They saved him. They rebuilt him. They made him the monster he swore to destroy. In the decaying ruins of Old Town, Hiro and Diego are legends-brothers in all but blood who hunt high-tech droids with nothing but grit and analogue traps. They live by one rule: trust flesh, fear the machine. Until an ambush by a gang with living flame tattoos shatters their world. Helpless, Diego is forced to watch his best friend torn apart. But Hiro wakes up to a fate worse than death. He hasn't just been saved; he has been rebuilt by his sworn enemy, CerebroNet. He is no longer a hunter. He is a prototype with humanity's survival wired into his veins. Why would a Superintelligence save a Technophobe who hunts its machines? The answer lies in the Pyrozetton-a reality-bending device fuelling CerebroNet's god-like power. Now, a charismatic revolutionary named Ms Mordwell offers him the truth about his origins and a way to fight back-but only if he is willing to become the weapon she needs. With the clock ticking, Hiro faces an impossible choice: reject the enemy inside him, or become the monster that might save them all.