When Rogan Webber beats the highest level of his favorite game, Laser Viper, he gets a virtual message from Atomic Frontiers inviting him to participate in an exclusive tournament for the six top players in the country. The company flies them out to HQ to stay in luxury dorms, test out advanced virtual-reality equipment, and, of course, play the game. As the tournament goes on, the missions get harder and harder and the losing gamers must leave.

Only after winning the competition do Rogan and his rivals discover the truth: The missions have been real all along. Atomic Frontiers and their powerful CEO are putting together a shadowy military group, and the gamers have been piloting real-life Vipers against real-life terrorists--or at least that's what Atomic Frontiers calls them.

Rogan and Shay must discover the truth in order to do what's right...in a world where the game has become reality.