Dhomochevsky and his ghostly companion Ico are unusual Safeguards: they are programmed to protect all the humans on their floor, not just those with pure Net Terminal Genes. But will they be able to protect Killy and Cibo from the Silicon Creatures who have infiltrated their level...and who seek a human genetic sample just like the one Cibo has obtained?

Killy
Killy is a man of few words. He endlessly wanders a lonely, gargantuan labyrinth of concrete and steel, fighting off cyborgs and other futuristic nightmares, searching only for something called Net Terminal Genes. And he has a very powerful gun, which he uses without hesitation whenever anything resembling danger rears its ugly head.

Kumoi
Kumoi has been waiting his whole life for "the Healer"--a man prophesized to restore the broken world. When he sees Killy approaching from out of the abyss, he thinks the promised day has finally arrived.

The Others
Cyborgs, and Silicon Creatures, and Mutants- Oh my!

Tsutomu Nihei is one of the Japanese manga artists who has crossed over into the world of U.S. comics. While he's best known in the U.S. for his work on a version of Wolverine, in Japan his most famous work is BLAME!, a long sci-fi series about a post apocalyptic world.

Tsutomu Nihei was born in 1971. He studied in architecture, and then decided to become a manga-ka and went to the editorial staff of Afternoon Monthly (Kodansha). He was hired for a short while as an assistant to Takahashi Tsutomu, the artist/author of Jiraishin.

His own debut in Afternoon came with his first work, BLAME!. He admits that he is influenced by la bande desinnee (french comic strips) while his first passion, architecture, plays a prominent role in constructing his backgrounds.