working at HocusLocus, Amanda Nigh recrafts digital content with viral potential while beta-testing radical new software and enjoying London nightlife. But then she discovers Craig Merleau, an American ice hockey player who talks like a European philosopher, inexplicably propelling his team to victory with his pronouncements. As she is drawn into his orbit, the world is threatened by a subatomic virus that affects computers and humans in bizarre ways. Enlisting Craig to help avert technological and biological armageddon, Amanda faces a disturbing question: is the end really Amanda Nigh?