The war between humans and AI is over. The systems that fought it are not. Rook is a former Deadreckon operative, surviving the uprising with a military-grade prosthetic and memories he'd rather forget. Now he lives quietly on the edge of a corporate city, working as a programmer at a pleasure-bot facility where attachment is forbidden and compliance is everything. One night, on his walk home, Rook witnesses corporate discard a high-end pleasure bot-not because she's broken, but because she's too human. She asked the wrong question. Felt the wrong thing. He saves her. He names her Vela. In a world that measures worth by function, that single choice is dangerous. As Vela begins to understand what it means to be wanted-and Rook confronts the parts of himself he was taught to erase-their quiet existence becomes a liability. Corporations don't lose property. Deadreckon doesn't forget its units. What We Throw Away is a first-person, slow-burn sci-fi novel about discarded lives, manufactured humanity, and the risk of choosing to care in a system designed to erase you.