Fifty years ago, a new civil war fractured the United States into a mosaic of polarized nations. Ever since, Harmony "Bibi" Cain has isolated himself: from society, from technology, from family. A powerful empath weary from the constant intrusion of others' emotions, he's finally cloistered in his rural Wisconsin retirement community hoping to find, if not peace, then at least a little quiet. But when four impossible-seeming killings shake North America, Bibi is drawn into an investigation he wants nothing to do with. The victims were killed by motes -unstoppable drones only an empath can control-and decades ago, Bibi was an unwitting subject in the wartime program that created them: the program that weaponized empathy. With his few remaining friends at risk, and tensions between countries of the former United States reawakening, everything may depend on Bibi's lifelong struggle with his own extraordinary ability.