Essence

In a time where technology is so advanced that the human soul can be transferred into a robotic body, flesh is outdated. Essence integration - a name devised by the process’s creator, Nathan Bayard - revolutionized the world’s view of human life. Although a privilege mainly to the wealthy, the vessels of metal and plastic assured freedom from illness and aging while still allowing the human pleasures of eating, sleeping, and bathing. Not only was the invention groundbreaking, Bayard’s essence androids promised to be a milestone in the history of mankind, a testament to man’s longevity and will not just to survive, but improve…

…until life itself was neatly swept away by something as small as a virus produced by the hands of one man.

Nine months after the first strain of Blight, Alice wakes in a dilapidated laboratory, remembering naught but blood and the world before the virus. Inhabiting a robotic body, she resolves to atone for her memories of murder and restore the green earth she remembers, with only the sullen, tight-pantsed Cath serving as her guide.