In a dystopic world after nuclear war, the American city of Kennedy has walled itself off from the decline of the former USA. Determined to continue as a functioning metropolis, Kennedy strictly patrols its boundaries and struggles to maintain the semblance of a modern city. Now, 40 years after the end of the war, Kennedy is in crisis. Technologies are failing and replacements and repairs are not forthcoming. It is within this atmosphere of technological and social stagnation that news of a Re-United States of America emerges - a RUSA that wants Kennedy to rejoin. But not everybody in Kennedy agrees with re-assimilation, and a series of political assassinations and data thefts begin. As the deadline for reunification looms, Phil Roads, the investigator assigned to solve the killings and robberies, is under increasing pressure. Caught between murderous opposing forces, and with dangerous secrets emerging from his past, his own life and career are on the line.