​TRANSCRIPT It is February 14, 2026, and I'm gonna talk about Republic Under Siege: Threat from Within, book 2 of the Wars of the New Humanity series. When I wrote book 1, Republic Falling: Advent of a New Dawn, I envisioned the hero’s father, Arson Scott, as a citizen of humanity's dystopian world, Satellite One. Through a lottery system, Arson earned the rare opportunity to live on humanity's utopian world, Eden. This led me to a pivotal realization, which was, as a lottery beneficiary, Arson was essentially an immigrant. In Republic Under Siege, I began to explore the transition from colonist to Edenite. I said to myself, if original Edenites viewed the colonists of Satellite One as inferior, then immigrants would likely face systemic prejudice. I wanted to explore what life was like for an immigrant in this world that I created. To tell this story, I introduced Akane Sugimori and intertwined her path with my protagonist, Randal Scott. Randy finds himself shunned by his comrades because of his past ties to the rebellion, while Akane is shunned simply because she's an immigrant. So, Randy and Akane share a bond as outcasts.   For the story, I created the Purists, extremists who believe those chosen to live on Eden are the superior beings. Their mission is to keep the immigrant population at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and ensure no more colonists immigrate to Eden from Satellite One. ​ Much like the first book, Randy is forced to confront a darker reality. While he knows that extremism exists, he initially underestimates its scale. Akane becomes his guide to this underworld, revealing a clandestine brotherhood dedicated to maintaining the discriminatory status quo. Writing Akane was a highlight for me; she is a stubborn firebrand and one of my favorite characters to date. I believe this story is relevant to certain societal issues we see in the world today. I also wrote a screenplay for Republic Under Siege that I hope to see adapted for the big screen someday.