MARCUS HAWTHORNE
A U.S. intelligence officer watching the old order fracture from the inside; pragmatic, sharp, and increasingly unsure where “loyalty” should land when the nation itself begins to dissolve.
There are men who follow orders. And there are men who begin to question who is giving them. Marcus Hawthorne was trained to protect a system that no longer exists.
Because when infrastructure becomes power, intelligence becomes politics.
And Marcus is beginning to realise that ARCO isn’t rising by accident.
OLEG SIDOROV
A veteran of the Arctic theatre from the first days of ARCO’s quiet expansion; steady, unsentimental, and uniquely positioned at the hinge where hemispheric systems begin to fuse.
The Arctic used to be geography. Now it’s strategy.
Oleg Sidorov oversees maritime corridors where ice is retreating and automated convoys are replacing traditional fleets.
Energy routes. Data cables. Orbital launch paths.
Where the polar ice melts — the next century begins.