Stefano Campus

Determined to do his utmost to protect his homeland from ever-imminent invasion, young Luka – a talented sniper – makes the lengthy trek from region 27 north to Fort Kairos, an outpost on the Steppe where the General and her council maintain guard against the pending onslaught from the North. In this desolate industrial complex, fear of an attack that never seems to come by an enemy that perhaps does not exist has morphed into a sort of serene paranoia. Military training has congealed, becoming a series of bizarre, animalistic rituals; punishment for minor infractions ranges from shovelling excrement to death by thirst. When at last there is dim evidence that the North is mobilising its troops, it becomes apparent that dogma now trumps truth, compassion and common sense.

In Rome, the Cassamortari are people who work in the funeral business. The Pasti family's agency was founded by Giuseppe, who is willing to do anything to turn a corpse into money, preferably in black.

A sea captain makes a bet in a cafe with a friend that he will marry the first woman who walks in.

Died in a car crash, Paolo is allowed to come back to life for 92 minutes more, thanks to a miscalculation made by Heavenly accountants. He decides to use this newfound time on Earth to fix his mistakes as a father and husband.

During the evaluation of a plot of land, surveyor and distressed single mother Lucia meets a woman who claims to be Mary, the Mother of God.