Humanity stands on the cusp of a new age, with accelerated technological growth converging toward a singularity point, promising an undreamt-of future. Despite the ecopocalypse and social upheavals on Earth, humanity has conquered the solar system and partially terraformed Mars. Advancements in biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science have transformed our lives. Everyone is wirelessly networked with the world around them, AIs process vast amounts of information, and nano-fabrication enables people to “print” complex devices from the molecular level—at home. Biotechnology allows people to genefix, enhance, and clone their bodies, while others pursue body modifications to adapt to new environments or make themselves into something no longer quite human. People’s minds and memories can be digitized, uploaded, transferred over long distances, and downloaded into new bodies (biological or synthetic). Death has been defeated—for those who can afford it.

Some days you're so busy you have to be in more than one place at the same time. That's no problem! Upload your mindstate, fork it into copies each for its own chore, use standard tools to clip away the unnecessary memories and cut down that file size, and send them far afield - and when they come home, merge yourself together again. Nothing to worry about.

But today you're back at home on Mars, along with your other forks, and your original self's gone missing.

That's bad.