Titan, Saturn's icy moon, was once the site of thriving corporate mining operations. When the corporations withdrew, they left workers and settlers behind with no exit. Two centuries of isolation followed: inbreeding, cloning, and sordid genetic manipulation produced a population barely recognizable as human. Clans fight for control of whatever resources remain. The radio station Hardwarp FM propagates the rumors, hunches, and information that pass for social currency in the city of Misplaced Optimism. For those who can still fly, trading and the struggle for power are the only real paths off this cold, hostile rock.