Deke is a shoplifter and petty criminal. As a punishment for committing crimes in the Washington, DC, he has been given a brainlock. This means that he has been conditioned to react violently to reminders of the city and to see horrifying hallucinations to discourage him from ever returning to the area. He heads to Tidewater Station, Virginia, where he meets a college student named Nance Bettendorf after attempting to sell her a virtual reality programming device and remote he stole. He discovers that Nance also has a brainlock that causes her to become ill when touched by a man. Her parents installed the chastity brainlock so that she would concentrate on her schooling and have a successful career as a software engineer. She is an exceedingly talented virtual reality programmer.

Deke befriends Nance and stays with her. He becomes interested in a virtual reality game called Fokkers and Spads after seeing people play it in a club. The game involves replications of biplane battles between the Allied forces and the Central Powers of World War I. Participants in the game are passionate, and Deke becomes obsessed with advancing among the players and eventually defeating the most skilled of all, a crippled veteran named Tiny.