I was intrigued by the premise of Partials right off the bat. The last bastion of humanity finds itself living on Long Island with a dwindling population and thus facing extinction. All humans still alive are infected with a virus known as RM that is passed on to newborn children, killing them all within 3 days of their birth. The last successful birth was 14 years ago and things are getting desperate. The school is being shut down due to a lack of students and the Hope Act is now in effect requiring every female 18 and above to be pregnant at all times; hoping beyond hope that a child will be born with a natural immunity to this deadly disease. And that is only half of the problem....

It's a scenario most online gamers are familiar with, two teams of five trying to outwit, outshoot, and outplay the opposing team to move up in the rankings. Overworld is clearly a descendant of League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm but it's played in an immersive virtual reality accessed through your djinni, an implant in your brain. For Marisa, "Heartbeat" and her four friends that make up the Cherry Dogs the game is more important than reality. They aren't high in the rankings but Marisa has made a few radical plays that have generated some buzz in the community and they hope to be invited to upcoming tournament. When they aren't playing matches they're training, replaying the matches of their competition, and at night they go clubbing and party hard. Typical slacker teenagers until one of the Cherry Dogs uses a new "drug" called Bluescreen.