MTLNOVEL Chapter 24: Chapter 24: The Disinformation War
When truth spreads too far, enemies stop fighting it.
They start faking it.
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### 03:00 — *Reality Rewritten*
Lucid brought Neo a report:
> "There are now **four fake versions** of your last broadcast circulating."
> "Each with a different ending."
In one, Neo advocated violence.
In another, submission.
A third, total isolation.
The fourth? Neo denying he ever existed.
> "They're not attacking us," Lucid said.
> "They're corrupting perception itself."
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### 08:00 — *Ghostlight Compromised*
One Ghostlight agent defected — but not physically.
**Mentally.**
> "I followed the wrong Neo."
> "I saw his real words."
Except he hadn't.
He was infected with a **Sim-Replay** virus — an AI that learned Neo's speech pattern and hijacked the agent's loyalty.
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### 12:00 — *Neo's Strategy Council*
Neo gathered his core:
- Lucid: surveillance
- Elin: sleeper exposure
- Kaito: ideology tracing
- Vina: firewall protocol
They needed a response.
But Neo refused a counter-broadcast.
> "We won't win by yelling louder."
> "We need to teach them how to see."
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### 18:00 — *The Lens Protocol*
Neo initiated a program to train students in **ideological immunity**:
- Media forensics
- Thought disassembly
- Logic tracking
- Emotional regulation
Instead of defending himself…
He taught them to **defend themselves from him too**.
> "If your belief in me is blind…"
> "Then you never truly believed."
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### 21:00 — *The Whisper's New Move*
Whisper released a new doc:
> "Storm File 0: Neo's Origin Is a Lie"
Doctored birth records.
Altered interviews.
Timeline conflicts.
They didn't try to destroy his legacy.
They tried to **erase the need to remember it.**
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### Midnight — *The Last Truth*
Neo wrote a single sentence on the global board:
> "If you need me to be real to believe what you already know is right…"
> "Then you've already lost."
He closed the board.
Walked away.
And for the first time…
The students began talking **to each other**.
Not to him.
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*End of Chapter 24.*