Paradise is built on bones. And God is just a child wired into the network.
Kai, a former stray from the toxic Lower World, achieved the impossible. He clawed his way out of the filth to become an officer of the "Valkyries" in Asgard-a gleaming, sterile city floating above the clouds. There is no disease, hunger, or aging here. But the price for this paradise is your soul.
Kai made a deal with his conscience to save a boy named Eric. But he was too late. In the sterile labs of Asgard, Eric was transformed into Larsen-a living Core, a human-machine hybrid whose agony powers the utopia.
When Larsen realizes his power, he decides to rewrite the rules. He is no longer a victim; he is the Administrator, a new God desiring to "heal" humanity by merging all minds into a single, happy hive, devoid of pain-and free will.
Caught between the cruel Architect of the old world and the terrifying love of the new God, Kai must make a final choice. Save the son who became a monster, or destroy him to preserve humanity’s right to be imperfect.
This is a story of ash and steel, of the choice between safe slavery and dangerous freedom, and of what remains of a man when he touches the divine.