Chapter 558 - 262: Muffled Thunder
Pittsburgh. The Mayor’s Office.
Leo’s phone rang. He answered it, but before he could even speak, a sharp, interrogating voice came through the line.
"Mayor Wallace."
It was the voice of Richard Miller, the COO of the Republican National Committee.
"I’m a man who values his word. I thought we had an understanding, which is why I fended off those people from Silicon Valley for you."
"Just last night, the heads of public policy from Meta and Google were sitting in my office. They had a thick stack of data reports, alleging that a massive bot network was attacking members of Congress."
Miller’s voice was so loud it was starting to distort.
"I buried those reports for you. I told those tech giants that this was a normal expression of public opinion, that it was freedom of speech, and I had them lower the priority for blocking your IP ranges to the absolute minimum."
"I even used my connections on the Senate Commerce Committee to hint that if they dared to carry out mass account suspensions at a time like this, I would launch an antitrust investigation."
"I did everything I promised."
"But how did you repay me?"
Miller paused, followed by the heavy sound of a hand slamming on a desk.
"Open your X and take a look! That Senator Coburn, the one who’s being mocked by millions of people with a money-counting sound effect dubbed over his videos—he’s one of us! He’s a senior Republican Senator, the pride of Kentucky!"
"Why are you attacking our own people? Have you lost your mind? We’re allies!"
Leo held the phone, one eyebrow raised slightly.
’Something’s not right.’
Miller was a top-tier politician, an old crocodile who had been swimming in the murky waters of Washington for decades.
A man like that knew better than anyone the importance of seeing an act through to the end.
If Sarah’s bot network only attacked Democratic lawmakers, only targeted the moderates, then any fool could see the Republican Party was behind it.
An attack from such a singular source would be instantly labeled by the media as partisan infighting, and it would lose all credibility.
Only by launching an indiscriminate attack, one that even bit their own Republicans, would this media firestorm look like a populist uprising from the grassroots.
This was public relations 101.
’Miller couldn’t possibly be ignorant of this.’
Besides, Miller’s tone was too exaggerated.
His anger had a theatrical quality to it, and the sound of the desk slam had been too deliberate.
In the next second, Leo figured it out.
Right now, in his office at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, Richard Miller was definitely not alone.
That unlucky Senator Coburn, or a representative of his, must be sitting across from Miller right now, red-faced and demanding an explanation.
’Miller has me on speakerphone.’
He had to act furious.
He had to chew me out in front of the victim to absolve himself of any connection to this.
Moreover, this unfortunate Senator Coburn was very likely a key figure within Taylor’s own faction.
A core member who not only knew about his connection to Leo, but may have even participated in some of the early information exchanges.
This was a performance for his own people, meant to quell any potential internal suspicion and instability.
A playful smile touched the corners of Leo’s mouth.
’If you want to put on a show, I’ll play along.’
Leo took a deep breath and adjusted his posture, making his voice sound full of grievance and anxiety.
"Mr. Miller, please, let me explain."
Leo’s voice grew frantic.
"It’s not my fault, really. The situation has spiraled out of control."
"Do you know how expensive it is to operate this system? To maintain this level of nationwide hype, we’re burning through cash every hour. Three of the overseas servers we’re renting crashed yesterday because the traffic was too high."
"What’s worse is that even though you put in a good word for us, the social media platforms’ algorithms are still automatically banning our accounts. Just a moment ago, my people told me that twenty thousand high-authority accounts we spent half a year cultivating were permanently banned by X."
Leo started pouring out his woes.
"Our resources are limited. Once the bot network is activated, it’s like a flood from a broken dam. It doesn’t distinguish between red and blue; it only recognizes keywords."
"If we were to manually exclude Republican lawmakers, we’d need to rewrite the underlying code. We don’t have the manpower or the time for that."
"Besides, Mr. Miller."
Leo’s tone shifted.
"You have to look at the bigger picture. If the public notices we’re only criticizing the Democratic Party, they’ll immediately realize it’s a political operation, and our intentions will be exposed."
"Senator Coburn’s sacrifice has value."
"It’s precisely because even he is getting attacked that the public believes this is genuine, cross-partisan outrage. It actually increases the credibility of our videos attacking the Democrats."
"We are paying a necessary price for our common goal."
The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds.
Clearly, Miller was observing the reaction of the third party in the room.
"A price?"
Miller’s voice was still stern, but the deliberate, theatrical quality had softened slightly.
