The Online Government War

[Look, if you want honest and brutal criticisms for whatever you do, go to the internet. The movie you've watched sucks but everyone's glorifying it? Go to the internet, see how you prove your point or see how dogshit other people's point. You invent something for goofs and laughs or you're a nerd believing you can contribute to something? Fuck your professor (I mean that as a curse) Go to the internet and there will be those who appreciate your humor or offer you better solutions or advice. Your wife cheats on you? Fuck her (pause) go to the internet and see how clever people are in orchestrating revenge for your cuck ass. I bet that their engineered plan is so thrilling that it may become your new fetish.] -goldfish_0332

....

["Why do you think the government isn't as possessive as they are in real life?"]

[That's simple, they know that they can't control how people think of them no matter how hard they try to chuck our mentality to their cogwheels.]

[So what's the connection? They can still apply some forceful things to us right.]

[Well yeah, the 4020's was pretty much a cyber dystopia that everything was overly censored, you can't critique anyone, and everything such as likes and dislikes are hidden, shadowban everywhere and of course what happened to the "Maker" legendary user.]

[Thanks to the Musical Revolution, Exrace was pretty much able to snug a bit of their authority in support for the revolution, and the partnership with SJ was slowly entangled.] 3 wow reacted.

[Oh I remember that! Good fucking job to Exrace for that, now this is the time where we are so back and less censored.] 2 people wow reacted, 5 people heart reacted.

[This is where we can pile up our hatred towards them but if they try to censor the platforms again, they sure as hell prepare as people are already pissed at what happened to them in the past as silent sheeps.]

[If they try that again thinking they can, then I guess everyone will just explode over. I'll happily burn the world if I can fuck them over. What's to be proud of this city anyway?] 3 people sad reacted, 8 people heart reacted.

[Damn, I didn't realize that. Thinking about it… yeah, the past is pretty censored that its rare to look at the comment and posts during those years you said.]

[Told you. This is the era where criticisms are so back boys. I bet Li Xiyun's teenager fans are finally facing the flames of the internet. Fuck Xiyun, homo ass bitch, he's lukewarm as hell.] 3 people laughed.

_______________________

The internet is as unruly as words and primal as a free space where anonymity and irresponsibility coexist no matter the netiquettes your professors told you.

Every opinion, every fact, every information you want, will be here. There's the surface and the deep. In this world suffering from the slavery of corporations and slavery of their materialistic ideals, the cyber and virtual space is the closest thing to freedom in today's time. Thanks to the Musical Revolution.

Deep beneath the thousand comments and discussion, Miro's documents was spammed to all online forums and platforms, even to the private hacking groups, with the amount of dummy accounts the hacker used to ensure their maximum revenge.

Of course with how popular of a topic Starlium Gear is, it will inevitably garner attention even if a 4 year old child or 2 months old fresh newborn wrote this.

At first, most of the people ignored the document due to how long the thesis was, and no one really expected anything about it, it's just a false document made by a very dedicated story teller. 

But it didn't last before an online theorist found this spamming unusual and fact checked the author to see if it was really a credible researcher and in fact, it is indeed a valid researcher albeit not popular. 

With the benefit of the doubt, the same conspiracy theorist dedicated to hunt the one piece read his research.

In just mere seven minutes though, all the posts that were spammed by the dummy accounts were taken down and deleted instantly all across 24 platforms; neither the post nor the account survived. With the reason of spam or misinformation.

The few readers of this was shocked by the sudden disappearance of the source. Yet this event feels familiar.

Everyone who's reading it either read it online, or downloaded it but that was the problem.

Those who read it online were forcefully refreshed. Those who downloaded it were only able to download 214,000 out of 812,630 pages, and some of the downloads are skipping pages making it inconsistent due to the gaps.

Private forums started to find this suspicious thanks to the promotion of all the conspiracy theorists sharing information with each other.

A widespread trend asking if they have downloaded the specific page of this peculiar document about Starlium Gear had reached thousands, filling the gaps with the other users pages available, fact checking and tracing to continue their quest.

