Darien Wolfe - thief, hacker, criminal... cyborg. Faced with life-imprisonment for his role in connection with a series of high-profile break-ins both physical and digital, Wolfe was offered a chance at freedom when approached by the Directorate of Strategic Intelligence.

Seeking a test subject for one of their myriad special projects, the DSI promised Wolfe a full pardon for his crimes if he agreed to a five-year stint as a field operative working for the Directorate, a deal which he eagerly accepted. When Wolfe awoke the next morning in a recovery bed deep within DSI headquarters, he was shocked to discover his left arm had been replaced by a cybernetic unit.

Equipped with a zero-point energy field manipulator that allows him to lift and move heavy objects (and hurl them great distances with terrifying velocity) along with a special jack that allows his mind to interface directly with computers, Wolfe's new arm was designed to make him the DSI's ultimate special agent. Of course, the Directorate was by no means ready to trust a convicted felon with such a powerful piece of technology and so a series of compliance countermeasures were also installed. First, a GPS tracker which could give the Directorate real-time updates on Wolfe's location anywhere in the world within a three-foot margin of error. Second, a small vial of cytotoxin that could be remotely administered directly into Wolfe's bloodstream, causing total cellular breakdown and an agonizing death in a matter of minutes.

Pressganged into service, Wolfe's only hope was to follow whatever instructions the Directorate gave him and wait until such time as he could reclaim his stolen humanity.