Pea is a companion. That's about all she's sure about. She doesn't really remember how she got on this escape pod, or what she's supposed to do next. She doesn't know why she's floating in amongst the debris of an enormous space battle. And she's really not quite sure why she's dressed in such an impractical way. All she knows is that she's a companion and yet, somehow, she's alone. Enter the ARcade. A worlds-spanning Artificial Reality that allows anyone to grind and play their way to success... or at least, that's the idea.  Unfortunately, decades into the game, it hasn't quite turned out that way. Since the incorruptible AI which built and ran the ARcade has been split up, gangs, corporations, dictators, and arseholes have taken root and the utopic ideal of fair play has gone the way of the dodo. Searching for exploits has become the norm, and millions of players aren't having any fun... they're grinding to get their daily bread. The virtual world's a mess. What's a companion to do?