Will Howard, a proud citizen of The Collective, is Southern University s most brilliant young space scientist. Upon graduating with top honors in 2262, he accepts an appointment within a technological think tank comprised of visionary scientists and engineers. An unyielding desire to rival his deceased father s accomplishments fades upon learning of his mentor s impending death by cancer, and Stacey Navokovic s distain for his career ambitions. Believing his fiancee s love is steadfast, he embarks on a six-month orientation mission in space. He awakens from a lengthy coma, the sole survivor of a shuttle bus accident, to discover his memories are the product of a medical condition known as memory distortion . While convalescing he befriends the exotic Cindy Chen, a behavioral specialist assigned to the medical team and member of the dominant global corporation, China-Core. Lured by Will s looks and unpredicted intelligence, she guardedly agrees to assist his efforts in discovering the reasons behind his explicit accounts of another life. Once discharged from medical care, Will draws upon his knowledge of old-Earth quantum physics to theorize he experienced a phenomenon he designates a string event . While seeking proof to substantiate his outrageous theory, a powerful China-Core executive becomes intrigued with Will s case, and scrutinizes the young man s accident deposition statements and superior cognitive abilities. Will s acceptance of his fate and desire to lead a peaceful existence is shattered when China-Core recovers a body from lunar orbit that appears to be his identical twin. With a hostile government closing in, a superior intelligence intervenes and offers salvation at the cost of unimaginable temporal paradoxes. Book One of the String Trilogy concludes as Will begins a quest to seek the gatekeepers responsible for redefining his future by rewriting his past."