In a leafy English suburb teenage Hallie play the life simulation computer game Cyberbia as obsessively as her best friend, Jack, once played his beloved Cannibal Zombies. Neither her parents, nor her psychiatrist attempt to top her. After everything she's been through, how could they deny her the peace it brings?

The game allows Hallie to escape her world, here terrible things can and do happen and no-one seems able to make them right again, for a brave, new virtual one. In the world of Cyberbia nothing truly awful ever comes to pass and you are always in control. Just make sure your 'Norms' (as its inhabitants are called) collect the required points and all will be well with them. If only it was so easy for Hallie to keep herself and Jack safe.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, in his office on the 33rd floor of Tokyo' Sugihara tower, Cyberbia's celebrated creator, Yoshi Mashita, receives reports that can only mean one thing: hi best-selling Utopian game is taking on a sinister life of its own