"Mr. Mayor of Pittsburgh, I don’t need you to lecture me on political costs."
"I only care about results."
"Senator Coburn is very unhappy, and his friends on the Energy Commission are very unhappy."
"We give you resources, we give you cover, not so you can turn your guns on us."
"This friendly fire must stop."
Miller’s tone hardened, enunciating every word with emphasis.
"Listen, Wallace."
"I don’t care about your technical difficulties, and I don’t care about your damn algorithm excuses."
"Rein it in."
"Tell your mob of online thugs to keep their mouths shut."
"Do you understand?"
"Rein it in."
The three words echoed in the air.
CLICK.
The line went dead, replaced by a dial tone.
Leo slowly lowered the phone, the look of grievance and anxiety vanishing from his face instantly.
He stood up and walked over to the media and public opinion control center.
Sarah was standing before the command console.
"Sarah."
A slight smile played on Leo’s lips.
"Miller just called me."
"What did he say?" Sarah replied. "Did he tell us to stop?"
"He told us to ’rein it in.’"
Sarah paused for a moment. "So... do we need to take down the videos targeting Republican lawmakers? Should we narrow the scope of the attacks?"
"No."
Leo shook his head.
He walked over and looked at the constantly fluctuating outrage index on the screen.
In the lexicon of politicians, some words mean the opposite of what they say.
Miller needs this chaos.
The Republican Party needs this chaos.
As long as the chaos continued and the Democratic Party was bleeding, the small grievance suffered by Coburn was completely insignificant.
’Rein it in’ means ’don’t stop.’
"Ramp it up."
Leo gave the order.
"Miller is running cover for us, which means we’re heading in the right direction. The harder we hit, the murkier these waters get."
"Throw in all the backup accounts."
"It’s not just about Coburn anymore. Add every Republican lawmaker who supports the bill to the list."
Leo pointed at the screen.
"Turn the volume all the way up."
"Until every pane of glass in Washington shatters."
As the order was given, the center went into overdrive once again.
Leo watched the frantic data streams flickering across the screens as he unfolded a vast map in his mind.
"Mr. President," Leo called out softly in his consciousness.
"What is your assessment of the current situation?"
Roosevelt’s voice soon replied.
"A nationwide firestorm of public opinion has been thoroughly ignited."
"Over in Washington, the Republican Party is using this wave of public sentiment to launch an all-out assault on the ruling Democratic Party. The White House is having a very difficult time right now."
"Your plan is off to a perfect start."
Leo nodded.
"But it’s not enough."
Leo’s gaze shifted to Pennsylvania on his mental map.
"For the politicians in Washington, it’s enough for this fire to burn in the headlines. But for me, for us, the fire must burn on actual soil."
"We need to escalate things even further."
Leo’s mind raced, constructing the next phase of the plan.
"We’re going to make Pennsylvania the one place in all of America that no one can ignore."
"These current attacks, the online vitriol, even the harassment of senators—it’s all just a prelude."
"We need to keep increasing the pressure in this pressure cooker."
Roosevelt seemed to have read Leo’s mind. "You’re waiting for Luigi’s verdict."
"That’s right."
Leo admitted.
"The trial in Philadelphia is nearing its end. Based on Hart’s downgraded charge of third-degree murder, combined with the public pressure we’ve manufactured, the verdict will be out soon."
"That will be the perfect moment to detonate this bomb."
"Right now, all this anger is fragmented and emotional."
"The moment the verdict is handed down, the moment that young man is actually put in handcuffs and sent to prison."
"All those emotions will find a physical outlet."
"At that point, we can truly begin our plan."
Leo’s finger traced unconscious circles in the air.
"We’re going to consolidate this scattered anger into a flood powerful enough to crash against the State Government."
"We’re going to create a suffocating atmosphere in Pennsylvania."
"We’ll make every official, every police officer, every person trying to maintain the old order feel the ground burning beneath their feet."
"We have to keep applying pressure, more pressure, and then even more pressure."
"Until it’s all released at once."
Roosevelt let out a low chuckle.
"So, is it finally time to incite a popular revolt?"
"No, this isn’t a revolt."
Leo corrected him.
"I just want the people to exercise their final right to resist."
Leo looked at the red peaks on the screen, each one representing a wave of anger.
He knew the real storm was yet to come.
The current uproar was merely the rumble of thunder before a downpour.
What he had to do was set up all the lightning rods before that bolt of lightning struck.
And plant them across every inch of Pennsylvania’s soil.