Former CERN scientist turned Hedge Fund CEO Alex Hoffman anonymously receives an antique book at his Geneva mansion. That night, while his wife Gabby sleeps, Alex is attacked and left unconscious by an intruder.

Alex follows the intruder to a hotel in the red-light district. The man (KARP) claims Alex hired him to engage in sadistic fantasy before killing him - he shows Alex emails to prove it.

VIXAL has gone beyond its programming limits and is crashing the financial markets. Alex tries to shut it down, but the system keeps rebooting.