Location: Aurora Hills – Truth Node Lab, 5:12 AM
Jihye typed quickly, eyes scanning seven monitors at once. Lines of code scrolled by—clean, open, uncompromising.
Behind her, Baek Yunseo sat cross-legged, cross-referencing live input streams with historical public sentiment data. Despite the fatigue under his eyes, he looked more alive than ever.
> "We're calling it the Truth Node," Jihye explained.
"A global mirror. It doesn't push messages. It reflects outcomes.
Every decision. Every failure. Every success. Live. Raw."
Sena entered, holding two coffees. She handed one to Baek.
"Show the world everything. Let them decide."
Baek smiled faintly.
> "The truth… unfiltered. Brave."
---
Jiwoo stepped in next.
> "Is the infrastructure ready?"
Jihye nodded. "The first activation can go live within 72 hours. I built the node with no backdoor. Not even you can modify it once it launches."
Jiwoo looked at her, then out the window.
> "Good. That's how it should be."
But before he could say more—
The alert came.
---
[GLOBAL NODE ALERT – PEACE ZONE FAILURE: PARIS – NODE 14]
[ALERT – PEACE ZONE FAILURE: NAIROBI – NODE 21]
[ALERT – PEACE ZONE FAILURE: ISTANBUL – NODE 19]
The screen flashed red three times.
Jihye's fingers flew over the keyboard. "All three zones just dropped below minimum threshold. Community leaders arrested. Schools shuttered. Media blackout."
Eunsol rushed in from the hallway, tablet in hand. "They're blaming us. Already. Multiple news agencies are calling the Peace Nodes 'social stress zones' now. They're saying our influence destabilized governments."
Jiwoo's jaw tightened.
> "They're sabotaging our legacy… before we can show them the truth."
---
Location: Paris – Just Hours Before
A small food-sharing program in the 18th arrondissement—run by local youth, funded anonymously by Jiwoo's node—was raided.
Police found planted evidence: offshore donation links, encrypted instructions claiming to be "from Jiwoo's circle," urging rebellion.
It was fake.
But it worked.
Within an hour, the zone was labeled a "foreign manipulation cell."
---
Location: Nairobi
Community gardens burned overnight.
Anonymous "citizen footage" blamed foreign agents.
Peaceful youth organizations dissolved under pressure. The node went dark.
---
Location: Istanbul
A fake "leak" claimed the Peace Node distributed anti-government flyers. None existed. But that didn't matter.
The story caught fire.
---
Back in Aurora Hills – Emergency Meeting
Mirae, normally gentle, slammed her hand on the table. "They're destroying everything. Lying and making the world think it's us."
Noeun sat quietly, fists clenched.
Yoori paced. "This is a full-scale campaign. Global. Coordinated. We're being framed by people who want peace to fail."
Jihye nodded grimly. "It's not just sabotage. It's reputation collapse. If three zones fall, the rest get questioned. Even if we're innocent, perception becomes reality."
Baek added, "And with AURA-9 out there pretending to be peace? They'll offer it as the replacement. Clean. Controlled."
Sena turned to Jiwoo. "What's the plan?"
---
Jiwoo looked at the countdown timer: 70 hours to Truth Node launch.
He spoke calmly.
> "We don't fight lies with louder truths."
> "We fight lies with witnesses."
---
Operation: "Echo Hands"
That night, the Circle activated a secret protocol—an idea Jiwoo had prepared months ago but never used.
> "Echo Hands" was a simple concept:
> Every person we've helped. Every village. Every school. Every elder. Every child.
Let them speak—not through us.
But as us.
They sent one message:
> "If our work meant something to you—share it.
Not with drama.
But with memory."
---
Within 24 Hours – The World Responds
> A nurse in Argentina posted a photo of a medical kit donated anonymously after her hospital collapsed.
A librarian in Egypt shared a video of children reading books funded by a silent donor.
A mother in Indonesia uploaded her daughter's restored home after a monsoon—built without a single reporter.
A teacher in Ghana uploaded lesson plans handwritten by Eunsol.
The stories flooded social media.
Uncoordinated. Pure. Real.
The hashtag began trending again:
> #PeaceWitness
---
The Enemy Responds
Dr. Elias Cho watched from his private suite, eyes narrow.
> "They're using gratitude as proof."
His assistant asked, "Should we escalate?"
He stared at the screen.
> "No. We'll bury the node before it breathes."
---
Back at Aurora Hills – The Sabotage Hits Home
Just as they began preparing to launch the Truth Node…
The power flickered.
Jihye froze. "Local interference. Someone just spiked our outer grid."
Sena jumped up. "Backup lines?"
Baek shook his head. "Corrupted."
The screen flashed:
> [Warning: Node Launch Sequence Interrupted – Attempting Override]
Eunsol activated emergency firewalls.
Mirae yelled from the hallway, "Our external data relay just fried. Someone physically tapped the fiber line!"
They were under attack.
Not with weapons.
With silence.
---
Jiwoo stood. Calm. Unmoving.
> "Prepare the mobile core."
Jihye blinked. "You mean the satellite variant? We've never tested it."
> "We test it now."
---
Location: Mount Halla – Seogwipo, Jeju Island – 14 Hours Later
In a remote mountain outpost beneath an inactive observatory, the Circle worked under pouring rain.
They brought the mobile core of the Truth Node—powered by satellite, untouchable by ground-level sabotage.
Jiwoo looked up at the stormy sky.
No drones. No enemies. Just truth waiting to breathe.
---
Final Scene – System Activation
> [Truth Node – Mount Halla – Initialized]
[Begin Global Mirror Pulse… Now.]
One by one, the data lit up.
> Not graphs.
Not scores.
But stories.
Raw footage.
Lives changed.
Successes and failures—without edits.
The Truth Node didn't hide imperfections.
It exposed growth.
The world began watching.
And something stirred.
A quiet, undeniable shift.
> "Peace is real. Because it's messy. Because it doesn't ask to be perfect.
It just asks to begin."
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