On September 15, 1946, an extraterrestrial virus fell on Manhattan. The survivors were transformed into Meta humans and aces. Meta humans are jokers, people with physical deformities and extraordinary abilities, always alienated and harassed while aces are men and women with normal human features that develop the gifts of flying, the ability to walk through walls and read minds, to change their shape at will, to become invisible, and to stop time. Soon the Mafia and powerful forces start competing to hunt and take control of these exceptional individuals, like Ghost Girl, the Sleeper, Sharpshooter, or the powerful Four Aces, some of which are inclined to criminal activity, before doing good. George R.R. Martin and a group of narrators capable of imagining a parallel world that is based on the crucial moments of history tell a saga where the desire for adventure and the highest heroism have become indispensable for survival. Powerful tales from Lewis Shiner, Howard Waldrop, Walter Jon Williams, Roger Zelazny, and George R. R. Martin himself are included in this compilation.