Charlie's hunt for his artificial diamond ring - stolen from the shop where he pawned it to buy a car - leads him to Eckman, a ruthless diamond merchant who has been quietly manufacturing cultured diamonds for Vexcor. Not only is Eckman undermining the Betaverse diamond industry, but he's unwittingly working with Vexcor to create enough artificial diamond chips to implant in every Betaverse citizen.
Charlie investigates the case of a new missing person in Cape Town and finds that once again, a local mystery is linked to Vexcorp. Reena is faced with a difficult decision when she meets a young woman who is dying of AIDS. 01 Boxer makes an important trade with his father, at a high price. Also, in a series of flashbacks, Charlie remembers his days working for Vexcorp Security Services.
When Charlie disappears, Karl fears the worst. He heads to the pub to drown his sorrows and is joined by a most unlikely visitor - a Grey-suited man with some words of comfort.