Tutami is a robot with awareness, feelings - and a past she's desperate to leave behind her. Her calling has always been field research, not battle. But civil war on her home planet of Synthos claimed the lives of her colleagues, her career, and her relationship with Rigel, a fellow scientist-turned-soldier. Fearing that her own life will be next, Tutami braves the cold depths of space in hopes of starting anew. But parsecs removed from everything she's ever known, she encounters vicious beings who recognize her as neither a scientist nor a warrior - only a product to be bought and sold. Facing these merciless profiteers will reveal awful truths about the origins of her kind...and about herself.