It is said that Santos Andújar is more automaton than man. The mysterious aristocrat living in the city of San Juan barely survived the unknown illness that killed his entire family and left him with multiple prosthetics to lead a reclusive existence. Yet Santos' darkly whimsical world is soon besieged by a visit from his beautiful and hedonistic cousin, Violeta Andújar. Far more interested in social intrigue and secret lovers than in the looming Spanish American War that threatens her world, Violeta is at first dismissive of her "invalid" and eternally masked relative until a series of odd and disturbing incidents reveal that enigmatic Santos' ailment ventures into the paranormal and the oddly futuristic. Suddenly Violeta Andújar finds herself in the throes of political turmoil and a darkly bizarre seduction by a man... who may not be a man at all.