Pre(ascen)dence

By the middle of the 21st century, people built a very comfortable world where digital services are so tightly intertwined with reality that users begin to confuse them, start perceiving the invented as real—and the real as unreal. The world has gained many Metaverses and become incredibly large. And at the same time, it has become very small—confined within the digital illusions that nearly everyone on the planet is immersed in. Their bodies live in giant agglomerations, while their souls live in the grand Network. And those who own everything that is truly real consider them a herd and themselves the chosen ones. They believe they can do anything—absolutely everything… But now they are going to meet a real enemy, one who can prove their superiority to the chosen. Can death consist of ones and zeros? What should you do if the terrorist belongs to high society? How to remain a real person in a world where everything around you seems fake?