Manny is a fixer, ferrying journalists across the sundry hotspots of North Texas. Sasha is a suburban teenage girl, bent on joining with the dominionists. And Roland is an old revolutionary and U.S. army veteran, with a body full of high-grade cyberware and a head full of broken memories. Together, they’ll confront the nightmare that is the ‘Heavenly Kingdom’ and try to rescue Manny’s home of Austin from the flames of damnation.
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- Chapter 1: Manny
Escorting reporters from the safety of Austin to the sundry hot spots of the old Metroplex was not Manny’s ideal career. Two years ago he’d been working on a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Austin. The plan had been to get a job with Aegis Biosystems, then charm his way into a working visa and a gig in the California Republic… - Chapter 2: Roland
Roland’s brain didn’t wait for the acid to do its job; nanomachines couriered the lysergic diethylacid direct to his synapses. The drugs took hold in a manner of seconds. Acid softened the world around him. His hindbrain’s running commentary faded into a sort of generalized hyper-awareness of the world around him. He sighed, relaxed, and remembered… - Chapter 3: Sasha
For the eleventh month in a row she was spending sixty-five AmFed dollars for the privilege of staring through a camera at nothing for a half hour a day. Sasha had been warned about this when she’d signed up to support the Woodlands Martyr’s Brigade. Their drone guns didn’t see much action; the front had been stable for the last year. Rumor said the number of backers who’d even gotten to fire during their turn was under a dozen. Sasha had hoped she’d be a special case… - Chapter 4: Manny
The next instant he was flat on the ground. His eyes darted left and right for cover. He spotted something; an artificial cave, built into a corner of the main room, perhaps a hundred feet away. It looked like some sort of shrine or temple. Manny could see the walls were thick with melted candles, colorful drawings and a variety of brass symbols. He grabbed Reggie by the shoulder and shook, hard. The other man jerked, locked eyes with Manny and mouthed, “What?”… - Chapter 5: Roland
Roland’s response was another deep gulp of his coffee. “Anyway,” Jim continued, “I know you don’t care for cash. But there is something I think you might want, and I can buy it back for you if you’ll help me out.” “Wait- buy it back? Buy what back?”… - Chapter 6: Sasha
She recited that passage again and again, throughout what she now knew would be her last day at school. The words steadied her as she waved goodbye to Mr. Dane at the end of the day (“these are the doubts of the serpent!”). They calmed her when she looked into her backpack, which held the small ‘go-pack’ she’d put together that morning. It was just a change of clothes and handful of hygiene items. That seemed woefully inadequate, but anything more would’ve looked suspicious…