In Body and Soul, Leonardo da Vinci secretly designs the Vitruvian — an automaton powered by the consciousness of an imprisoned soul — after being aided by a mysterious alchemist who then uses the blueprints to make his own Vitruvian. Set in 16th-century Florence, this opening chapter of the series has as its protagonist Marco Tagliaferro, a tormented mercenary who shares a relationship with Leonardo similar to that of a James Bond and a Renaissance Q. Unknowingly, Marco will be embroiled in a plot he can barely comprehend, embroiled in a struggle between mechanical men, seekers of knowledge, ancient orders, and the Ottoman Empire itself.