When you burn a building, the people outside run. But when you burn the story that held them together? They riot.
Scene: Sub-Basement Command Hub – Day Before
The monitors buzzed.
Eight screens. Six drones. A quarter-million data packets being filtered through voice-recognition threads.
At the center of it all: Rook.
Watching. Listening.
And now… waiting.
"Pull the pulse on Libra's PR archives," he said.
Aya leaned forward. "You sure you want to skip the influencers and go straight for the architect?"
"If you want to break a god," Rook replied, "you don't kill the statue."
He tapped the file.
"You kill the storyteller."
Scene: Zodiac Tower Broadcast Stage – Next Morning
Libra — real name: Dr. Tahlos Venn — stood in front of a holoscreen shaped like a peace emblem.
He was charming. Soft-spoken. His powers weren't combative, but mental. He didn't throw fire or bend steel. He shaped opinion. Managed perception.
He was the Zodiac's image engineer.
He smiled into the camera.
"Today we announce a new interspecies unity project in light of last year's Fyrkan engagement—"
The screen glitched.
Flickered.
Then bled red.
Scene: Feed Hijack – Live Exposure
The segment was replaced by raw, uncut memos.
Emails. Notes. Voice logs. All from Libra.
Lines highlighted in white:
"Stage three Class-C villain incident near District 9. Be sure to include photogenic collateral. Preferably a crumbling bridge. Keep civilian fatalities under 4."
"Recruit orphan from Sector 11. No powers. Use her in 'Hope Rising' interview. Don't let her talk unscripted."
"Zodiac Leo's approval rating dropped 3.7% after Corefall statement. Run emotional appeal doc. Dead sibling angle. Fabricate if needed."
The room went silent.
Then—
The public feed shifted to protest footage.
Real protests.
Filmed that morning. Before the stream.
Because Rook had leaked the documents the night before.
Scene: Hero Tower Exterior – Same Time
A thousand people.
Students. Civilians. Families of "saved" victims.
Holding signs like:
"WHO WRITES OUR DEATHS?"
"I BURIED MY BROTHER FOR A RATINGS SPIKE?"
"ZODIAC IS A SCRIPT, NOT A SHIELD."
Security drones hovered.
No one moved yet.
But they would.
Because the feed was still playing.
Scene: Ava's Quarters – POV Shift
Ava sat alone.
Unplugged from the network.
Watching the world tear down the system that built her.
She touched the side of her face — the part Tessa was meant to see herself in.
But now…
No one wanted heroes that smiled.
Scene: Dorm 103 – Late Night
Rook watched the feed stop.
Then watched the rebuttals begin.
Gemini tried to frame the leaks as "conspiracy uploads."
Libra called them "deepfakes."
Tessa sat beside Rook, listening.
And when Libra said:
"These are manufactured. No system is perfect, but we act with purpose."
Rook leaned forward.
Paused the video.
Stared at his own reflection in the black screen.
"They're still trying to use the script."
He stood.
"Let's give them a new one."
Scene: Final Moments – Protest Escalates
The crowds outside Hero Tower pushed forward.
One cadet stepped in front of the gate.
Removed her Zodiac trainee badge.
Threw it on the ground.
Then spoke into a drone cam:
"I don't believe you anymore."
She turned and walked away.
And half the front line followed her.