Artifs: Artificial Humans. Eight years ago, Doctor Gawain Beck was part of an unauthorised experiment in human replication. When the project was shut down, his robots disappeared. Now one of them has turned up, and the authorities don't want to lose them for a second time.Yet they are hurting - one artif has been damaged, and another caught on camera. To protect them Beck must round up his former charges and warn them of the threat. Which isn't easy when they've kept themselves hidden even from him.But eight years on the run can change a personality, even an artificial one. Relationships are strained, and new identities forged. And will his robots want the help Beck has to give?