 When the children arrive, they soon discover that thirteen-year-old Johnny Turnbull (JT), is the first human "softwire", a boy who has the ability to enter any computer with just his mind.To the older Citizens, a slave who can enter at will the massive computer which controls the Rings of Orbis makes JT very valuable and drives the Rings to the brink of war.As the central computer begins to malfunction, the Citizens connive, conspire, and even kill to own JT and his sister.