A young man called Finch Tucker starts a forum called "Kennel District" with friends from college, some time after the controversial American annexation of Canada. He hopes one day that his younger brother, the surreptitious Nicholas "Nick" Tucker, inherits it.
Off the forum, several rebels brew on the messaging app "Sidewalk": unhappy with the moderation of Kennel District and the stifling attitude of Finch, former members of the forum Harry "Hotspur" Percy and Canadian separatist Owen Glendower brew and wait for an opportunity to strike.
Three months pass, and Finch begins to fear that Nicholas isn't up to the task of taking over the forum after Finch graduates from college at Kutztown University. All Nick does is play tennis and screw around with members of the Eastcheap Tavern threads. Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania, and Finch is beginning to buckle under the weight of opposition to his reign.