Henry Dorsett Case is a low-level hustler, former hack and 'console cowboy' who crashed and burned. His nerves were damaged and thus cut off from the digital matrix, he slouches through life.

Until he meets Molly, an augmented 'razorgirl', who offers him a deal on behalf of a shadowy man called Armitage. His nerves repaired and matrix access restored, in exchange for a single job. But it's not so simple - unless he completes the job, sacs of poison will explode inside him and cripple him again.