In just 4 hours, this spamming incident became the most popular discussion online. After 30 minutes, most of the internet platforms and social media were under maintenance, still able to post stuffs and view but not interact with others, and that's where the people had become increasingly alarmed about what they have found, reinforcing the credibility of this paper.

After all, websites do not shut down for just a mere spam overloading when only a insignificant amount of people reposted and posted a research like this, the post being deleted and banned for appearing in multiple accounts at once was pretty reasonable, but this one seems to be over the top for damage control. They never have done this unless the massive corpos are trying to hide their dirty histories by forcing censorship or propaganda ocean.

People had began to believe that the research was real, thrill filled these anonymous users and group efforts were made.

People from the surface and deep parts of the internet started making videos about it, those who have hyperspeed routers shared the pages online to those who weren't able to download the other pages. New platforms and domains were created for this discussion.

No one was able to fully download the whole copy due to the fact it was taken down immediately within 7 minutes, the copy was a compilation of texts, video documentaries, picture, live recordings, sound recordings and more but the quality is unbelievably high and sharp that its also a challenge how to decrypt it.

For 2 days, the increase in commercials and absence of this event on world news only made people more skeptical about the corporates. Did Exrace Media collaborated with SJ group again or where they also silenced? No further response from them after all, nor their content creators have responded.

Trying to censor the information regarding Starlium Gear and even keep warning people to not believe anything they knew online.

Entertainment shows and music views suffered the lowest scores in view count in digital media history due to this conspiracy. Everyone was so attracted by this storm that they don't care about their favorite idols' new songs.

Both human puritans and unhinged conspiracy theorists of Starlium Gear being the mind control tech of the government despite hating this news actually gathered even more traction for a wider array of people to step in on the trend.

People created new websites just to talk about this and at the same time, more and more of those websites were being purged simultaneously.

The users within deep dive of history found Miro's identity aa the researcher being the same of that legendary internet user who revealed the said possible location of the Starlium Gear had matched. Although his first post was proven false as XZ labs found nothing on the said location he said, it is clear that through the personal recordings and diary he left that he has the same belief and cringy writing as his first post.

Within 78 hours of Miro's publicity, the very first online war was literally against the government.

On day 3, people formed cluster groups to read further with their creative techniques assigning pages to their members to efficiently break down the information, at the same time, the big red button of the government was launched.

[Due to the online hysteria that caused disturbance among the public due to the misinformation spreading around, the city of Stelaris, Mugen, and Solaris will halt the activity of all cyber and digital space indefinitely until the source of this hysteria were cleared for the users to safely browse and explore again.]

[Please, do not believe everything on the internet. Think before you click.] -SJ interlink security. Messages delivered by the mayor of Stelaris, Mugen and Solaris.

They threaten to shut down the internet and digital spaces indefinitely to stop this global hysteria of misinformation and if that wasn't enough. Commercial shows dedicated to berate the people feeding into the lies and counter misinformation were released, of course, advertisement and commercials became handy as well.

Those who are trying to watch anything related to Starlium Gear, riddling every 21 seconds with ads to annoy the hell out of anyone trying to watch. And with the maintenance of these platforms and social media, no one could react or comment at anything. The algorithm was forcefully altered for the sake of burrowing Starlium Gear.

Day 4-6. This is the first time in 20 years that the megacorporations had really been this active again. It really took a blow on them to expend so much effort. The people had just realized how capable they really are in cutting off informations for the public to learn.

Most of the people who work doesn't care at all or were already warned to stay away from the internet with a false crap story to scare them or their child away from it. Confiscations of mobile phones and emails had also become a norm. A lot of workers who resisted are immediately terminated unemployed and those who comply received astronomic bonuses that really made a lot of people regretful and resentful.

Orchestrated crimes in the street had been executed, the media blamed the crazy trend that happened on the internet without giving any context. It's just an empty ad hominems, written so sophisticated to evoke anger to the common mobs driven by their soft empathy. Do much effort even faking news about the outburst of the economy just to justify the raise and bonuses that the workers who complied and are going to comply with.

