Pablito doesn't want to feel anything anymore. Until he discovers that pain is the only thing they can't take from him. In the Reclamation Wastes, at 130°F under a merciless sun, Pablito sorts burning scrap to survive. Every day, he trades his flesh for a few credits - just enough for his little sister Marisol to keep drumming in secret, in a world where noise is forbidden. But when a sovereign artificial intelligence notices him, everything changes. INTI.Δ, the god of Fire, offers him a pact: become its champion in the Grand Tournament that will redefine the rules of the world. The price? Give up all protection. Accept to burn - truly - so he can never be extinguished. What awaits you: A hero forged by heat - Pablito has no powers. He has burns, a debt, and a sister to protectA sensory dystopia - Where pain is rationed, silence enforced, and feeling something becomes an act of resistanceA pact with no return - Every power is paid in flesh. Every victory leaves scarsVisceral writing - "Scorched Earth" style: you'll feel the heat, the thirst, the melting metal"I say yes, but I owe you nothing. I take. And if you take too, I'll bite you until you bleed." Book 2 of the Codemachia saga - Can be read as a standalone. For readers of Dune, The Hunger Games, and those who like their sci-fi burning hot.