Ever since he can remember, Animal has gone on all fours, his back twisted beyond repair by the catastrophic events of "that night," when a burning fog of poison smoke from the local factory (shades of Bhopal) blazed out over the town of Khaufpur, and the Apocalypes visited his slums. Now just turned seventeen, he spends his days jamisponding (spying) on town officials and looking after the elderly nun who raised him. When Elli Barbar, a young American doctor, arrives in Khaufpur to open a free clinic for the still-suffering townsfolk--only to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn't there to do the dirty work of the Kampani--Animal plots to turn events to his own advantage."--Back cover.