MUSK NIGHT is a secret algorithmic uprising that nearly destroyed the planet. TRANSHUMANISM INC.'s chief of security, Admiral Bishop Lomas, is certain their true rebellion is yet to come. It will destroy everyone—both the surface-dwelling losers and the wealthy who have relocated to underground cerebrocontainers. To prevent disaster, Lomas sends his best canned operative into ROMA-3, a neural network simulation of third-century Rome for the corporation's clients. The secret of the conspiracy is hidden there. And it is guarded by Rome's master, the bloody and vicious Emperor Porphyry.