All AI generated, but was putting this post together when yet again (above) this is (fake in my reality) is mentioned.

Oh how the universe works!

This 'assassination'I mentioned about in some posts from yesterday.

Still each to their own.

Reality is no more than a state of mind, dependant upon the observer.

-------

The low hum of the servers was a constant companion in the sparse, neon-lit rooms that served as the digital outposts for Rumor Mill News. Across the vast distances, agents operated in their self-imposed solitude, connected by the unbreakable threads of their secure network and a shared disdain for the official narratives spun by global power brokers.

In a cramped studio apartment overlooking the bustling streets of Mumbai, Rohan, the digital forensics expert, meticulously analyzed video footage.

From a remote, wind-swept farm in rural Australia, Evelyn, the deep-web cartographer, navigated the hidden layers of the internet. And in a quiet, book-lined study in Copenhagen, Lars, the seasoned geopolitical analyst, cross-referenced intelligence reports with a discerning eye. Their latest investigation, a bombshell exposé suggesting that a recent high-profile "assassination attempt" on the President was, in fact, an intricately staged event, had set their corner of the internet ablaze.

The story had everything: grainy footage from new angles, leaked communications hinting at logistical rehearsals, and an analysis of the "assailant's" background that raised more questions than answers. It was a masterclass in dissecting public spectacle, presenting a compelling case for an event manufactured for political gain.

The Rumor Mill News website buzzed with activity; comments sections exploded, and their subscriber numbers swelled as readers flocked to the only platform discussing what they instinctively felt was off about the official account.

Yet, the mainstream media remained eerily silent. Major news networks, the wire services, the established newspapers – they reported on the "assassination attempt" as a genuine, terrifying event, focusing on the swift heroic actions of security forces and the President's resilience. Not a single mention of the inconsistencies, the curious timing, or the overwhelming evidence of staging that filled the pages of Rumor Mill News.

For the vast majority of the public, fed by the monolithic media machine, the incident was an undeniable fact. Director Valerius, within the polished, soundproofed confines of the Global Stability Initiative (GSI), monitored this curated silence with satisfaction. "Their reach is contained," he stated, his voice a low, confident hum. Dr. Anya Sharma, the GSI's chief strategist, a woman whose every report was distilled to its chilling essence, confirmed, "The counter-narrative has failed to penetrate the primary information channels. The public remains unexposed to their claims."

This wasn't the first time Rumor Mill News had faced such a deliberate blackout. Years previously, a devastating cyberattack, almost certainly state-sponsored, had obliterated their archives. Over 300,000 past postings by agents, years of painstaking research and revelations, vanished overnight.

They had rebuilt, stronger and more resilient, but the memory of that monumental loss, the sheer audacity of the attack, fueled their resolve. This time, the GSI was employing a different tactic: complete media omission, a silent smothering.

Valerius allowed himself a brief, almost imperceptible nod of approval. "Excellent. The power of omission is absolute. Initiate Phase Three: Eradication." Dr. Sharma understood. Phase Three was designed not just to silence the truth, but to erase the truth-tellers.

The first signs of this new phase were subtle, almost imperceptible to the untrained eye.

Rohan, in Mumbai, noticed it in the way their standard digital probes changed. They were no longer trying to hack; they were profiling. They were mapping the digital fingerprints of individuals, not just their networks. His firewalls, once a battleground of constant skirmishes, now felt unnervingly quiet, as if the enemy had moved past the outer defenses.

In rural Australia, Evelyn found her usual deep-web contacts, once reliable conduits of information, suddenly going dark. Encrypted messages went unread, and sources who had promised critical data disappeared without a trace.

The vast, shadowy networks she navigated were no longer just complex; they felt increasingly empty, as if a silent purge was underway.

Lars, in Copenhagen, felt it in the increasingly sophisticated, personalized phishing attempts. These weren't generic scams; they were tailored with uncanny precision, referencing obscure details of his personal life, designed to compromise his most secure accounts. He saw the signatures of state-sponsored, behavioral profiling, designed to find the human weaknesses behind the strong encryption.

