Nick doesn't know why everyone at school is acting strangely, but he's not used to being left out and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. When he notices his best friend isn't returning his calls and is instead hanging out with the nerds, he starts asking questions, but nobody has any answers for him.

Only when he is given a CD does Nick realise what everybody's been so secretive about: a highly addictive computer game called Erebos that spills over into everyday life. The rules state that nobody is to talk about Erebos, and if they follow the rules, they get rewarded. Soon it's all that Nick can think about, and it begins to rule his life. The problem is that Erebos is powerful: it can help you out if you do what it says, but if you don't, you're in trouble.