The Language of Blood

They say God is a machine, but they forget that machines don't have mercy. In the mile-high spires of Aethelgard, you’re either a masterpiece or a mistake. There is no middle ground. If your DNA isn't "Standard," you aren't a person—you're a glitch to be erased. Kaelen is the man who does the erasing. He’s a "Cleaner," a ghost for the rich who scrubs away the "Defects" before the law can find them. He doesn't do it for a cause; he does it for a ticket to the top, far away from the rot of the lower levels. But his latest job didn't just go wrong—it vanished. Kaelen arrived to find an empty room and a nightmare: the Statue, the massive, silent god the poor pray to, didn't just wake up. It fed. Now, Kaelen is the one being hunted. Caught between the employers who want him dead and a "Savior" that thrives on pain, he’s forced to protect a high-born girl who carries the secret to a global memory-wipe. As the city begins to crumble and the "White Noise" threatens to drown out every human thought, Kaelen has to decide if he’s fighting to save a world that hates him, or if he just wants to be the last man standing when the lights go out.