Saitoti is a new lion hunter who had his heart replaced for a mechanical one after an accident as a boy. He is heading out to his first hunt with his highly experienced brothers. Saitoti doesn't want to hunt, but it is his people's-the Masai's job to hunt lions for the other countries who don't want to. The person who hired them, a woman named Mazarin, insinuates that this might be a targeted attack, and that somehow the Franks are controlling the lions for their own gain. Mazarin accompanies them, and Saitoti's heart is racing the whole time, seemingly making him sick. While hunting for the lions, they find a bloody cave with mechanical lions stored inside. Saitoti's heart gets its worst seconds before they are attacked by mechanical beasts. Everyone but Saitoti is killed. The master of the robot lions appears; he was hired by the Franks to protect a railroad and to stop the hunters from getting rid of the lions that were protecting their interests. The Franks did not want Africans in control of the railroad. Just before the man kill Saitoti to use his mechanical heart in an experiment, Mazarin, who hid to avoid being killed, shoots and kills him. Mazarin explains that she had a feeling that the mechanical lions would be there, and that she had thought that Saitoti's mechanincal heart would have saved them from trouble since the lions are confused by mechanical organs. Mazarin tells Saitoti that he is the only hope to destroy the lions that are attacking the Ethiopians because of his heart. Saitoti, while fearful, goes and manages to follow through with the hunt. He is hurt and brought to the hospital, where Mazarin considers hiring him once again to hunt more lions.