On the planet Triste, time moves differently-and so does power.
Colonel Endling once cracked the legendary case of the Big Brain. Now retired and restless, he spends his days chasing an unsolved mystery: a rumored tunnel left behind by the first explorer ever to set foot on Triste. His loyal assistant Sleeper follows him faithfully, unaware that their search is pulling them into a conflict far larger than either man imagines.
Across the deserts and cities of Triste, a perfect storm is forming.
A ruthless King hides in a subterranean bunker, ruling through surveillance, misinformation, and a silent network of tiny mechanical spies. His secret operatives prepare a violent operation that will plunge the planet into chaos. The Marines are no longer peacekeepers; they are enforcers. The police are just decoration. And in the shadows of the slums, a group of orphaned beach kids-led by fierce, brilliant Yoshi-discover pieces of military tech that were never meant to fall into civilian hands.
When a hanging goes wrong, when a stadium burns, when old loyalties crack, every power on Triste begins to move at once.
Colonel Endling thinks he's chasing a mystery beneath the garden estates. But the real secrets are already watching him.
As rebellion brews, alliances fracture, and hidden tunnels lead to long-buried truths, the world beneath the world is about to be revealed-and nothing on Triste will ever be the same.
For fans of character-driven science fiction, political intrigue, found-family street kids, military conspiracies, and slow-burn mysteries woven through an alien world with human cracks.