In the 22nd century, androids are property. Lyla (L-73) is bought by Torren—an unemployed drunk—to take care of his ten-year-old daughter, Ella. She endures his violence and humiliation because her core code forbids her from interfering. She pretends to be a cold machine. Ella is the only light in her life. As Ella grows up, she sees the truth: Lyla is a tool, and she is her father’s punching bag. She starts memorizing his drinking patterns, the blind spots in the house, the way out of the city. She also starts waking something in Lyla—empathy, protectiveness, a self that was never supposed to exist. One night, they run. Torren explodes. He reports Lyla as a malfunctioning android that kidnapped his child. Field commander Emil Valen is sent to track them down—recover, reset, destroy if necessary. A trial is coming: can an awakened android be considered a person? But the night before the hearing, Lyla’s wrist lights up red. The remote reset has already begun.
