Chapter 13: Corporate Injunction

👉 Previous Action: You chose to broadcast the unverified server logs directly onto social media networks immediately.

Desperation gnawed at Kien. He couldn’t wait. He and Marcus had assembled a fragmented compilation of the most incriminating text snippets they possessed, enough to paint a picture of Evelyn’s exploitation. It wasn’t the full, raw archive, but it was a start.

“We need to get this out now,” Kien urged Marcus. “Before she realizes what’s happening.”

Marcus hesitated. “It’s unverified, Kien. Automated algorithms could flag it as corporate disinformation, and Aetheris has deep pockets for legal teams.”

“We don’t have another choice!” Kien insisted, his voice tight.

Against Marcus’s better judgment, Kien initiated the broadcast. He created a burner account, uploaded the compiled screenshots and text snippets, and tagged major news outlets and tech journalists, casting the message into the vast, turbulent ocean of social media.

For a few exhilarating minutes, Kien felt a rush of vindication. Tweets started to appear, retweets multiplying. The story began to gain traction, a small ripple spreading across the digital waves.

Then, abruptly, it stopped.

An automated injunction, swift and absolute, hit the internet. Aetheris Tech’s legal department, notorious for its rapid response, deployed its algorithms. The posts vanished. Accounts were suspended. The digital ripple was flattened, erased as if it had never existed.

Hours later, as Kien walked out of the Aetheris building, two unmarked sedans pulled up. Uniformed officers emerged, their faces grim.

“Kien Doan?” one asked, his voice flat. “You’re under arrest for corporate espionage and intellectual property theft, related to an unverified leak of sensitive Aetheris Tech data.”

Kien’s blood ran cold. He tried to protest, to explain, but his words were cut short. He felt the cold steel of handcuffs click around his wrists. His phone was confiscated, his company badge shredded on the spot. He was processed, interrogated, and released on bail, but the damage was done. His name was now synonymous with corporate malice, his career irrevocably tainted, his reputation shattered beyond repair. Evelyn, of course, remained untouchable.