Writer: James P. Hogan; Artist: Yukinobu Hoshino

Midway through the 21st century, an integrated global computer network manages much of the world's affairs. A proposed major software upgrade—an artificial intelligence--will give the system an unprecedented degree of independent decision-making power, but serious questions are raised in regard to how much control can safely be given to a non-human intelligence. In order to more fully assess the system, a new space-station habitat--a world in miniature--is developed for deployment of the fully operational system, named Spartacus. This mini-world can then be "attacked" in a series of escalating tests to assess the system's responses and capabilities. If Spartacus gets out of hand, the system can be shut down and the station destroyed . . . unless Spartacus decides to take matters into its own hands and take the fight to Earth.