Power Through Fear

Desperation turned to fury. The politicians, once smug in their untouchable status, had only one play left—destroy the truth before it destroyed them. Reform was never an option. To change would mean admitting guilt, and that was something they could never afford. Instead, they turned their full force against those who dared expose them.

Journalists who broke ranks and spoke the truth were swiftly silenced. Some disappeared without a trace, others met with unfortunate "accidents." Whispers of assassinations became shouts, but the regime dismissed them as "conspiracy theories," even as bodies piled up. The government had always wielded power through fear, but now it did so brazenly, openly, no longer concerned with maintaining a façade of legitimacy.

Dissenters—whistleblowers, independent reporters, rogue politicians—found themselves branded as enemies of the state. They were accused of treason, terrorism, and "crimes against democracy." Laws were rewritten overnight to criminalize resistance. Armed agents raided homes in the dead of night, dragging critics away under the cover of darkness.

The internet, once a tool of control, had turned against them. Despite their best efforts to censor, to shadow-ban, to throttle dissent, the truth kept slipping through their fingers. Encrypted networks sprang up, spreading damning leaks and evidence of their corruption faster than they could erase it. Every attempt to control the narrative only confirmed what the people already knew: the government had become the enemy.

They declared martial law, citing "threats to stability." Protests were outlawed. Mass arrests followed. Cities burned, not from riots, but from government crackdowns that made no distinction between the guilty and the innocent. The regime had chosen war against its own people rather than accountability.

But fear was a weapon that had lost its edge. The people had already seen too much, suffered too long. The politicians thought they were quelling rebellion. In truth, they were lighting the fire that would consume them.