In penance for trying to change the status quo, John Stratton is tasked with building a program for training teenaged, enhanced assassins with AIs from the ground up. Project Maestro. His obedience wavers when one of the candidates hits a little too close to home. The fire is back. And this time he is determined to succeed. Light Morrison accepts the offer from Project Maestro in hopes of finding a challenge. Everything is going well at first - he's made friends with Aria and Jinto, the curriculum is difficult, and the new environment is doing him wonders. The true nature of Project Maestro is revealed and despite disliking what he'll do, Light goes along with it. That is until he, Aria, and Jinto discover information that changes everything.