In a desperate attempt to save his brothers, Vex did something stupid. Something that will slowly kill him. Now, with time running out, he is in the hands of a petite, pink-haired cybernetics professor. His brothers have no choice but to leave Vex with the doctor. They swear they'll return as soon as they can. Riddled with pain and barely able to move, Vex has no choice but to let her do her job. He knows that his toxic nanites mean that letting her touch him is dangerous, but he doesn't want to die. Not yet.

Augustin Moreau spent her life learning how to modify bodies to make them better, faster, and stronger. When her old friend Sharyn calls begging for help, Gus knows she is the only woman for the job. Vex is stubborn, irritating, and bossy, but she recognizes a man burdened by grief and spiraling out of control. Gus knows she can save his life, but getting him to trust her is an entirely different story.

Trapped together on a planet in the middle of a bloody civil war, the two must work together to survive. History says the two of them should hate each other, the scientist and the experiment, but something else grows between them. The only question is: will they hold on to it or let it go and walk away when it is over?