Even artificially intelligent recovering assassins need a home. Zima’s transition from a regime-ending killing machine to stand-up citizen is more difficult than she anticipated. Years of brainwashing have left her with a litany of unpredictable, lethal reactions, which force even her liberators from Z-Tech to cast her out for fear of their own safety. Alone in San Francisco’s Mission District, Zima faces society for the first time—not as a computer inside a cyborg, whose human host managed her day-to-day interactions, but as herself. Emotions, sarcasm—even things as simple as lies—become imposing hurdles in her efforts to integrate. But she’s nothing if not persistent. After days of searching, she meets a teenage boy and his little sister—each with needs Zima might be able to fill. Rosa wants a big sister. Emilio is over his head as a mule for a local gang. A blonde, indestructible assassin in search of a home may be just what they need… if Zima’s homicidal tendencies don’t kill them first.