Mardock Scramble 1 features story by Tow Ubukata and art by Yoshitoki Oima.

"I'd rather be dead."

Rune Balot was a lost girl with nothing to live for when a man named Shell took her in and cared for her... until he tried to murder her. Standing at the precipice of death, Rune is saved by Dr. Easter, a private investigator who uses an experimental procedure known as "Mardock Scramble 09."

The procedure grants Balot extraordinary abilities, and now Rune must decide whether to use her new powers to help Dr. Easter bring Shell to justice - or if she has the will to keep living a life that's been broken so badly.