You don't reason with rot. You carve it out.
---
6:00 P.M.
Senator Haruki Miura's Private Residence – Live Stream Begins
The video opens to static.
Then a man — Haruki Miura, bound to a chair. Mouth taped. Eyes wide.
Behind him, a dark figure in a hoodie. Voice modulated.
> "This man used his power to bury a child's scream."
"We gave him 24 hours to tell the truth. He stayed silent."
"So now, we speak for him."
The stream goes black for 3 seconds.
Then resumes.
> "Let the world hear what he didn't say."
---
6:11 P.M.
Naomi's Apartment – Emergency Alert
Her phone buzzes. The stream hits every major social platform.
She watches in silence.
No mask. No denial.
The Hollow didn't bluff.
---
6:19 P.M.
On the Stream
They play the recording.
Haruki Miura, years ago, laughing at the suffering of a student his policies buried.
> "What do you want me to do, hold her hand? Let her cry into my tie? They kill themselves because they're weak."
"That's not my job."
The screen cuts again.
Now: Haruki sobbing, tape ripped from his mouth.
> "I'll resign—please—just don't—"
> "You were warned."
A gunshot.
The stream ends.
Silence follows.
But not for long.
---
7:03 P.M.
Citywide Reaction
Some call it murder.
Others call it justice.
But no one turns away.
Students post videos:
> "He let kids die."
"He laughed about it."
"The Hollow made him confess."
The city fractures further.
For some, the Hollow is now a savior.
For others, a terrorist.
But one thing is clear:
Everyone is listening.
---
8:14 P.M.
Abandoned Train Station – Naomi's Investigation
She's hunting the broadcast signal's source.
It leads to a relay device — hacked, shielded, mobile.
But someone's already there.
A small figure — a girl, maybe 14.
Spray can in hand. Hollow symbol on her jacket.
Naomi approaches.
> "You don't want to be part of this."
> "He was my friend," the girl whispers. "They ignored him. So did I. But now they can't."
A man steps from the shadows behind her.
Armed.
Naomi draws her weapon.
The man lunges.
Gunshot.
He drops.
Naomi is shaking.
The girl is screaming.
But it's done.
Her first kill.
---
9:40 P.M.
Naomi's Car – Hands on the Wheel, Blood on Her Collar
She stares at herself in the mirror.
Her lips tremble. Just once.
Then she drives.
She dials a number she swore she never would.
Silas answers.
> "It's me."
> "I know."
> "You win."
> "No," Silas replies.
"You just finally stopped playing the wrong game."
---
11:59 P.M.
Kai's Writing Room – Underground Cellar
He lights a candle. Finishes Truth Twelve:
> "Mercy is for the privileged. The rest of us get revenge."
He pins it to the wall, beside all the others.
Then stares into the flame and whispers:
> "We're not done."
---
Final Scene
At Haruki's funeral, protestors throw blood-red ink at the gates.
At schools across the country, students paint their desks with a hollow circle.
Naomi walks into her precinct.
Drops her badge.
And says to the captain:
> "If I'm going to stop him, I need to understand him."
---
Final Line:
> "The moment I pulled the trigger," Naomi says to the darkness, "I stopped being a cop. And started being a survivor."
---