This story continues Asaro's exploration of artificial intelligence and the machine/human interface which was begun with Sunrise Alley. Alpha is a biomechanical being, second-in-command to the late crime boss Charon. She has been captured by a US intelligence agency which is eager to dismantle her, in the hopes of gaining knowledge of her former employer's operations—to say nothing of the details of her construction. The only thing preventing her destruction is the conviction of one man, General Thomas Wharington, that she can more usefully be broken down by persuasion.

(Source: Baen)