The Texan company Cardiff Electronics gets a new employee from New York. He's apparently working for IBM, but after the he gets the new job it gets clear that he has a hidden agenda, and is not exactly what he claims to be.

Despite IBM's raid on Cardiff Electric's clients, Joe has convinced those concerned, most specifically Gordon and Cameron, to continue with the PC project. The company is in a much weakened state because of the raid leading to staff layoffs, which an ill-equipped Gordon is responsible for issuing to the affected engineering staff, and the search for investors for the PC project. Joe and Bosworth have differing views on where those moneys can potentially come from.