A young woman named Jade receives a brain implant that connects her to a “Pain Surrogate” in order to alleviate her grief from the loss of her little brother. At first the relief is ideal; the shunt seems like the perfect solution. But when things begin to feel unreal in her mind, she hires a hacker to discover the identity of her anonymous pain recipient. This seemingly minor breach of security unravels an international conspiracy between PrimaCore, a huge pharmaceutical company, and a military eager to weaponize the feeds from pain surrogates with pathologically violent urges.

Jade’s quest to find her surrogate sends her on a wild adventure across the globe with black operatives hot on her trail. Meanwhile, an enhanced rogue agent within PrimaCore seizes the opportunity to topple the government, seeking to usher in the kind of world that she believes we all deserve.

Jason Arsenault is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. Knowledgeable in neuroscience and autism spectrum disorders, he has published over twenty peer-reviewed scientific papers. In fiction, he has written numerous short stories such as those featured in Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Jason lives with his tarantula in Toronto, Canada. He has two pretty sweet brothers—although neither of them is pretty or sweet; they are stern and kick-ass—and two very loving parents.