It’s been a year, and Ashwin’s written two books, self publishing nems own biography and translating the first book of the Sunspot Chronicles, Systems’ Out! And Systems’ Out! has been picked up by a publisher. And while Goreth is leading their first meeting with their new editor, Karen, they’re also visiting the Sunspot itself.

Phage has relented and agreed to facilitate travel through the Tunnel, but it turns out that doing so creates a duplicate of a person. So, when Goreth travels from the psyche of their own plurality through the Tunnel to visit the Sunspot, they become a twin or clone of their original self. And to stay in sync, they have to perform something they’ve decided to call “recombination”, by periodically sending new copies through the tunnel and merging with them. This sort of thing sounds like a science fiction nightmare, but really it’s old hat for some pluralities, with splitting headmates and occasional fusion.

Still, the stress of it along with the culture shock of integrating into the ancient Sunspot society leads Goreth to accept Phage’s Gift, and Sarah joins them.

And now the twins of the Ampersand plurality must decide just how they’re going to put this gift to use on Earth while they’re simultaneously trying to make a new life on the Sunspot. How will they include the people they know and love? How can they leave them behind? And just how much interference with life on Earth is it safe or ethical to perform?

Their experiences while exploring these questions lead them re-evaluate what it means not only to be human, but to be alive at all. And the Sunspot’s secrets begin to unfold for them in profound ways.