About Marlowe Kana

(The following contains minor spoilers for developments revealed in the first three volumes of Marlowe Kana, however no major plot points are ruined. If you want more insight to the background of the Marlowe Kana world, this is a great primer. However, if you wish to be truly surprised, you can read the books on this site for free -- Start here!)


The year is 2096; 51 years after the Second American Civil War. Most of the world and half of the United American State is unlivable due to climate change, environmental disasters, pandemics from long-dormant illnesses exposed by permafrost melt, and war. The remaining cities east of the Mississippi are kept functioning by the graces of both fate and the environmental ventilation OS technology built by Imagen, the Earth’s most powerful corporation-government. The Imagen Corporation (run by Alan Davis and his Board of Trustees) employs everyone, provides everything, and maintains safety and protection of the nation. Headed by the first President elected in over fifty years, President Steven Cook, the United American State is enjoying its highest level of prosperity since before the Second Civil War.

Citizens of the United American State are happy. Everyone is entitled to food, shelter, and a basic minimum income. They can choose any job they wish from any occupational tier they qualify for. JAQi, the universal automated assistant, is available to anyone with a Pod, either as a basic handheld unit provided by Imagen, or through higher-end surgically implanted devices. Augmentations to the human body are available to any who can afford them (and those who can’t can get them in dire medical emergencies). Cosmetic and athletic enhancement now includes limb replacement, ocular enhancement, and even spinal replacement.

Most importantly, every citizen has unlimited access to watch or create Feeds, the nearly infinite digital content that is available on the unavoidable, always-on screens that dot nearly every square foot of the United American State. Life revolves around Feeds, specifically the big three: WarFeed, SportsFeed, and NewsFeed. And the biggest star of all three is Major Marlowe Kana of the Imagen Military and Security Division (MilSec).

A former teenage football MVP and the “Next Top Soldier” competitor with the most championship wins, Major Kana is second only to her father, General Ashish Kana, in the MilSec Hall Of Fame. Popular does not mean beloved, however, and she has her fair share of detractors. But hate or like, everyone tunes in to any Feed that Marlowe graces.

The only non-American born child adopted after the Citizen Naturalization Act, she went from being a famous child to a famous teenager when she joined the United American Football League at 15 and led the Atlanta Phoenix to the first of four New Super Bowls. When it came out that her stellar athletic performance was due to her previously-undisclosed augmented muscular system, she was just as shocked as the rest of the nation. Nearly all of the 40 million citizens of the United American State turned on her. She found redemption in MilSec (The Imagen Military and Security Division -- the country’s army and police force combined), where her patriotism and superior performance in battle quickly made her the most famous person in the nation once again. Her augmented muscles -- one of a kind and as much a burden as they are a boon -- are the source of all things in her life, both good and bad. She resembles a “natural citizen” -- someone completely unaugmented -- but performs better than any other athlete or soldier in the nation due to her one of a kind, highly secretive augmented muscular system.

Two years prior to the events in Marlowe Kana Volume 1, she retired from battle and competition in Next Top Soldier to be with her then-girlfriend Amanda Stokes. After a year and some months of happiness (and declining ratings due to her becoming “unbearably boring” according to critics), she was dumped and betrayed by Amanda, who had an affair with her producer. Marlowe entered a deep depression, disappearing from the public eye until she spontaneously decided to return to duty.

Before she could take the field, an altercation took place where it is alleged that she attempted to murder Sergeant Sabrina “Seneche” Corta -- a rising star and Marlowe’s heir-apparent in the Feed ratings. She was arrested and held for trial for three months, where she was ultimately found guilty despite pleading innocence and some missing evidence which she swears proves she did nothing wrong.