Edward came to consciousness on a virtual battlefield with no past and no name—only an assignment to the Squall squad under Fenrir's mercenaries. When a mission brought him face to face with Marelle, a woman being hunted by government forces, he protected her without knowing why. She joined Squall and chose him as her partner—a wired ghost with no physical body in reality, seeking contact with other people in the only world where she has one. The day they crossed paths with Rasayana—who should not have recognized either of them, and clearly did—the question of their shared past became urgent.