Enter Vael, a zealot with a boneblade carved from the rib of a god. She was raised to burn the sickness out of the world. She’s very good at it. She’s also starting to think maybe she’s been killing the wrong people. Enter Jhace, a mechanic kid who accidentally tunes a flawed gear and hears the background static of the universe. Not magic. Not prophecy. Just the raw, divine argument that underpins everything. Turns out flaw isn’t corruption—it’s interface. And someone just gave this kid root access. Meanwhile, machines are talking. Gods are twitching. And the people who were supposed to be good and holy and right? They’re starting to crack. There are no chosen ones. No neat powers. Just a broken zealot, a boy full of static, a silent girl who doesn’t bleed, and a bone-hungry weapon that doesn’t care about morality—just resonance. The world isn’t dying. It’s arguing with itself. And the flawed ones are the only ones still listening.