Suivel Esther Forres was eight years old when an explosion orphaned her and injured her severely. Less an arm and a lung, she would have died if not for her uncle who saved her with his knowledge of human augmentation. Twelve years later, she has grown strong, and her uncle and his apprentice have helped her mechanical parts keep pace. To salvage what little remains of her legacy, she enlists in the Arena, a brutal fighting league for heavily augmented individuals. As opponents become stronger and money runs low, she must make a difficult decision: to give up on the last vestiges of her old life or to accept a madman's promise of power.