The Respite, A Dive Bar In Boomtown
Date: 1083-248
Present in this bar are the bartender Nostrum; Jerdehl Nishka, age 13; Birien Lenka, recruiter for the Ine Givar terrorist cell, now deceased; Enos Nishka, now deceased; Roven Studovic, Ine Givar footsoldier, now deceased; Crow Studovic, Roven's wife, now deceased; and Kem Fuller, Five Sisters Subsector Chief of the Ine Givar, at large and wanted for numerous crimes.
Jerdehl sits down at the table where she was recruited. She looks at Enos. "What's wrong?"
Enos: "It's on all the news channels. Nostrum, show her."
The pretty blonde newscaster Sharip Yelp stares earnestly at the camera. "... And to recap, this has been a great day for the Imperium, as news has been received of a major defeat for the cowardly scum of the Ine Givar at Garda-Vilis, whose bodies were found outside the Garda-Vilis Scout base on the surface."
"The limited information we have indicates that five terrorists have been found dead, with their throats slit. We have not received news about who they were. Presumably, Imperial Naval Intelligence has withheld this information as part of their ongoing, tireless pursuit against those cowards who would dare to harm the Imperium and our way of life."
"Oh."
Enos: "I know."
Fuller: "What's done is done. I feel sick, too."
"What can we do?"
Lenka: "Not much. Impies have got their eyes and ears out all over, waiting for one of us to lose it and throw a Molotov cocktail at something, and then they can strike back at the rest of us."
Fuller: "Lenka's right. If we launch a reprisal today, chances are we'll be sporting fashionable new bullets in our heads by tomorrow, courtesy of Imperial Navy Intelligence."
Enos: "And they'll crow about the great victory of the Imperium against treasonous cowards again."
"But did you hear the way she touted the news? It made it sound as if she were encouraging the people to take up arms against those of us who are trying to free them from the yoke."
Fuller: "You are right. Divide and conquer. The rich and powerful sow the seeds of discord among the common herd, get us fighting one another rather than keeping our eyes on the prize - namely, them."
"And the media are keeping them all in line by feeding them this ... this propaganda, all the time."
Crow: "Roven and I have been thinking of something."
Fuller: "Go ahead."
Roven: "The media can pretty much say what they want without fear of reprisal. Freedom of speech guaranteed in the Articles of the Imperium, and all. But they stick to who they think are the winning team anyway." Roven sups his drink. "So let's show the public the enemy's true face."
Fuller: "Tell me more."
Crow: "I've been cultivating a sympathiser in the studios. I've got editing software. The latest thing, from Mora University. Really realistic deepfake software. I've used it to create a deepfake of Sharip Yelp."
Roven: "I have brought it here." He shows the team a data wafer. "We know that Sharip never does her shows live. She spouts her propaganda into a camera hours before every so-called live broadcast."
Enos: "So you want to do, what?"
Roven: "We get somebody to pass this on to the sympathiser, who will sub it for whatever guff she comes up with for tonight's propaganda burst."
Crow: "We're going to need a courier to pass the message on. Someone they've never seen before."
Fuller: "Do you think you can get past their security?"
"I can try."
Enos: "Jerdehl, no!"
"Enos, I've got to. It's the only way."
