[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]

In a near future society ruled by massive corporations that treat their citizens like just one more product or tool to further their goals, people live to work and work to live under the tight yoke of the corporatocracy. Not everyone fits that mold, though—some people prosper on the fringe; some people thrive, living as thorns in the paws of the corporate lions . . .

Juliet is tired. She just wants to get a ride home from her double shift at the scrapyard when something bizarre and horrifying happens, something that throws her into the crosshairs of Western Bio Dynamics, a mega-corporation out of Phoenix that would just as soon dissect a person as interview them.

Juliet didn't ask for the stolen, illegal tech that falls into her hands, but she accepted it. Now she needs to find a way to skip town, find a way to hide from WBD until she figures out what she's supposed to do to get them off her back and move on with her life. She has to learn to live in the shadows, to work outside the corporate system, and to deal with the sundry characters, honorable and nefarious, inhabiting that world.

Join Juliet as she works to improve herself physically, mentally, and in reputation. She has a lot of learning to do and will face many challenges along the way, from synthetic bounty hunters to doublecrossing operators, to struggles with her own long-held beliefs about right and wrong.

Can one scrapyard welder stand up to the big corporations? Can she find a way to not only survive but also make a name for herself? Keep reading to find out . . .

New chapters every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (3,000 to 5,000 words each.)

A note about Patreon: My works in progress have 15+ chapters available on Patreon, but NOT THIS ONE YET. I'm participating in the Writathon, so I am posting to RR almost as fast as I write the chapters. I'll work to build up a backlog, but it isn't there yet.