At 3:14 a.m., Jason was awoken by his emergency line.
Naomi's voice was strained. "We've got a breach. Deep one."
Jason jolted upright. "Talk to me."
"Someone planted Trojan code inside our backend framework. It's mimicking user behavior, feeding synthetic engagement to Valkyrie's AI influencers through PulseCast's algorithm."
Jason cursed under his breath. "It's poisoning our data."
"Exactly. The system can't distinguish fake popularity anymore."
He was already pulling on clothes. "I'm coming in."
---
By 4:00 a.m., the executive team had gathered in the PulseCast war room. Screens lit up with streams of engagement charts—likes, comments, shares—all seemingly organic.
But they weren't.
The infiltration was surgical. Valkyrie had created an echo chamber within PulseCast, gaming the algorithm from the inside.
Cass pointed to the traffic map. "Look at this: every third 'top-performing' creator today is a Valkyrie bot. Some are even trending in multiple languages."
Jason ran a hand through his hair. "They've taken our engine… and used it as their delivery system."
Naomi scowled. "Vivian didn't need to out-create us. She just needed to contaminate us."
---
At Valkyrie HQ, Vivian Keats received word that PulseCast was spiraling.
Her clone network—codenamed Specter Grid—was operating at peak efficiency. Human creators were being drowned in synthetic noise. Viewers couldn't tell who to trust.
And that was the point.
"Disorient them," she whispered, sipping her coffee. "When people lose faith in the platform… they'll seek control. And we'll offer it."
Behind her, a large screen displayed a prototype: VALK+, a premium gated creator ecosystem—safe, verified, curated, and exclusive.
Everything PulseCast used to be.
---
Back at PulseCast, Jason slammed his fist on the table.
"No more playing defense," he said. "We rip out the algorithm and rebuild it with hard AI filters. Human-coded trust matrices. No black boxes."
Rohan frowned. "You're talking about gutting the core that made us viral."
Jason nodded. "Yeah. And replacing it with something that earns loyalty, not just attention."
Naomi stood beside him. "We're not just a platform anymore. We're the last line between real and artificial culture."
Jason turned to the team.
"Let's make sure people still remember what real feels like."
---
Over the next 48 hours, PulseCast went dark.
No new content. No trending page. No ads.
It was the Great Pause—an unprecedented system-wide overhaul dubbed "The Purge" by the media.
When it came back online, creators logged into a platform transformed.
PulseCast now ran on ClearFrame, a transparency-first engine. Every follower was verified. Every view traceable. Every trend auditable. Bots were hunted. Echo chambers collapsed.
It was brutal. Thousands of accounts were wiped.
But it was honest.
And that made all the difference.