Deep Black Road: The Head of the Snake

It all started in 2079 with the three of them.
First there was the boy, who loved robotics and chess, but was crushed by a robot run amok.
Then there was the general, who wasn't about to let something as trivial as a fatal illness interfere with his plan to take over the Federation of North America.
And finally, the girl: being groomed by her wealthy and influential father for business success and political power, she was cut down in a freak car accident.
The general got his wish to be made robotic, and proceeded to topple the provincial government of Foredan on his way to taking on the rest of the Federation.
The boy's father, clinging to his last emotional connection with his late wife, put his son's soul into a memorial robot; but the robot boy got tangled up in the general's machinations, and fell into the hands of the renegade Followers of the Anointed One.
The girl, having being roboticized at her father's expense, threw her lot in with the general's scheme, intending to ride his coattails to the power she sought.
None of them counted on the Prophet.
Would the boy, having been granted a 'great and terrible' destiny when he hung between death and life, be able to find his way to it ... on the Deep Black Road?