Media outlets begin promoting screenings of people to enter in raffles of creating new emails and writing how misinformations can risk chaos to society and spam it all over their exclusive link to chance a win of 8 million Corium.

Posting returned to normal but a lot of users fell to this trap as no one can see what they've posted and their accounts froze, including their computers. Viruses had been used.

Such digital warfare against the government and the people, however it will only grow backfiring at them. This is a resentment tempered by time, this provocation against the people as the government and corpos are just  telling them that they are dumb and stupid and should've believed them instead of this random research. 

People online became more pissed and so motivated to the point that they hacked a local streaming show to show a clip of videos from the actual research of Miro. The pioneers that raised the Musical Revolution at the beginning had returned to the discourse of this conflict and once again willing to help the people.

Day 7, the internet shuts down, but the people are still clever, printing machines boomed their business from exchanging messages and meet ups.

Day 8-9, someone revived the old school cellular technology, the government countered with a release of public order quarantine and curfew due to the sudden increase of people's volume that crime became much more rampant than before. Gangs from the Twilight zone had suddenly appeared from the 3 cities which rarely interfere with others.

This further pissed people off as such shallow reasoning only further proves that the authorities are too incompetent in their security that they need prosecution to cause a global quarantine around the whole Rhythms. They believed that these gangs were hired by these corporates to patrol the streets.

The users know that even these corpos are trying their best to halt their movement. Because this is not a war against them common folks, but this is a race on who will get there first.

Day 10, a lot of users tried their luck trying to go over Twilight City, but even the migrations were so strict that they were arrested snd was never heard again. A lot of users from deep web are from Twilight zone however so they warned people to not try to cross over just to get more freedom. The city is dangerous and the meet ups that occur here are very rare as the other side might be a corporate spy.

Day 11, the compilation of documents is almost over, people that had created their own groups and ' 'The People's Corps' ' or the companies that rose during the music revolution along with the pioneers that grew on people's hearts had also began to move to set up teams on finding where the location of the Starlium Gear is. Despite the incomplete paper, they had gathered the most basic idea of the research.

Starlium Gear Legacy was a false promise that the Maker hid to the people just like how their history and reality was hidden to them that not even the corpoids knew and even then, they do not care enough to know. The era of the Maker hid a lot of things from them. That's what Miro's research said. It was an absurd claim and despite the evidence present, the question of "why is it hidden and why is Starlium Gear dangerous?" was never answered. Probably in the other pages but they will never know. Both the corpos and the internet users lament on this impulsive action.

Despite their efforts decrypting the paper and getting their answer. People are divided on what they've found. Some refuse to believe that the Starlium Gear was dangerous as the researcher said, most are curious on why so they will still try to find it, some stopped pursuing after all, they've gotten their answer and if someone who wrote a total of 800 thousand plus page told them that it was dangerous, then it is dangerous and unfortunately, only few are dedicated to try to protect it but even those group are still hesitant.

The internet users had been greatly weakened by this divide.

The government issued a full scale martial law spending all soldiers in the street, curfew and 12 hours quarantine. But they sure know what's going to happen the next following night. They are preparing for the next transition of this war.

The People's Corps and old heroes that started the Revolution had risen again to fight for the people.

"Those corpos won't be getting their way and we will not stay and do nothing either. Tonight, anarchy will unfold and not a single one will regret shedding their blood."

"P.S: This gonna be historical lmao, bet your ass!"

-Short Diary about the Starlium Gear research incident 

-Printed in Larex Paper Shop. 

...

Under the dark shadows illuminated by the light of the night, in that room, a figure stood alone to the shadows devours Xyres' who's kneeling behind him.

"You're telling me that not only did Corinth escape our grasp permanently, but the whole operation became meaningless because some no-name smugglers published the documents online?"

"I'm sorry for our incompetencies."

"....."

The figure remained silent, nor moving yet Xyres is afraid to make a glance even at his feet. But he still needs to reason to lighten up this heavy precadiment he's in.

