Girl One, Universe Zero

Dumped by Human Services into her brutish uncle's planetary homestead, eight-year-old Freedom refuses to bend. Null technology enabled man to flood the cosmos, spreading his ignorance and cruelty like a plague. When the rules of the universe are stacked against you, you have to make big plays. And Freedom does. But her play gets her a puppy, Azrael, instead. A puppy? A special puppy? Right. Things couldn't possibly get any worse.

A word to the wise? Do not steal Azzi's little girl. Because he will find you. Even if you are on a planet light-years away.

When one's big moves cost friends their lives, one is a child no more. Everyone understands the rage social injustice brings. They demand it, even. But rage invokes an ancient justice, one that has stymied man since time immemorial. Freedom isn't the only player on the board, and hers are not the only moves in play. She is in a much bigger game than she knows. In the web of spacetime chaos, the little butterflies are the powerful ones.

When Freedom flaps her proverbial wings, she calls her dog to her from across the stars and brings an endgame to end all games.

But then, Azrael isn't just any dog.