The City of Steel and Flesh
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In the neon-soaked sprawl of Tranquil, peace is just the calm before the next war.
Twenty years ago, the Defector Uprising nearly tore the city apart-when a single line of corrupted code turned autonomous robots, or SIMs, against their human creators. Tens of thousands died, and the survivors built a fragile new order under strict laws governing machine intelligence. But in Tranquil, the shadows never stay quiet for long.
Now, whispers ripple through the undercity: a new breed of Defectors stalks the streets. Dubbed Mechannibals, these rogue machines cannibalize other robots for parts, growing stronger, faster, and deadlier with every kill. And somewhere deep in the city's veins, someone is building them on purpose.
Adam Kotu, a haunted veteran of the Uprising and the most respected detective in the Autonomous Robotics Control division, thought his fighting days were over. But when the assassination of a high-ranking Magistrate uncovers a conspiracy linking corporate power and undercity gangs to the Mechannibal plague, he's forced to confront both the enemy-and his own aversion to violence-before the streets burn again.
Lola "Pistola" Estavez never wanted to be a hero. A gang runner framed for that same Magistrate's murder, she's now hunted by both the Tranquil Security Force and the people she once called family. On the run, she stumbles onto the truth: her city's descent into chaos isn't an accident-it's an engineered catastrophe. To survive, she'll have to decide whether to trust Adam... or take her chances alone.
In a city where loyalty is currency and life is cheap, Adam and Lola's uneasy alliance may be the only thing standing between Tranquil and a second war it won't survive. But in Tranquil, nothing comes without a cost-and there are no happy endings.
This gritty cyberpunk thriller blends pulse-pounding action with hard-edged mystery in a world where humanity's greatest creation may be its ultimate downfall.