"Although we are still able to recover the chip Miro had given to Corinth! It is a little damaged but the intelligence team are working full time in recovering and encrypting it."

But the figure just sneered.

"At the cost of three high end 80 billion Corium terminators helplessly incapacitated by a 18 million cyborg body of the former Alpha Terminus 00: Corinth."

"...." Xyres bit his lips in shame, a suffocating fury swells up to his brain.

"I can't believe it... Even at his very first newborn and cyborg body, Corinth reached such a title with a mere 10 billion Corium budget. Lower than the cost of today's railguns."

Smoke scatters in the dead silent air, the beam of light in the window clearly emphasizes the figure and red timbers outline in his shoulders.

"Everytime we tighten his leash by degrading his components, he still manages to maintain his unparalleled skills. Even if we keep trying to damage his modules, he still manages to find a way to be sane yet still the incredible Corinth that always succeeds in his mission."

"....." Xyres can't say anything back, his pride is hurt but he needs to endure his failure.

Xyres just like the other terminators that partcipated in that fight are all new generations with better enhancements, better gears, implants and processing power. They are still cyborgs but because of their strong suits and abilities of their weapons that they don't need to protect their memory module at all.

The new generations completed countless tasks, defeated and replaced the older generations and decommissioned many skilled fighters in SJ group in return, they were taken care of better and enjoyed higher privileges.

However despite that, all of their doctrines, fighting abilities and battle intellect are all based from a very old cyborg that couldn't pale to compete against their arsenals.

Corinth. All of his skills were recorded and saved to their algorithm, no matter how they fight, they can imitate his moves automatically, yet none of them were able to improve or surpass his. And despite countless battles, Corinth is still able to come out on top with his outdated technology.

"The creation of Corinth during those times was definitely a bottleneck for our company's weaponry, he is the reason why all of you are better than him in terms of components."

The figure chuckled.

"Haha... But the fact that the three of you, 80 billion Corium cyborgs were sliced in half by an old caliber fire speaks a lot on why he is a legend and a threat. He escaped the death trap you all made, he succeeded his mission and yet again escaped our grasp fully by transferring his consciousness..."

"I'm sorry, I will become better..."

"You should be. I will kill you before the CEO kills me." It was sarcastic but it was a threat as behind the shadows of that room, a blood gleam of thirsty eyes lurks. The gaze alone overloads his processor with the simulation of fear, he wouldn't dare to move.

"If it wasn't for the breakthrough of our virus mech type research, all of us would've suffered and been played by a mere tick."

The figure lit his cigarette, the weak ember momentarily illuminated the wire mess of a monster slithering in the ceiling, dragging 3 mutilated bodies across, focused at Xyres with anticipation.

"You did well but that's all. You're no way near him without your little tricks."

"....."

"Steal the Stellar Gear immediately. They already released the vicinity location right? Whether you fail or not, my last bit of leniency hopefully won't be wasted. You know that I'm being generous right?"

"I certainly won't disappoint you again."

"Leave." The figure monotonously commanded him.

"Yes sir."

Xyres walks away slowly and carefully, not making any noise to disturb that figure and the monster above him, even until the doorstep, the figure shadow was still behind him, looking over and observing meticulously.

The trepidation he felt was simulated to him by his module. Xyres made a call while walking away from the eerie hallway to calm himself.

"This is Xyres, the possible location was sent to the intelligence team. Prepare for the maximum quarantine level. We are going to expect the old rebels to assist the resistance…"

...

Back to that same room, the figure remained unmoving, it's metallic voice and faceless figure reflects the light of the city.

"Starlium Gear, fascinating isn't it Miro…? If you just stopped your nonsense and joined us, then maybe your wishes would've been fulfilled. But you created all of this drama just to stop us from pursuing it? You're being unreasonable and foolish to think that something will change."

"And oh dear Corinth... Great job escaping us. Truly from the bottom of my heart I will miss you. The old CEO will never treat you like a garbage but it is what it is now. Be safe."

The room closes its curtains completely enveloped by darkness.

"I'll definitely see you soon, hopefully not in the Starlium Gear."

.....