In the year 2055, investigative reporter Andrew Worth travels to the artificial island of Stateless in order to report on the Einstein Conference, where physicists will decide on a new theory of everything, or TOE. Violet Mosala, one of the physicists, has been the target of death threats, and Worth investigates. In the meantime, a mysterious mental plague known as Distress, which causes constant, extreme panic, spreads through the world.
Distress contains examples of:
- Barrier Maiden: The anthrocosmologists believe that the universe is dependent on one person, called the Keystone, whose consciousness is the only given, and whose beliefs determine all of reality starting with the Big Bang. Whoever comes up with the final TOE will be the Keystone. Mainstream ACs only want to protect Mosala, who seems like the most likely Keystone, but fringe ACs think they can determine the state of the universe by killing candidates with theories they don't like. People want Mosala dead for various reasons - some people want to promote an alternative theory, which posits alternate universes humanity might escape to before the Big Crunch; some want to prevent any TOE from being finalized in order to preserve the wonder and transcendence of the universe; and others think that because her theory isn't dependent on physical reality, the universe will disintegrate into pure logic once it's finalized. Worth ultimately turns out to be the Keystone when he reads the paper written by Violet's Kaspar clonelet.
- Bio-Augmentation: At the beginning of the book, Worth is working on Junk DNA, a documentary about "frankenscience." His first subject is Ned Landers, the walking biosphere, whose body has been modified to include algae that can digest anything and breathe any kind of air, allowing him to live off of old tyres if need be. He's also had some of his DNA translated into a new code called neo-DNA, including the cells that give rise to his immune system, allowing him to fight off any kind of virus with no symptoms. He and his wife are working on modifying their eggs and sperm so their children will be the same way.
- Cyborg: Worth's body is full of technology, activated by eye movements and voice commands, to help him in his job as a reporter, including cameras in his eyes and a computer in his gut that can connect to external computers via a socket in his navel.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Distress turns out to be caused by people mixing with information and gaining a partial understanding of the TOE. The number of Distress cases are rapidly increasing in anticipation of the moment the TOE is truly revealed.
- Hollywood Autism: For Junk DNA, Worth interviews James Roarke, a member of a group called the Voluntary Autists. Autism is portrayed as a result of lesions in a region of the brain called Lamont's Area, which allows a person to understand other people and have relationships. Roarke has suffered damage to Lamont's Area and now wants the whole thing removed so he can be cured of the desire for a relationship, as he believes intimacy is only self-deception. Despite the stereotypical and inaccurate portrayal of autism, Roarke makes some excellent points about how the concepts of "health" and "humanity" are weaponized against anyone who's different from the norm.
- Initiation Ceremony: New residents on Stateless are encouraged but not required to go inland diving, an activity also open to tourists. It involves standing on a platform in scuba gear and being lowered rapidly through a tunnel into the sea that underlies most of the island. The purpose of the ritual is to remind residents that Stateless is manmade and requires constant maintenance - because there's no government, inhabitants have the responsibility to work together and act like responsible citizens, because discord could literally sink the island.
- Interrogating the Dead: Corpses can be briefly revived, using technology that causes severe damage to their bodies and will kill them again in a few minutes. Investigators try to get as much information out of the person as they can during the short window. Worth films the interrogation of Daniel Cavolini, a young man found stabbed to death, for Junk DNA.
- Married to the Job: Worth has been in six serious relationships, and they all ended for this reason. After Gina leaves him, he decides to stay single.
- Organic Technology: Stateless is an engineered coral island that was built from the ocean by small invertebrates genetically engineered in the 2020s. The whole thing looks so natural and organic on its own terms that when Worth finds a small park with trees and grass, it looks strange and unnatural.
- Potty Emergency: Anthrocosmologists kidnap Worth and Kuwale and tie them up in the hold of a boat. As the hours pass, Worth's need for the bathroom becomes increasingly urgent. He wonders if he'll eventually have to go where he's sitting, or if he'll die like Tycho Brahe. Luckily, his captors let him pee over the side before either one happens.
- Regional Redecoration: Most of Stateless floats unconnected to the ocean floor, thanks to lithophilic bacteria that keep it lighter than water. When EnGeneUity occupies the central city, the citizens flee to the edges of the island. Stateless's militia has the lithophiles degass the central area, causing it to sink, drowning the invaders and replacing the city with a lagoon.
- Self-Harm: When Gina leaves Worth, she yells at him for being selfish and unfeeling because he doesn't react strongly enough to the breakup. Worth reacts by calmly grabbing a knife and slashing it back and forth across his own stomach.
- Speculative Fiction LGBT: There are seven recognized genders: umale, male, imale, asex, ifem, female, and ufem, ranging from hypermasculine to hyperfeminine, with medical technology to allow people whatever gender expression they want. Most transgender people modify their bodies to fit their gender, but a minority use neural technology to make their gender fit their bodies.
- Trans Tribulations: The anthrocosmologist Akili Kuwale was rejected by vis family after ve migrated to asex at age 16. Vis parents, despite being well-travelled diplomats, were still strongly attached to their original social stratum in Malawi and its traditions and prejudices, and they didn't understand any of the things that were important to ver.
- Waving Signs Around: Protestors at the airport on Stateless wave a luminescent banner that switches between "Humble Science!" "Welcome Janet!" and "Say No to TOE!" (Humble Science! is a cult that thinks the physicists are destroying human dignity and spirituality by exposing Nature's secrets, and Janet Walsh is an author who agrees with them.)
- Xeno Nucleic Acid: One Crazy Survivalist had genetic engineering to replace his own DNA with custom-designed nucleotides, hoping to improve his odds in some hypothetical space-plague apocalypse.
