Chapter 1, Elevator, Silence, Overweight Summary

Tokyo is a hub of information technology companies in a future world where biotechnology is significantly advanced. Access to data encryption is critical in order to protect valuable corporate and financial data from organized crime. A quasi-governmental organization known as the System controls access to legal encryption technologies and methods. System operatives known as Calcutecs serve as living encryption devices, using algorithms hidden in their neural circuitry to securely encrypt data. An organized crime network known as the Factory opposes the System at every stage. One man has developed the next step in encryption technology and made some advances within the System's developmental laboratories but only at a high cost—most operatives modified to perform the new process die within a few months; only one has survived. Embroiled in a moral quandary, the scientist leaves the...