the existence of agriculture and sophisticated human civilizations on Mars. Soon afterward, Mars is enclosed in its own Spin membrane. Before the membrane went up, the Martians sent their own crewed mission to Earth. The Martian ambassador, Wun Ngo Wen, is part of a civilization hundreds of thousands of years old that has been experimenting with biotechnology for centuries. Jason, who has developed an acute form of multiple sclerosis that is incurable by terrestrial medicine, takes a Martian bio-engineering product that extends his life by decades, putting him into a fourth stage of life past adulthood. Jason and Wun Ngo Wen then seed nanotechnology throughout the outer solar system. This technology will eventually expand to other star systems over the course of millions of years and search for other worlds enclosed by Spin membranes, hopefully discovering why they were created and if anything can be done to stop them. Tyler leaves Perihelion and moves to California. There he gets a desperate call from Simon, stating that Diane is terribly sick. Diane and Simon had moved from the ashes of the NK movement to join a more cult-like fringe movement that was trying to hasten the Second Coming through genetic engineering of cattle. As Tyler heads to meet Diane, the Spin membrane seems to falter and fail, allowing the stars to return to the sky. The next day, the sun rises huge and red in the sky causing terrible heat and high winds. Millions across the world panic as the apparent end has come. Tyler finds Diane suffering from a fatal cardiovascular disease that crossed from cows to humans during the attempts by religious fringe to breed a totally red calf, which they think will bring out the end of the world. The only cure is to give her the same treatment that Jason has taken. He and Simon drive Diane back to Diane's childhood home where Tyler had hidden some of the Martian biotech. Simon, however, leaves Tyler and Diane and gives them his blessing, and is never seen again. Tyler discovers that Jason is at the house, dying of a mysterious ailment. Jason explains that he has become a human receiver for the nanotechnology they seeded throughout the galaxy. He also explains his conclusions about the nature of the Spin and the Hypotheticals who created it. The Hypotheticals are intelligent Von Neumann machines that spread throughout the galaxy billions