A smart teenage girl gets her hands on a specimen of alien technology. Without bothering to inform the public about this fact, she uses its capabilities the way she sees fit. Little conveniences that could have made everyday life easier don’t satisfy the happy owner of the artifact. A series of risky experiments in geopolitics and sociology creates a situation where constant interference and control become an urgent necessity, and trying to throw the helm overboard is tantamount to a global catastrophe. There are plenty of clashes and battles, but most of them are virtual. As for their victims—the numbers run into the billions. What can you do? The source of the biggest problems is always intelligence.