The Slavonic Federation's secret service persuades a geneticist to access the brain of a visiting American financial wizard at the head of a trade delegation. The geneticist, who is seeking funds for research to improve human mental capacity, is unaware that he is involved in a bizarre plot to topple his country's government. The plot goes badly awry and leads to the collapse of the global economy and a descent into anarchy. Years later, when the world has reverted to a kind of neo-fascist politically correct normality, a Danish billionaire is persuaded to fund research by the same geneticist...