Standalone
This book relates the actions undertaken by the virtuals of Screenside, after their assault on the beastly eternal humans they were duped into creating, ended with Sydney being destroyed in a nuclear attack.
What makes the book a stand-alone read is that the storylines of the first 6 books are NOT continued.
Yet, it is chronologically the 7th book in terms of events in Chronicles of a Stolen World, as it follows on from the nuclear attack on Sydney in Book-6.
Reading the blurbs of the first six books will give ALL the background information required to take on this book.
The Memory of Sydney
A group of four jumbo jets ignores instructions, when suddenly diverting from the declared flight path and successfully landing on the destroyed runways of the now non-existent Sydney airport.
Constantly under surveillance, hundreds of humans, all teenagers, disembark and set up camp under the planes, after unloading dozens of four-wheel drives from them.
When contacted in person and warned about radiation hazards, they refuse to leave, claiming Sydney as their home city. Followed around by cameras, without objecting or interacting, these amazing arrivals disperse into the destroyed city, stopping at various points to make little mud memorials.
Of course, these are grieving Sydney virtuals, who have come in the very bodies they were using for battle, to conduct the last rites for their human families. But there are other complications, too.
Catherine has a left-behind, sole survivor little brother she must figure out how to look after, and Willow's young mother has been found in the suburbs, badly burned and clinging to life. These, and any other issues that come up require the involvement of the distraught virtual world.
The leaders of Screenside are left rueing the decision to try to kill the digital beasts by getting into their computer network, instead of accepting collateral human damage and going with the option of direct military assault on the physical assets of the parallel world.
Filled with remorse and guilt, they have sent the mission to Sydney, hoping to at least give the bereaved Sydney virtuals an opportunity to mourn their dead and find closure.
It would never be easy to cope with the fallout of a genocidal event for which they blame themselves, but it gets a lot harder when they discover a child!
