The second installment of T.B. Kramer's epic SciFi series, The Fourth Branch. Victor Gates was sure he left the disastrous summer of 2076 in the rearview mirror; no strings attached.The trial of the century changed all that. His mother's life and The Fourth Branch's hold on power, both hang in the balance. Their fates are now at the mercy of the cyberocracy's master puppeteer, the mysterious Sentients - whose own existence is in peril.Attacks by Omega are taking their toll, and The Fourth Branch is barely keeping everything afloat. If there's any hope to patch the cyberocracy's holes, and bring the Sentients back online, the embattled Grand Architect must enlist Victor's help.The battle for The City of Brotherly Love rages on in 2077, even as global war looms on the horizon. But hope remains, even in the most unlikely places. And if Victor follows his orders like a good soldier and rescues the man behind the curtain, he may find who's been pulling his strings all along.