Kazuma, half japanese half Tír elf, whom we already know from Phaedra's short from Spells&Chrome, is looking for his sister again. This time, she's been missing for months, so he presumes it's serious. He's being contacted by Dirk Montgomery, who tells him a mysterious name (Caliban) and to change his online handle to Soldat (which, as Phaedra mentions about a dozen times in the book, is German for 'soldier' - this is important later, sorta). He googles Caliban and his sister's name, and finds both pointing towards the Horizon Archives Annex - a server which he's scrubbing clean before it's demolition in two days. So he decides to break into the Horizon Archives Annex (he's working for Knight-Errant as a data slave, though he does seem to have access to his workplace, as Horizon has subcontracted KE with server-scrubbing for $reasons).

This is also that night's plan for a runner team. They've been hired by some Horizon Johnson. The run goes south, and Kazuma interferes (he also runs into a third party invading the host, an aggressive decker with a wolf persona). This ends with a runner team member dead, Kazuma wounded and losing his commlink and a lot of blood, has his sprite (or his girlfriend? at least later it's claimed this was his girl) hack the runners' getaway car for the lulz, and is then picked upo by Netcat who is here because $reasons. Back at home, Silk, Kazuma's beautiful and extremely skilled (5 submersions!) girlfriend and Technomancer sensei, tells him losing his commlink is really conspicious, after all, he is a technomancer, who are universally hated and persecuted.

Plot twist chases plot twist now: Horizon Johnson and his secretary (who actually is a secret agent of Pueblo Security who has infiltrated Horizon for $reasons) both hired the runner team or the run on the Horizon facility; but while Johnson only hired the group hacker, the secretary decided to spend more company funds on again hiring the entire team. The decker thinks this is a good reason to kill the team mage and steal her body from the morgue to try and incinerate her in a grade school incinerator, because he's evil like that. He also leaves the team then, who reinforce themselves by hiring Slamm-O (who may or may not be Slamm-0), but looks nothing like he does in all published works so far, physically (he looks like a non-cartoony version of his 2060s Icon). Given that it's 2076 (it's the SR5 Matrix), this creates quite some continuity problems.

Horizon Johnson is then interrogated and murdered by a dwarf with a Technomancer wolf critter who obviously works for Knight-Errant. His secretary curses Johnson's guts in retrospect (and may or may not accuse him of raping her), and is angry her infiltration was for nothing now. Nobody at Horizon, apart from her, seems very concerned that a Knight-Errant Soldier just obviously murdered a ranking Horizon exec in the Horizon HQ. Also, Horizon sucks because they dislike Technomancers.

Meanwhile, there are dreamworld-ish sequences of some nightmare place/node where Technomancers are fused into a hell gate by an AI. Eventually, it is explained that the AI wants to open a gate to the Resonance Realms that way (because why not?).

Also, there is a game called TechnoHAck, an MMO as it seems, by Contagion Games, whose host is Ultraviolet Quality, but made of dissonance pools, which may or may not snatch Technomancers (and regular users, who then contract 'brain rot', which is never elaborated on or even picked up later) for the nightmare host with the virtual hell gate made from Technomancer personae. The dwarf is revealed to work for the backers of this game and either abduct Technomancers for their nefarious hell gate-related plans, or collect the bodies of those trapped in a dissonance pool, or both. At least, he uses GOD tracking algorithms for this, which Contagion games stole from GOD, because that's what small-time corps do all the time.

Also, every other chapter is an in-world thread from a Technomancer board called GiTmo, that more or less contribute to the plot and show official characters like NetCat, as well as other Technomancers, coming to Kazuma's aid.

The Knight-Errant Johnson murdering dwarf, meanwhile, uses blood magic and () to track Kazuma. And his commlink, which is without any software. As Silk complained to Kazuma earlier, he instantly concludes that this commlink (which is unregistered, too) must belong to a Technomancer, who only uses it for show. He confronts Kazuma, who hacks the com to have a registration on him and fast talks the dwarf a bit, but is then identified as a 'mancer by the (dissonant) techno critter, and then narrowly escapes with the help of NetCat and Moonshine (an OC), but not before the Technocritter bites him, thereby injecting a tracker chip into his neck. The wolf is then shot offhand by some guard and replaced by a hydroencephalitic dissonant technomancer ork.

Netcat briefs Kazuma on the precariousness of his situation, because the dwarf seems to abduct Technomancers. Also, the data he stole from the Horizon server is in high demand, and he better lie low now. Moonshine helps explain. Kazuma graciously accepts her help.

Clockwork also shows up and wants to abduct Kazuma for money and evils, because he is really evil. In fact, Clockwork's evilness makes milk curl and little children and cute animals cry out and run in this book. He is very, very evil. He hates Technomancers, so he has to be! He teams up with the former team decker, who shot the team shaman, because birds of a feather flock together, and that super hacker needs a super rigger.

