Princess in Rags Author:David Young In the not so distant, and nowhere near as bright, future, young Chantal Kiffer grew up, a 'latch key kid,' in a 'Cold Zone;' something that could best be described as a lawless modern day slum district. Orphaned before her teens, Chantal was adopted by her only aunt, who threw her out when she turned sixteen. Abandoned at eighteen by a coward... more »ly boyfriend when she told him she was carrying his child, she was forced to turn to prostitution as an alternative to homelessness in the Cold Zone, which was virtually a death sentence in such a place. Rescued from a considerable beating from a marauding rape gang by an escaped lab experiment; a true femme fatale, Chantal settles down to share her home with her rescuer for the winter. Erika is a highly illegal 'project;' a cloned human, modified with cybernetic implants and technology to be an assassin, with a dark secret in her past. Erika looks after, and nurses, a badly beaten and helpless Chantal, in exchange for a couch to sleep on and some clean clothes to wear. Surprising both parties, Chantal becomes Erika's first friend, and then later, her first lover. Becoming a highly successful prostitute, Erika takes her one true love away from the life she knew in the lawless Cold Zone, and shows her what life could be like in a more civilised area; after a new home, and considerable cosmetic surgery for Chantal are acquired from the couple's combined earnings.« less