They bought a weapon. They cannot control what it becomes.
At twenty-one, everyone manifests a symbiont: an invisible companion whose powers shape the course of a life.
Conrada has spent years pretending to be just another invisible serf, yet she can’t resist sabotaging the veneer with impulsive outbursts of her truest self. Her darkest secret only makes things worse: she alone can see everyone’s symbionts. Revealing her gift risks unwanted attention from those who can pay to control it. Best case, she disappears into an experimental program; worst case, she becomes a secret weapon for a private military contractor.
At manifestation, bidding wars erupt over her symbiont, and Conrada becomes the latest acquisition by Aquila Operations; a corporate black-ops consulting firm specializing in the impossible, the unique, and the dangerous. Then her symbiont starts whispering bloodlust and tragic memories in her ear. Images of falling leaves and turning seasons haunt her, and sometimes it’s not clear who is who. If Aquila decides her symbiont makes her a liability no longer worth the risk, it may become her executioner.
Welcome to Aquila.
Aquila is about a girl and her magic hyena fighting for something that feels like more than just survival in a corpo-feudal dystopia that isn't coming down anytime soon.
For lovers of Arcane (cyberpunk-fantasy, bio-magi-tech, queer-norm setting), The Murderbot Diaries (jaded, cynical and vulnerable protagonists; blurred lines on who is and is not corporate property), and Jade City (magic as economic resource, gritty-high stakes tactical operations).
Content warnings in first page of the sample.
