The First Sister

First Sister has neither a personal name nor permission to speak. Serving a religious order aboard a military ship, she depends on commanders who control her body and future. When an expected escape collapses, she receives orders to spy on the new captain, Saito Ren, and finds her assigned loyalty complicated by love. Elsewhere, the soldier Lito val Lucius is sent to kill Hiro, his missing former partner, now accused of treason. Recordings left by Hiro challenge what Lito believes about their cause. Their intersecting stories unfold across a divided solar system, where obedience offers precarious security and deciding whom to trust can mean turning against the institutions that made them.