by Britt D. Gillette

September 11th, 2001 marked the beginning of a world-wide war on terror. Unbeknownst to the citizens of the Western Powers, their governments are working on a modern-day Manhattan Project to create a weapon so potent, it will defeat the terrorists of the world once and for all. In an era when the very survival of liberty and the global economic system are daily threatened by weapons of mass destruction, the Western democracies ardently push the limits of the known universe to unleash a weapon of unrivaled omnipotence: a self-replicating assembler. Amidst these troubled times, a god-like figure rises to power. As leader of the newly created United Europe, Raphael Vicente sets out on a bold quest to exterminate disease, eliminate poverty, and destroy the world s oppressors. The ascendance of this breakthrough technology sets the stage for RaphaelÂ's dream: a world entrenched in democratic social justice for all peoples of the world. But in RaphaelÂ's world of black and white, the dream of eradicating injustice proves to be a formidable task, and in the end, manÂ's elusive pursuit of perfection drives him to the edge of never-before imagined consequences. In a struggle to provide adequate security while preserving liberty, quick decisions must be made – decisions that leave the world teetering on the brink of annihilation.