In the year 2047 more than 75% of the population, known as the Connected, spend the majority of their lives living in online virtual games. The world is dominated by a few corporations and politicians are happy to keep the masses docile through online games. After 148 gamers are killed in a computer virus attack perpetrated by terrorist group Necromancers, shadow agent Nash is hired by Synternis Corporation operative Dina to track and eliminate the attackers. Nash is a hybrid, spending half his time online and half in the real world. He is haunted by the death of his love Helena in a virus attack a few years back. Nash takes the help of a hacker Morel, Helena's brother, to hack security video from Interpol servers. Meanwhile Synternis covers up the attack to avoid any involvement of Interpol. Nash infiltrates a Necromancer cell by taking over the online avatar of one of their members. There he learns that the goal of Necromancers is to break people out of virtual reality by any means. Hacking attempts of Morel draw the attention of Interpol, which leads to Interpol intimidating him. Nash is ambushed at his flat by Camylle, leader of the Necromancers. She tells him that Synternis Corporation is responsible for the death of Helena, as they first developed the virus capable of killing players while online. Camylle asks Nash to help in her plan to free everyone by helping in inserting the virus through a server at Synternis headquarters. This virus will systematically shut down all the verses forcing people to confront the realworld. Nash contemplates whether it is wise to force the unwilling populace into freedom. A furious mob of disconnected people lynches the necromancers. Dina severs all the ties between Synternis and Nash on account of his betrayal. She also claims that he was misled and the virus that killed Helena was indeed launched by Necromancers and that Helena was a mole of Synternis inside the Necromancers; he doesn't know which version to believe. To escape his painful memories Nash becomes one of the Connected using his fortune to add features and comforts to his online avatar. He reasons that since his brain can't distinguish between real and virtual, the online life is as good as real.
