The weight of his confession sank into every listener. Social media exploded. Hashtags were already trending before the feed even ended. Newsrooms fell into chaos. Government lines rang nonstop.
Then—just as suddenly as it had appeared—the broadcast went black.
A few seconds of static. Then every screen returned to its regular programming.
Silence followed.
It was like the world had collectively forgotten how to breathe.
Did that just happen?
The senator? The senator?
People stared at one another in disbelief. Some replayed the video. Others just stood frozen in place.
And back in his office, Senator Alphonse Reed's eyes slowly blinked as the system's control left him. The blank stare faded. His body trembled as though waking from a trance.
He looked around the room in confusion.
"What… what just happened?"
He clutched his chest, then looked up at Kai, terrified.
"I never said that. I would never say that. That's not true. That's never going to happen!"
