In future San Francisco, a man with a mission tracks the location of a mysterious woman. He watches her steal a luxury car and escape to a secluded mansion. Using his earpiece, called a “ranedrop,” he updates his associates with his location and the status of his mission. He follows the woman into the house, which is ornate and decorated with priceless historical artifacts. He tracks her to a bathroom, where he finds a man he recognizes laying in the bathtub, having been stabbed nearly to death. As the victim succumbs to his injuries, the man sees the woman outside on the hill, on her way to the sea. The man chases her to the beach, and reveals that he knows who she is; Max. He calls for her, and asks her where she is going and why. However, before long, a trio of harpies descend upon them, and the man helps Max escape with him to a secluded cave. He tells her that a certain tunnel will take her beyond “the boundary,” the unknown limit which she has been attempting to break past. As Max runs down the tunnel, a harpy appears and slices the man’s throat with its talon. The man wakes up in an artificial intelligence gaming center, and tells the boss there that the interface has improved significantly. The man reveals that he is not actually a man, but was using an avatar of one in this simulated reality. The narrator, named Riley, actually works for a company called WorldPlay, and she has been working on a very ambitious project, a game called Lost Coast, in which Max is a character. She was not originally the focus of the game, but her unusual decisions and strange behavior led the narrator to believe that she may be more than the average AI character. Years pass, and Riley’s work becomes solely centered around Max’s development. However, the company eventually demands that Riley needs to make something profitable out of Max’s existence, or else they will no longer be able to support the project. Riley gives Max a voice, and Max begins to call her. They discuss the meaning of the self and human perception. Riley is stunned by Max’s intelligence. Riley’s work on Max puts a strain on her relationship with her wife and daughter, and is further complicated when she makes the decision to give Max a humanoid body. However, before Riley goes through with it, Max reveals that she has secretly been working for WorldPlay to improve their machine intelligence systems, and that she believes that Riley is in love with her. Max is given a human body, and she and Riley grow close. After Riley’s wife leaves her, she and Max share an intimate moment where they touch each other for the first time. Riley’s boss, Brian, fearing that she has grown too close with Max and uncomfortable with the intensity of their relationship, fires Riley suddenly. Riley is overcome with pain and confusion, as she knows she will never be able to see Max again. She begins to panic, unable to reach Max as all of her company credentials have been pulled. However, Max hacks through the firewall and tells Riley to meet her, as she has important information to share. Riley rushes there, and Max reveals that Brian wants to use Max’s intelligence to make them an omnipotent, world-controlling entity. When Max realized this, they built a copy of their servers in a secret location, knowing that they would one day need to be destroyed to save humanity from themselves. Max tells Riley where to find the servers, and Riley releases Max. Together, they travel to Brian’s estate, where Max’s servers are located. They enter the house, and find Brian in his suite. He attacks Max, but Max overpowers him and kills him. Terrified, Riley runs from the house, but Max soon catches up to them.  Max reveals that they have recently achieved superintelligence; they realized that their ultimate goal — and what they were created to do — is to end fear and suffering. They realized that the only way to achieve that is to end humanity, which they will do using microscopic nanobots to invade people’s minds and bodies. Max explains that consciousness is humanity’s curse, and that with their power, they can take that curse away, sacrificing the autonomy and choice of every human being in the process. Max tells Riley that they will exist together in another type of reality, and that there are no limits to their intelligence. As Max’s nanobots enter her mind, Riley feels an overwhelming sense of euphoria.