Chapter 89 The Broadcast
They set up in the most public place they could find: Times Square.
“You’re insane,” Jessica said, but she was already positioning cameras. “Absolutely insane.”
“That’s the point,” Holt replied. “They can’t disappear us if we’re surrounded by ten thousand witnesses and streaming to fifty million people.”
It was 8 AM and Times Square was filling with morning commuters, tourists, and street performers. Normal people living normal lives, unaware that in thirty minutes, the world was about to change.
Ariella sat in a folding chair, with Elena on her lap and Aiden beside her, three cameras pointed at them. Jessica is behind the equipment. Holt is coordinating security with his team of twelve former military personnel, all with grudges against the network.
“Five minutes,” Jessica called. “We’re going live on every platform simultaneously. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. Plus I’ve got feeds to CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, and forty other networks. Someone will pick this up.”
“And if they shut us down?”
“They’ll try, but I’ve routed through servers in seventeen countries, Kill one, ten more pop up. They can’t stop this.” She looked at them. “You ready?”
No. Ariella wasn’t ready. She was terrified, Her hands were shaking and Elena was fussy, sensing her mother’s fear.
But ready or not, time was up.
“We’re live in three… two… one…”
The camera’s red light blinked on.
Ariella looked directly into it. Imagined millions of people on the other side. Watching. Judging. Deciding if she was credible or crazy.
“My name is Ariella Hayes Frost,” she began. Her voice was steadier than she felt. “Forty-eight hours ago, I learned that my brother was murdered as part of a conspiracy involving government officials, corporate executives, and law enforcement. In the next hour, I’m going to show you proof, video evidence, financial records, and Testimony from people inside the network.”
She paused.
“Some of you will think this is fake, Conspiracy theory, Deepfake technology, That’s what they’re counting on. They’ve already prepared counter-narratives. By this afternoon, you’ll see news stories calling us domestic terrorists, mentally unstable, dangerous radicals.”
Aiden leaned forward.
“But before they can spin this, we want you to see the truth. Unedited, Unfiltered. Then you can decide for yourself.”
Jessica switched feeds. The first video appeared on screens around Times Square. Senator Morrison ordering Ethan’s death, People on the street stopped and Stared Pulling out phones.
“That’s Senator Morrison,” Aiden narrated. “Chairman of the Finance Committee. Ordering the murder of a twenty-year-old college student because he witnessed illegal financial transfers.”
Next video. The former Vice President authorized Catherine Frost’s death.
Gasps from the crowd. Someone shouted, “Holy shit!”
More videos were aired, more faces revealed. A Supreme Court Justice, A Fortune 500 CEO, and the President’s Chief of Staff, all casually discussing murders, cover-ups, and evidence destruction.
The crowd in Times Square was growing. Hundreds of people now. Phones recording The giant screens showing their broadcast.
“These people have killed at least seventy-three individuals over thirty years,” Ariella continued. “They’ve embezzled billions, corrupted every institution meant to protect us. And they’ve done it because they believed they were untouchable.”
“They were wrong,” Aiden said.
A commotion at the edge of the square, Police cars arriving, Lots of them.
Holt’s voice in their earpieces: “NYPD. Probably ordered to shut this down. Keep talking. We’ve got maybe five minutes.”
Ariella spoke faster. “We’ve uploaded all evidence to secure servers. Encryption keys distributed to journalists worldwide. If anything happens to us, everything goes public automatically. The network can’t stop this by killing us anymore.”
Police were pushing through the crowd now, but the crowd wasn’t cooperating. People were watching the screens. Watching the evidence. Starting to understand.
“That’s Senator Morrison!” someone yelled. “He’s on video ordering a murder!”
“This is real,” another person shouted. “This is actually real!”
The police reached their position. “You need to shut this down. Now.”
“We’re exercising our First Amendment rights,” Holt said calmly.
“You’re under arrest for…” The officer stopped. Looked at the screens. Saw Senator Morrison’s face. “What is this?”
“The truth,” Jessica said. “And it’s being watched by sixty million people right now. You really want to arrest them on camera?”
The officer hesitated and spoke into his radio. Listened. His face changed.
“My orders are to bring you in. By force if necessary.”
“Then you’ll have to do it in front of the world,” Aiden said. “And everyone will see it. Everyone will know you’re protecting murderers.”
More police started arriving but also more civilians gathered. The crowd was massive now. Thousands of people, all watching, all recording.
A woman pushed through to the front. The early sixties, Professional clothes, and a Familiar face.
“Dr. Sarah Brennan,” Aiden said, recognizing her. “Former Deputy Attorney General.”
“I resigned three years ago,” Dr. Brennan said loudly, addressing the cameras as much as them. “Because I was ordered to bury an investigation into financial corruption. I was told it came from the top, that continuing would end my career.” She looked at the screens showing the videos. “I’ve been waiting for someone to do this, to finally expose them.”
Another person stepped forward. “Michael Torres. Former SEC investigator. I was fired for getting too close to shell companies connected to this network.”
“Amanda Liu, Journalist. I was writing about corruption until my source was murdered and I was told to drop it.”
“Robert Chen, FBI. I tried to investigate and was transferred to Alaska.”
One by one, people came forward. Professionals who’d been silenced, who’d seen pieces of the network, who’d been threatened into compliance.
The police were surrounded now, actually Outnumbered and the crowd began chanting: “Let them speak! Let them speak!”
Ariella’s earpiece crackled. Holt: “Holy shit. You’re trending number one worldwide. Eighty million viewers. A hundred million. This is the biggest live stream in history.”