All relevant parties converge on the home of Kazuma's late step granny, Mama Risen (seriously, that's her name). They then battle it out - four way. In the end, the dwarf and the hackers of evil team up, the hydroencephalitic ork dissonant technomancer corrupts Mama Risen's home node for lulz, Kazuma resets it hard (knocking the HDTO out cold), the evil hackers take Netcat prisoner while Clockwork's buddy, an AI, keeps Kazuma busy for a moment, and the runners plus Slamm-O team up with Kazuma and join the ranks of his willing helpers, reducing protagonists to two factions, which helps untangle the mess of this plot a bit. Momentarily.

Netcat painfully turns into a classic damsel in distress during this entire scene (and afterwards) - "They have guns, help me Kazuma!" The character doesn't deserve this treatment, and I'm saying this as someone who doesn't particularly like the character.

Kazuma is being offered help left and right. Only the blood-magic hacker dwarf, Clockwork and his new friend, the evil decker, don't, in fact. However, he is somewhat down because Mama risen's home has been destroyed physically and virtually. Hestaby calls the runners' team leader, and offers to help too. The two apparently have a history. Also, Moonshine is put on a bus and ceases to contribute to the story.

This is followed by interesting leaps of logic on part of the PCC agent elf and her troll partner ("This company seems to have no physical assets. This can only mean one thing: it's an AI pretending to be a company!"

Blood-Magic hacker dwarf used to be an Otaku (because why not?), studied Blood Magic in Aztlan, while he was in a Renraku prison, and is envious because he isn't a Technomancer, because being a Technomancer is so much cooler than being a mere initiated blood mage. The Agent's partner, detective Renault (those names!) also used to be an Otaku, together with the blood magic hacker/otaku dwarf (hence referred to as BMH/OD). They were among Deus' Whites. The runner team's leader, meanwhile, is revealed to have been one of Hestaby's Clutch of Technomancers. However, all three missed the opportunity to digitize into a higher, technomantic, existence by not being logged in during the Crash. The PCC Elf Detective also lectures everyone that the only reason to hate technomancers is because you're envious of them, because they're so awesome. He also hates the dissonant technomancer mouth/gatekeeper/contagion CFO/ex-girl of one of Contagion's founders, which is mutual.

Turns out the boss enemy is called Caliban, CEO of and/or Contagion Games, who heared Resonance Realms are really neat and wants to see them for itself/to become a god by accessing the Resonance Realms. BMH/OD laments he wants to become god/a god by opening that hell gate (because why not, something wonderful sure will happen when a hell gate is opened!). Clockwork and evil former runner decker now work for Caliban (initially they're being threatened, but birds of a feather ...). Caliban does have something on clockwork though: he's keeping the AI hating hobgoblin's pet AI hostage. The AI is never heared from again after this.

The runners, Kazuma, Silk and a bunch of GiTmo 'mancers find out about Caliban; the elf and her troll partner join them and supply more infos. They decide that this evil must be stopped! Oh, on a side note, Caliban has also worked Kazujma's missing sister into its hell gate, and Johnson somehow had a super large data collection that details anything any megacorp ever did to a technomancer, (this never will be important again). Silk, meanwhile, discovers she lost all her essence to cyberware and actually cannot technomance at all, but loves to adore Kazuma while he does (remember, 5 submersions, and she taught him all he knows).

The runners decide to infiltrate a warehouse PCC elf says may house something bad - it belongs to Contagion Games, which seems to possess physical assets after all (two warehouse complexes at least). Meanwhile, the runners plan to take up an offer by Caliban to trade Kazuma or money - for show of course, since they're the good guys. The meet is to take place in TechnoHack's UV host (which details the city of Denver despite the game supposedly being all about the Resonance Realms) - and of course it's a trap, because evil guys be evil.

The following scene interlaces UV host action and warehouse attack action in a decidedly confusing manner where I eventually lost track who was where physically and on the Matrix. somehow, everybody ends up in the warehouse, though, where there's a shootout. In the end, BMH/OD, evil decker and Silk die. Also, Caliban's home node is destroyed - it was hidden in BMH/OD's lucky paperweight, which Detective Renault, PCC elf's partner, recognizes and immediately deduces it has to be the AI's home node because "you always kept this around". Whatever, Caliban doesn't really mind having just been destroyed, since AI mechanics aren't defined in SR5. Clockwork is arrested by the PCC police and vanishes from the story. His AI remains missing.

I'm particularly confused about Silk's death. Silk runs into Clockwork in a hangar full of cars and helicopters (for a company without physical assets, Contagion sure has heavy gear), who instantly knows she is a 'mancer and wants to kill her, summons a Drone Swarm which begins shooting anything but Silk, who then tries to use her Rigger skills to kill Clockwork. But, being female, she needs help to do that - and help arrives in the form of the Runners and detective Renault. Clockwork then pulls a "you can shopot me but then I'll release the fuse of my explody drone and we all die", detective Renault shoots the explody drone, blowing up half of Silk's skull; then everybody blames Silk's death on Clockwork and not the reckless, explosives-shooting detective troll for some reason. then Hestaby and a fleet of helicopters show up and carry the good guys off.