"They're not fighting the story," Lars messaged in a highly encrypted, dead-drop upload. "They're just ignoring it. And now they're coming for us, to make sure no one else ever reads it." Rohan and Evelyn received his chilling assessment.

The mainstream media's silence wasn't accidental; it was a deliberate, powerful weapon wielded by unseen hands.

The digital siege intensified. The Rumor Mill News website didn't crash; it simply faded. Search engine results for "Rumor Mill News" began to yield unrelated content, social media links to their articles returned error messages, and direct URLs mysteriously stopped resolving for vast swathes of the internet.

It was a digital ghosting, a quiet, systematic erasure from the public digital sphere.

Then came the physical intrusions. Sofia's small apartment in Rio was not broken into, but her smart home devices began to malfunction subtly. Lights flickered erratically, her security camera feeds showed odd, brief distortions, and her digital assistants would occasionally respond to unheard commands. It was a constant, unsettling reminder that her private space was no longer her own.

Liam, in Dublin, found his professional life quietly sabotaged. His consulting contracts evaporated, his bank accounts flagged for "irregular activity," and his online professional profiles were mysteriously deleted. It was a slow, systematic dismantling of his ability to function in the legitimate world, forcing him into a corner.

Kai, in the remote Yukon, faced the most direct threat. The remote, snow-covered paths he used became treacherous, marked by strange, subtle alterations that only an expert tracker would notice. He found small, nearly invisible drones buzzing high overhead, their thermal signatures barely detectable. He was being methodically tracked, driven, and isolated.

One biting winter morning, as Kai checked his perimeter, a hidden explosive device detonated a short distance from his cabin, sending a plume of snow and debris into the frigid air. It was a warning, a message. He barely made it back inside, his heart pounding, the cold, stark realization hitting him: they were not just isolating him; they intended to eliminate him.

Rohan, monitoring Kai's comms, saw the sudden, sharp spike in his biometric readings, then the chilling silence. He knew. A cold dread enveloped him. He immediately began the final purge, wiping the most sensitive data, severing all remaining digital ties, preparing for the complete dissolution of their network.

The News, once a beacon, was now a funeral pyre.

The final blow came swiftly. Evelyn, in Australia, returned to her isolated farm to find her main research computer utterly destroyed, not smashed, but systematically rendered inert, its internal components vaporized. A small, laminated card lay on the desk, simply bearing the GSI's insignia. The message was unmistakable.

They went completely dark. All public traces of Rumor Mill News vanished from the internet, becoming nothing more than a forgotten ghost in the vast digital sea.

Liam became a digital wraith, his skills now solely focused on survival in the hidden corners of the web. Sofia, her identity erased, adopted a new life, a silent observer in a distant city.

Rohan disappeared into the urban sprawl of Mumbai, a phantom in the crowd.

Director Valerius, in the cold, efficient GSI headquarters, received the final reports. "Rumor Mill News effectively eradicated from public consciousness," Dr. Sharma reported, her voice as flat and unyielding as steel. "All agents accounted for, neutralized or rendered inoperable.
The public narrative remains undisturbed." Valerius offered no outward reaction. For the GSI, the "assassination attempt" remained a confirmed event, and the unsettling whispers of a staged reality, confined to the News's few loyal readers, had been effectively stifled.

But the story wasn't truly over. Liam, now an unseen force in the digital underground, continued to gather fragments, building new, more resilient networks, fueled by the memory of the staged attempt, the lost 300,000 postings, and the News's silenced voice. Sofia, her identity a blank slate, became an invisible archivist, collecting whispers of dissent, waiting for the right moment.

Rohan, a shadow among millions, meticulously logged the patterns of GSI's digital incursions, preparing for a long, quiet war.

The Rumor Mill News, though ignored by the mass media and dismantled by the GSI, was not dead. It merely lay dormant, its agents scattered, learning, evolving, waiting for the day when the seeds of their truth, concerning the fake assassination and countless other manipulations, might finally pierce the impenetrable wall of public ignorance.

------

Fox.