The world looks very different in the year 4056. The line between spaceship and neighborhood cruiser barely exists. Robots and holographic consciousnesses with no physical bodies live alongside human beings. Virtual reality is omnipresent in movie posters. Scientists are pop celebrities with hordes of screaming fans.The Eiffel Tower has been painstakingly restored to the way it looked the year it was built, but it's surrounded by three taller, computer-constructed copies. Food can be created from thin air with the snap of a finger, but a burger that came from an actual cow runs you a week's pay. State-of-the-art telecommunications lets you watch the world, but you never know who-or what-is watching you.Only two things haven't changed: War is hell, and everybody loves a show. Professor Rico Jeffries cashes in on some of his reputation to score front-row tickets to the military extravaganza, The Heroes of the World, opening tonight at the Crown Royal in New York. Little does he know he's in for the ride of his life, as the technology he helped invent brings the stories of war up a little too close and personal.