The Web of Despair

After the destruction of Sydney by nuclear missiles, which ends their war with the digital people, the virtuals of Screenside find themselves in possession of a number of badly damaged humans that they can use for themselves.

And yet, the world has changed so much that they are unable to bank on staying permanently on the planet, with their human families and the other humans they love so much.

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POST NUCLEAR!
A group of jumbo jets lands on the destroyed runways of the now non-existent Sydney airport.

Hundreds of grieving Sydney virtuals disembark, having come in the very bodies they were using in battle, to conduct the last rites for their human families.

The leaders of Screenside are left rueing the decision to try to kill the digital beasts by getting into their computer network, instead of accepting collateral human damage and going with the option of direct military assault on the physical assets of the parallel world.

Filled with remorse and guilt, they have sent the mission to Sydney, hoping to at least give the bereaved Sydney virtuals an opportunity to mourn their dead and find closure.

It would never be easy to cope with the fallout of a genocidal event for which they blame themselves, but it gets a lot harder when they discover a child!