Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late? Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer. The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...

Sixteen years after Luna took on the might of PareCo, her daughter Liberty is fighting for her independence, fighting for her freedom, fighting to discover who she really is. Constantly pushing the boundaries of what she can do in the virtual space of the void and still survive in the real world, it is only a matter of time before Liberty goes too far. And when the mysterious Ex offers to tell Liberty all her mother's secrets, it seems too good an opportunity to resist. But how will Liberty know what is real, or who she can trust - especially when it seems that the future of the void, and of the non-virtual world it connects to, may be at risk of destruction?