The Aurelian Spire

Logan Nelson is a Cleaner—an engineered soldier who descends into the toxic depths beneath the mega-city of Aurelion to keep the extraction infrastructure running. His synthetic memories of a peaceful farm keep him stable. His twin Mnemosyne blades keep him lethal. His loyalty to the Consortium keeps him from asking questions. Until a dying man fused to the pipes grabs his arm and begs him to end the song. The Aetherial Engine—the massive spire at the heart of the city—powers everything. But something is wrong with the Aether. Something that screams. And Logan is starting to hear it. Now hunted by his former squad and the woman who designed him, Logan descends deeper than any Cleaner has gone, alongside a paranoid hacker who knows too much, a dockworker titan with more iron than flesh, a slum medic who feels resonance in her bones, and a damaged android speaking in static and prophecy. The Consortium wants him back. The city depends on the Engine. And somewhere beneath the false memories and chrome bones, Logan is discovering something he was never programmed to feel: Doubt.