With Silk dead, Kazuma sinks into heavy depression, despite being brought to a nice mountain base by Hestaby, who wants to help everyone because she just loves Technomancers and wants to use them to claw her way back to her proper place in dragon society (because such a plot worked out so well for Denairastas). Nonetheless, Kazuma feels down and decides to just run back to Seattle (from LA, where they still are) to meet with Dirk Montgomery for some hugs, cheering-up and plot relevant info. Also, we learn that TechnoHack is down for good and the CEO of Contagion (Caliban's sock puppet avatar) blames technomancers or this. After all, the home node just destroyed also hosted the game's UV host - all in BMH/OD's trusty old paperweight.

Dirk fills him in that he set him up for all this, kinda, because Caliban is evil, must be stopped, and there's a prophecy about "a soldier" who will strike Caliban down. Because Caliban murders anyone whom he thinks the prophecy is all about, Dirk kept Kazuma in the dark about most of this. Also, the key to kill Caliban - its killswitch - is in Johnson's file dump about everything bad ever done to technomancers, ever, because $reasons.

Actually, Caliban isn't Contagion games, but kinda grew up in it. BMH/OD picked it up in 2064 (while he was both in a Renraku prison and busy studying blood magic in Aztlan) and raised it in the games company he had set up together with a number of guys known as The Founders just before the Crash in 2064 (remember, Aztlan and Renraku prison). When it became clear the Founders, who had all been online during the Crash, had become technomancers, he grew envious o their awesomeness and deduced a plan to become a technomancer too: by establishing a game host in a resonance well which is to house the game host (and happens to be his lucky paperweight). He then puts Caliban, which he found, into the host because he kinda grew attached to it. The founders of Contagion are all dead save for one of the founders' girlfriend (who also was a founding member, but is always referred to as "the girlfriend"). This will be important later.

Meanwhile in Seattle, Kazuma receives an offer from Caliban to trade his sister for the killswitch. Deciding this obvious trap is a great chance to turn all this out in his favor, Kazuma wants to take the AI up on the offer. Dirk Montgomery cautions Kazuma to at least read the killswitch's instruction manual first. Also, he tells him how awesome Kazuma is and how much he'd love to be a technomancer himself. Meanwhile, everyone else, Hestaby included, find Kazuma gone, but also deduce where the AI's main facility must be located - the very same mansion Kazuma is supposed to go to. they decide to attack, which means the runners attack and Hestaby sits around doing nothing much. Neither does her fleet of attack helicopters.

Kazuma meanwhile reads the killswitch manual and finds it makes no sense. But he's all #yolo and goes meet Caliban anyway, in that mansion where he'll get his sister back. Turns out the body he gets back is a lot less alive than he hoped for. Kazuma isn't very happy and gives the Contagion CFO, who presents him the dead body, a piece of his mind. Then, dissonant technomancers beat him down with lead pipes and baseball bats. Also, he googles his sister and the Contagion founders, finds everything in that company is named after The Tempest, including the founders themselves, and apparently there's something about the girl of one of the owners, because there seems to be no image of her at all. All pixelated. Weirdness.

The runners and GiTmo mancers attack the mansion, save each other a few times and fight their way through mobs of dissonant technomancers with bats and lead pipes. Hydroencephalitic ork dissonant technomancer dies. Kazuma finds himself locked into the nightmare node, where there's also Netcat, whom he saves again, only to find himself confronted by Caliban. Battle ensues, and after a few rounds, Caliban descends into a new node, which apparently is the resonance well at the bottom of the TecnoHack home node (which was destroyed chapters earlier, but whatever).

In an epiphany, Netcat soles the riddle about the killswitch manual: the killswitch needs to be used by a technomancer, and the mancer needs to access it via deck. Conveniently, there's a deck in the resonance well (what ... I ... uh). Meanwhile, his sister appears in the note, tells him she was the girlfriend of the Contagion founders (in 2064, before the crash), was attracted to the dark side of the resonance, the Dark Resonance, for power and then collaborated with Caliban in building the hell gate and killing the founders, whose names she altered to be Tempest-esque, because she totally digs Shakespeare and especially The Tempest. Or something. I admit I haven't really seen through this part. Also, she was the CFO all along! Funny Kazuma didn't notice that one chapter ago, despite him noticing the dead girl isn't his sister at all but some other Asian girl ("they all look alike ..."?)

In the end, Kazuma pulls the killswitch, Caliban dies, and he glides into the Resonance Realms to submerge some more while his sister dies too, unable to follow him into the resonance realms because she's too Dark Side to enter or something. NetCat is freed from her tank, where apparently all technomancers built into the hell gate were stored physically, despite being almost universally physically dead. Kazuma is released too but asleep, since he's off to spend all the Karma he gained in this book. Because why not. The End.

In the second paragraph of the spoiler you say Netcat picked him up from the Annex after the sprite zapped the other team's ride.
Actually that was Silk (pg 34).
He won't run into Netcat physically until the dwarf/technowolf scenario later on.

Other point is Silk's death. She faced off with a drone under the Shinobi (pg 256)which is where we think she pretty much lost good chunk o' face.
Plus when Renault shot the drone that Clockwork had, there was no boom, no fireballs in the immediate locale or further away,(pg 258) so I could be wrong but I don't think Rennie was at fault for Silk's death.