Royakx’s world is still a bloody wound, at the center of which lies the city of Aran. The Archon’s healing helped, but human foolishness destroyed everything. Half a century of prosperity is already in the past; the city is again under the tyranny of Artificial Intelligence. But behind them is a hundred years— the blockade is over— and a new piece enters the chessboard: Rem Bulavin returns to the world that needs him so badly.