At a government facility named Parallax, a massive supercomputer core suffers a power surge due to “human error” of one its operators. The surge triggers a core dump, which unleashes four A.I. programs that are transformed into dangerous Viruses, which are ejected into the Bitstream (an analog for the Internet). These Viruses are Megahert, the leader and dominant A.I.; Indexx, his advisor who has access to information data; Null, a dimwitted lackey who follows Megahert without question; Minus, an unstable minion who thirsts for power. These four seek to return to Parallax to use its systems to seize the Bitstream and use it to take over all the world's computers.