Heard of the Philosopher’s Stone? I used to, now and then, sprinkle it along the garden paths. I was the greatest alchemist—but with my final brew, I turned my own body into a weapon against the Corruption, ready to erase all living things from the face of the world. By the will of the gods— or at the whim of chance—I didn’t die. Instead, I woke up in the body of an inept laboratory assistant in a world where alchemy has been declared illegal, my colleagues have turned into charlatans, the Corruption is spreading everywhere, and pharmaceutical corporations run everything, for whom profit matters more than human lives. But I’m here now, and with me are the knowledge and skills of the Supreme Master of Alchemy. Which means I’ll take up the work again—one I can’t imagine myself without—and prove it: an alchemist is not a profession. It’s a way of living.