Chapters M-W-F 9AM, plus occasional bonus chapters for the weekend! Upgrade. Consume. Evolve. Whether it’s cybernetics or mutations, this world demands you be more than human. Nuclear war, a solar flare, and an alien invasion known as the MALswarm left Earth a barren husk. Then the Founders descended, steering humanity away from extinction by turning the MAL’s otherworldly powers into sources of strength. They promised a utopia and the death of the Swarm. They lied, for this alien power was the currency of the future, even if it warps the very fabric of reality - and New California is beginning to tear. Ripley Donovick’s mother is dying, forcing him to use his cybernetics genius to operate unlicensed in a gang-owned brothel for her treatment. When a MAL’s death gives him the potential to weave metal into powerful machinery, he discovers not a way out, but the tools to unravel a world where criminals and corporations war for every thread of control. Diana Jones was engineered to be perfect, given a family, and then stolen away from that life. Her yearning for justice pits herself as an officer in a city where crime litters every corner with serial killers, gang violence and corporate conspiracy — she’s determined to be the storm of change, shocking the true monsters into submission. Even if it means becoming one. She’ll learn justice isn’t black or white, but a blazing red. One night binds these two, one monster gives them unimaginable strength and one name draws them towards an inevitable clash of Blood and Steel. What happens when you mix GodClads, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and a dash of Blade Runner into the mix? This novel. I’ve been told it feels like an edgier cyberer Super Supportive. What to expect? - Two MCs, each unraveling a mystery neither could take on alone. A desperate cybernetics operator willing to bend his morals and mind to cure his mother, and a police investigator with a strong sense of justice determined to be more than what she was born for. - Character focused, both MCs have their inner demons from the past and will struggle to become the person they want to be. The line between hero and villain is thin, and they walk on it. - A medium-burn story. MCs switch perspectives every 4-9 chapters which are their own mini-arcs. - Two distinct Power Systems. Cybernetics gain features that update and empower machinery; Mutations can combine and diverge to transform your body and give otherworldly abilities. - Slice-of-crime [Daily life/Criminal shenanigans/Police investigating] with a side of cybernetics engineering, moments of humanity amidst despair and gloom, and a whole lot of asskicking! - Both MCs have their own separate romantic lives... for now. - Weak to strong to legendary. Power. Fame. Money - they'll get it all. Author's Note: This story can be pretty heavy at times. T/W's include: Gore, death, profanity, sexual themes (no descriptions), drugs. Honestly, my novel might be a list of war crimes one day. This story was highly influenced by some downer moments in my life, but ultimately is a story about persevering through the toughest and darkest of times as the characters learn that they can accept the darkness in them, and embrace the light.