Earth faces environmental collapse from climate change. The shady global government plans genocide to control the population, while unlikely rebels fight to uncover the truth.

SYNOPSIS:

Edge of Humanity shows Earth after we've failed to halt climate change. The planet's at tipping point, where a global temperature increase of one degree would trigger environmental collapse and the end of life on Earth. Huge, genetically engineered 'Colossus' trees have halted the change by consuming humanity's greenhouse gasses, but there is a delicate balance between the trees and the population they can support.

This is a parallel narrative thriller, following a spectrum of characters navigating the disastrous events surrounding the death of a Colossus tree. The Global Nations government must reduce the population to prevent humanity's extinction; the survey team mistakenly thought responsible for the destruction of the tree fight to get home from the jungle to prove their innocence; and a rebellious troupe of coffee shop baristas seek to uncover the truth and reveal the Global Nations' dark past.

We begin with the Secretary General of the GN, Sabina. When a tree died in Australia previously, she was forced to destroy a colony to reduce the population to sustainable levels. She quits the GN, fed up with being a puppet to the GN council, and retires to Pocatello in Idaho to seek a quiet life.

Deacon, the mission specialist on a survey team from Pocatello, resents being sent into the jungle to assist in recovering nukes from old ICBM missile silos. Along with an inexperienced soldier, Nick, and amorous pilot, Leona, they venture into the jungle in a giant monkey-like machine that swings through Colossus trees. On arrival they discover Dissidents, who have separated from the GN, and have rigged a nuke to explode.

Back in Pocatello, Cairo, Deacon's partner, attempts to impress his new boss – former Secretary General Sabina. He discovers a group of rebels operating from coffee shops who are harassing Sabina for her past crimes. Not knowing about Sabina's transgressions in Australia, he tracks them down and gets them arrested, neglecting his family in the process.

When the nuke explodes and destroys a Colossus tree, Sabina gets herself re-elected to the GN in an emergency vote. She's determined to avoid another genocide and proposes another solution to the problem. Believing the survey team were responsible for the tree, she and the GN make preparations in Pocatello.

Cassidy, who leads the rebels and is in league with the Dissidents that blew up the tree, rebuilds her operation and seeks to uncover the truth behind the strange events being instigated by the GN in Pocatello. Knowing the GN's past, she suspects the GN are systematically wiping out the population of Pocatello with a virus to reduce the population once more.

Deacon and the survey team return from the jungle, and Sabina meets pressure from the GN council to attack the Dissidents instead of acting in Pocatello to reduce the population. She decides to continue with her plans in Pocatello as attacking the dissidents, while reducing the population, would start a war.

Deacon and Leona return to the jungle to stop the Dissidents harming other trees, where Leona overhears a Dissident talking about the GN's genocide in Australia. On their return they confirm the Dissident's story and realise Pocatello is under threat.

Despite her burgeoning relationship with Nick, Leona prepares to leave him behind and escape the colony, repeating a familiar pattern of running from her issues. Nick teams up with Cassidy to stop the GN, jeopardising his military career.

The rebels discover the truth – Sabina was sedating Pocatello citizens and putting them in cryo-stasis for fifty years until a new tree was grown. While less drastic than genocide, Cassidy and the rebels decide to broadcast the GN's lies to Pocatello. Sabina's rival in the GN seizes control of the GN military and attempts to regain control of Pocatello.

In a final showdown at Pocatello's military base, Deacon must save his partner Cairo, who was arrested while helping the rebels. Nick, Cassidy and the rebels infiltrate the base to send a message to the Dissidents. Leona returns with the Dissidents just in time to turn the battle and save Pocatello from the GN.

Having lost control of Pocatello, and with her humane cryo-stasis plan sabotaged, Sabina must still reduce the population to balance out the loss of the tree. She has no option but to order another genocide. She chooses the Dissident colony, but as a final act against the GN that forced her into this situation, she tells the world the truth about the GN's actions.

This is a parallel narrative thriller where main characters act both as protagonist in their own story and antagonist to the others. Each has only partial information through deception or ignorance, and acts to serve their own view of what's right. While grim at times, this story also has heart, focussing on the dilemmas and relationships of the characters as they uncover the truth.

EDGE OF HUMANITY