It is 2005, in what was formerly the state of California. After a massive earthquake, the golden state has been divided into two: So. Cal and No. Cal. Scrawled and sprayed on walls and wreckage is the name of the people's savior: J.D. Shapely.

The scenario is from William Gibson's 1993 novel, "Virtual Light." Shapely is variously held up as a martyr, messiah or folk hero because in his genes was found the vaccine against HIV and the cure for AIDS.

Gibson is the writer who anticipated the influence of the Internet long before most people had even heard of it and before it even existed in the form it does today: He coined the term "cyberspace" to describe it (in his 1984 novel, "Neuromancer").