In the far future, an unseen protagonist installs a new immersive technology named MindPlant into his body. MindPlant is a one-stop source for entertainment, communications, navigation, and all other human needs. It offers 10/11th reality immersion, meaning that users are only 1/11th certain that what MindPlant presents them with isn't real.

Despite being warned against it, the protagonist installs illicit applications on his MindPlant device. These applications install malware onto the protagonist's MindPlant, which leads to the device being overridden by a hacker named Phobetor. Phobetor demands money from the protagonist, but the protagonist refuses to pay, resulting in Phobetor sending condemning texts to the protagonist's friends and family, altering the protagonist's reality such that he is under total control, and even feeding the protagonist's parents steaming-hot steel bolts.

Eventually, the protagonist caves in and gives Phobetor enough money to stop the hijacking. However, Phobetor leaves a trace of his reality-distorting technology in the protagonist's system forever, just as a reminder.