In the year 2046, the only processor powerful enough to control the latest technology is the human brain. Brain scans run almost everything. But because the scanning process kills the organic body, most people are unwilling to undergo the procedure, and so demand for brain scans far exceeds supply. A thriving black market forms, with children abducted or bred to be raised in crèches until they can be scanned and sold.
Griffin Dickinson, a 20-year-old junior investigations agent working for the North American Trade Union, is ordered to find and close the crèches. His heavy weapons support is Abdul, a 17-year-old brain scan in a combat chassis. He is helped by Nadia, an Intrepid Reporter who is working with the government investigating child kidnappings.
Meanwhile 88, the scanned brain of a crèche-raised autistic savant, runs the South American Mafia's business interests. But she wants freedom, so she joins forces with the 14-year-old scan Archaeidae, the deadliest assassin in the world.
Ghosts of Tomorrow contains examples of:
- And I Must Scream: The original digital copy of Lokner is trapped forever in a small, simulated office, making repeated suicide attempts and slowly losing his mind until the last data systems on Earth finally stop working.
- Artificial Meat: Implied - the menu at a restaurant puts "egg" in quotes, leading a character to wonder if they're real eggs.
- Awesome Mc Cool Name: The scans in combat chassis get to choose their own names; since many of them were teenagers or even younger when they were scanned, they tend to pick names like SwampJack and Androctonus.
- Badass Longcoat: Archaidae wears a tan duster and a cowboy hat, as shown in the cover art, during his attack on the Reno NATU headquarters.
- Big Guy Rodeo: One woman tries to kill Archaeidae by jumping on his back and attaching a grenade to him, killing her and damaging his chassis.
- Blood from the Mouth: Francesco coughs a mouthful of blood after he's cut in half.
- Bridal Carry: Abdul carries the mob boss Riina like this when he captures him.
- Cessation of Existence: 88 kills Riina by short-circuiting his synaptic relays while he's in VR, causing brain death.
- Child Soldiers: Some of the scanned assassins are less than nine years old.
- The City Narrows: 88 lives on a computer in the basement of a shack in a Costa Rican slum ridden with crime and violence.
- Designer Babies: It's common for crèche-raised kids to have genetic modifications that make them better suited to whatever task their scanned brains will be used for. For example, kids meant to be installed in combat chassis are programmed for violence and warrior tribe ethics, while 88 has "chemically/hormonally induced Asperger's."
- Dies Wide Open: Nadia, after she's shot and falls out of a helicopter.
- Enfant Terrible: 88 has no qualms about killing people if it serves her purposes. By the end of the book, her body count is in the thousands at least.
- Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: When Griffin interrogates Riina in virtual reality, he has the person running the reality turn up Riina's perceptions so high that he can't even move without feeling like his clothes are scraping his skin off, then turn off his ability to pass out, dissociate, try to escape, or even have facial expressions. Then he threatens to grab Riina's hand and squeeze as hard as he can. Riina quickly tells him everything he wants to know.
- Faking the Dead: When Corrupt Corporate Executive Mark Lokner is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he tells the world that he plans to die in peace, but he really has himself scanned so he can continue to run his business empire in secret.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Archaeidae attacks Griffin and Nadia's hotel room after they have sex, so Nadia is naked while she fights back. Archaeidae finds this distracting enough to give them the upper hand.
- Gaia's Lament: Global warming has gotten so severe that temperatures in Ontario are in the 110s, and everyone has to wear masks in public due to the pollution.
- Geek Physique: Computer genius Miles Pert weighs 240 pounds.
- Handbag of Hurt: Nadia throws her camera bag at Archaeidae.
- Heads-Up Display: The helmet Griffin wears during his second raid has one.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After he's scanned, Mark Lokner has a mirror made of himself so that if he's found out, he can let the mirror be captured. Once the mirror realizes that he's a copy, he turns against the original.
- Hollywood Hacking: Invoked by 88 when she pretends the computer she's hosted on is about to crash. She watches movies to find out what people expect from a failing computer, then says "Cascade failure. Total systems loss imminent."
- Human Shield: While breaking into the Reno NATU building, Archaeidae grabs a man who's hiding under his desk and uses him as a shield. He kills the shield as soon as he reaches the stairwell.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: 88 is desperate to track down her mother, who was the only person who ever loved her.
- Inconvenient Itch: Griffin struggles to scratch an itch on his shoulder through body armor.
- It Gets Easier: Archaeidae had nightmares over his first kills, but now he is "pure of thought and action."
- It's Personal: Abdul is determined to take down the crèches because two of his younger siblings were kidnapped in the same month.
- Knee-capping: Archeaidae shatters Griffin's kneecap in an assassination attempt.
- Literal-Minded: When Adelina says, "Francesco said you were slow," 88 thinks Slow? I can't move at all!
- Manly Tears: Griffin cries when he finds out that Nadia was likely scanned after her death.
- The Metric System Is Here to Stay: Temperature is measured in Celsius.
- Mob War: 88 deliberately starts one by launching drone attacks against different members of the Mafia, complete with recorded messages saying they're revenge for different murders. The resulting war wipes out almost everyone who could know of 88's existence.
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Music to Invade Poland to: Abdul plays Ride of the Valkyries from speakers built into his chassis. - My God, What Have I Done?: Mark Lokner is horrified to watch footage of people he had scanned against their wills, as he hadn't realized how gruesome the scanning process actually was.
- Nerds Are Sexy: While reminiscing about the time before he was scanned, Abdul remembers a girl in his role-playing group and thinks Is there anything sexier than nerd chicks?
- The Patient Has Left the Building: Griffin is severely injured by Archaeidae, and doctors tell him he needs weeks of rest and rehab. He ignores them and leaves the hospital as soon as he can walk.
- Prematurely Grey-Haired: Griffin started to go grey when he was sixteen.
- Self-Duplication: 88 creates a set of lower-quality mirrors of herself to do her work for her while she does her own research.
- Sensory Overload: 88's master tortures her for disobedience by pressing a button that causes her to experience painfully bright colors and loud sounds.
- There Was a Door: When Archaeidae comes across a metal door that he can't quickly punch through, he smashes through the concrete next to it instead.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Griffin tells Nadia, "My dad is Mister Dickinson. Call me Griff."
- Tin Man: Abdul laments that he isn't allowed to feel the same range of emotion he did before he was scanned.
- Tranquil Fury: The scans working under Riina know that he seems calmest when he's furious.
- Turn in Your Badge: Griffin's boss Phil tries to fire him for screwing up a series of raids and then drawing his gun in a lobby. Griffin ignores him and keeps trying to take down Lokner.
- Unable to Cry: Abdul's chassis can't produce tears, leaving him with no release for his grief.
- Vomiting Cop: During his first raid, Griffin finds hundreds of child corpses stacked in 140-degree heat. The stench is so overpowering that he vomits in his helmet, as does half the squad.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Scans don't receive the same rights and protections as living people, so it's legal to use them for slave labor.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Mark has multiple kids by different ex-wives, and he barely knows any of them. His youngest daughter doesn't even remember his name.
- While You Were in Diapers: When Griffin tells his boss Phil that he's 20, Phil mutters something under his breath about diapers.
- You Are Number 6: 88 is named after the cell where she lives before she's scanned.
- Your Head Asplode: During Griffin's second raid, the captain and many soldiers die from being shot in their supposedly bulletproof helmets.
