An innocent conference between humans and the only known alien species soon becomes a disaster area when an ancient enemy emerges--from an online game.
It's 2309, and University of Wisconsin student Max Carling just wants to get his doctorate in Internet History. But when he and his professor, Julio Valdez, are chosen to represent the university at a conference with a mysterious near-human alien race, the Ushpizin, they discover strange similarities between the aliens and an MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) from 150 years ago. Carling and Valdez are caught in the middle when they discover a centuries-old experiment which aims to destroy humanity. When the beings who started this experiment show themselves, the stage is set for a massive inter-species conflict that highlights the best and worse about being human.