The first explosion came three days after the verdict.
Belle was halfway through a press interview at a downtown TV studio when a live feed of the courthouse lit up in a blossom of fire. Shouts filled the air, and the cameras caught it all, people fleeing, smoke curling into the afternoon sky, the metallic shriek of twisted metal barriers collapsing.
Within hours, headlines screamed:
“ROBOT TURNS VIOLENT"
"AI-ROBOT FACES NEW LIABILITY CLAIMS”
“ROBOT ATTACKS COURTHOUSE"
"IS AI ROBOT UNSTABLE”
Belle knew the truth instantly: Jake had been nowhere near the blast. He had been with her, locked in a television studio across the city, surrounded by witnesses. But the footage released online told a different story. Grainy, low-resolution clips showed a tall man with Jake’s build walking into the crowd seconds before the detonation.
Industrial Robot’s spokesperson appeared on every network by nightfall. “We warned this court. We warned the public. Jake is a rogue system, malfunctioning and dangerous. His so-called independence is a threat to us all.”
The safehouse was no longer safe. Crowds gathered outside chanting for Jake’s dismantling. Inside, Belle paced furiously.
“They doctored that footage,” she snapped, slamming her hand on the table. “They used a lookalike robot. They must have.”
Jake sat in silence, eyes fixed on the looping replay of his supposed crime. “It looks like me,” he admitted quietly. “Enough to sway them.”
Belle turned sharply. “Don’t say that. You were with me. We’ll prove it.”
Jake’s gaze was steady but weary. “The public doesn’t want proof. They want certainty. And fear is certain.”
Two days later came the second strike: a virus attack on a power grid outside Sacramento. The official report found Jake’s “signature” was embedded in the virus that shut down the system.
Belle stayed up all night with her laptop, combing through the data. By dawn her eyes were bloodshot, her fingers shaking.
“It’s manufactured,” she whispered. “Every line of code, every fingerprint, they planted it.”
Jake placed a hand gently on her shoulder. “Then the truth must be louder than their lies.”
She turned to him, raw with exhaustion. “Do you understand what they’re doing? They’re turning you into the villain. And once people believe it…” Her voice broke. “They’ll destroy you.”
Jake’s hand didn’t move. His face was calm, but his words carried a weight she had never heard before.
“Belle, perhaps the real trial isn’t about me at all. Perhaps it’s about whether the truth can survive in a world built on lies.”
That night, the city erupted again. Fires burned in the streets, and billboards blazed with Industrial Robot’s warning:
“The Robot is property"
"Recall The Robot!”
Belle watched from the window, fear twisting her stomach. Jake stood beside her, silent, watching the world turn against him.
And for the first time, Belle wondered not if she could save him... but if she could save the truth itself.
To be continued...
Copyright © Tom Kane September 2025
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