Leo travels to the border in the Alps, guided by the map. He is not looking for treasure, but for his grandmother, a legendary restorer who stayed behind when the borders closed. Upon crossing, he finds an "Interdite" world that is a jarring mix of the medieval and the visionary:
In a near-future Europe, Italy has become a "Sovereign Sanctuary"—a nation completely walled off from the digital world and global oversight to preserve its ancient culture from rampant technocracy. Entry is strictly forbidden to outsiders, and no images or data have left its borders in twenty years.
Leo finds his grandmother in a hidden library beneath Rome, where she is preserving "analog history." However, he is pursued by agents from the outside world who want the map—not to enter Italy, but to find the kill-switch for the Blue Wall so they can "reclaim" and modernize the nation's resources.
