Stick and String is set in a grim future on the ruined planet we call Earth. National governments are gone and global terascale corporations rule. A small group of people, known as the Shareholders, own everything. The corrupt Shareholders hoard scientific breakthroughs, including Stick and String Theory, but it turns out there is more than one way to travel faster than light. Most people are corporate slaves; corporate policy is the only law they know. The web is the sole source of all information, but none of it can be trusted. There are webcams, webscreens, and webterms everywhere. The world is covered in bubble cities on land and sea, shelters against the raging environment. Corporate slaves are often assigned life-threatening duties. Derek and Jenniper are two such corporate slaves, clones conceived in breeding facilities, carrying on a forbidden relationship. Their lives change forever after Derek is sent off to Mercury.