Burning Into Summer

Five months after hope first began to thaw a fractured continent, the world has only grown colder.

In a Canada strained to its limits, 27-year-old Mason Dufresne works security at the University of Alberta Hospital-one of the last places where order still holds. Beyond its walls, the aftermath of the Second American Civil War spills northward: refugee camps stretch across provinces, border conflicts intensify, and entire communities strain under the weight of a crisis with no end in sight.

But the instability doesn't stop at the border.

Quebec stands on the brink of separation, reigniting the question of sovereignty as a newly elected government promises a swift independence referendum. Along the Atlantic, asylum boats are intercepted in rising numbers. And in a move that will reshape the continent forever, the former U.S. states of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire vote overwhelmingly to join Canada-triggering a complex and unprecedented integration under the watch of the United Nations.

Through it all, Mason is just trying to do his job.