Mardock Scramble: The First Compression

In Mardock City, Rune Balot survives on the margins as a teenage prostitute until she’s taken in by Shell, an up-and-coming casino manager who showers her with comfort and a new identity. Grateful but uneasy, Balot digs into his past on a computer—curiosity that quickly becomes dangerous. When Shell discovers what she’s uncovered, he tries to kill her by detonating her car and leaving her to burn.

With crime rampant, the “Scramble 09” law grants police sweeping authority to use otherwise illegal methods to preserve witnesses. Under its provisions, a professor is permitted to pull Balot back from the edge of death, reconstructing her body with reinforced synthetic fiber. When she awakens, disoriented and altered, her shock hardens into a drive for revenge as Shell is exposed as the one who tried to end her life.