Bad Bone Blood

Earth is no longer the cradle of humanity. In an era where interstellar travel has become an everyday reality, the fragile boundaries between human biology and advanced machinery have dissolved. Across the sprawling reaches of civilization, cutting-edge technology has seamlessly replaced flesh and blood, reshaping what it means to be human in a vast, unforgiving cosmos. Born into the harsh, impoverished depths of the slums, fifteen-year-old Luka has spent his life navigating a world that offers little mercy to those at its margins. Upon reaching his fifteenth birthday, he faces the defining moment of his youth: the mandatory selection exams designed to determine every citizen’s future role in society. For a boy raised among the forgotten, these trials represent the only viable path out of destitution. When the results are finally revealed, Luka’s aptitude defies all expectations. Rather than being assigned to a lowly station suited for a slum-born orphan, his evaluation designates him as a candidate for the elite Imperial Guard. Thrust from the shadows of poverty into the highest echelons of power, Luka must now survive in a dangerous new world where his origins could prove to be his greatest vulnerability.