A team of scientists working in the high-security genetic laboratories of Equatorial Systems has made a radical breakthrough - the world's first artificial life form. Containing bioengineered neurons, the new organisms, nicknamed LoVs because they live at the limits of human vision, were originally designed to repair damaged brain tissue. But they soon demonstrated unforeseen attributes: the ability to form colonies, develop specialized functions, and even communicate with humans. And, in further experiments, researchers discover even more astonishing properties. When implanted directly in a human brain, the LoVs act like sentient drugs, enhancing mental functions at will - not only comprehension but creativity, clarity, confidence, and even passion.Suddenly the experiments begin to go horribly wrong, causing a psychological Chernobyl that destroys hundreds of minds before it is finally contained. In the wake of this catastrophe, all research on the LoVs is suspended, and the few remaining specimens are quarantined on an orbital platform high above the Earth. But in a small Hawaiian lab, three young scientists - Virgil Copeland, Randall Panwar, and Gabrielle Villanti - have continued the forbidden research, using themselves as test subjects, convinced that the LoVs can be of profound benefit to humankind.Then, one morning, Gabrielle is found dead in her laboratory, an apparent victim of an illegal experiment, sending her colleagues on a desperate race to protect the LoVs from exploitation or destruction. Their search leads them halfway around the globe to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where a mysterious cult of young children called the Roi Nuoc follows an unseen leader known only as Mother Tiger. There, amid a ruthless struggle to control this strange creation, an extraordinary new stage in evolution has begun to unfold. Read Less