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When ordinary man Josh discovers an underground military bunker in Idaho, he is thrust into a sprawling interplanetary conflict involving the peaceful Ulls and the predatory Zarn. To save humanity from extinction and clone-based infiltration, Josh undergoes a radical merging with a trinary AI, becoming the transcendent entity Ekam. This transformation sparks the birth of 'THEM,' a collective of powerful guardians who lead Earth into a futuristic, credit-based utopia. However, the peace is short-lived as ancient parasites, time-altering thought viruses, and the malevolent Ancient Ones emerge from exile. As the conflict shifts from physical battlefields to the 'void between times,' Josh’s ward Cecelia evolves into Themis, the ultimate instrument of justice. Together, they must navigate temporal paradoxes and intergalactic conspiracies to prevent the incineration of their timeline and secure a lasting galactic alignment. Comparable works include Childhood's End