Rise of the Zillionaire Star

Chapter 58: Beat the Machine

The first thing Jaylen noticed that morning was the static sound. It was a sharp and ugly distortion that buzzed from every screen in his apartment. From the TV to the kitchen smart-fridge display.

His own face stared back at him.

But it wasn’t him… not really. The distorted projection showed Jaylen sneering. His eyes were hollow and his lips muttered edited words,

“Fraud, faker. Delete him.”

The phrase was looped in a sick rhythm and it glitched as though the city itself had turned into a giant speaker for Elijah Drax’s malice.

Jaylen’s gut tightened. “He has escalated it.”

Marcus kicked open the door with a scowl, phone in his hand. “Bro, look outside.”

Jaylen and Toni rushed to the balcony. Across the skyline, drones buzzed like a swarm of locusts. The projected Elijah’s manipulated deepfakes on glass skyscrapers.

 Jaylen’s face was right above the city, twisted and warped into a villain’s grin. 

People on the street below pointed up as the  filming was live-streaming. Some laughed at it. Others jeered. And while others, already primed by Elijah’s smear shouted curses into the morning air.

“This isn’t just online anymore,” Toni muttered in a low voice.  “He is trying to let the city take over the war.”

Inside, Zee’s holographic avatar flickered with stress. It's code streamed behind her like falling rain. “I’m trying to firewall your feeds, but Elijah isn’t acting alone. He has hijacked Fame Arena’s backdoor protocols. That is proprietary Zenith tech.”

‘Roman Vale.’ Jaylen didn’t need Zee to spell it out before he knew who it was again. Elijah was a pawn, but Roman had given him the sword to slay with. 

Marcus cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s fight dirty. We will torch him back with memes, spam campaigns and DDOS the clown until his servers cry.”

Jaylen shook his head. His voice was icy cold, even as the smear videos continued to play across the city. “If we start a problem, we look very guilty. No. Let us beat him by exposing him.”

Toni frowned. “But J, he’s everywhere right now. People are believing it.”

As if summoned, Elijah’s face appeared on every hacked billboard at once, streaming live. He stood in some glossy studio, perfectly lit and he was performing for the world.

“Jaylen Cruz is a fraud. He has lived on hype and tricks. But as for me? I offer the truth. My AI, VirtuCast, exposes liars like him.”

The crowds gathered in the streets to watch. His voice was smug, interesting and intoxicating to those who didn’t know better.

Jaylen clenched his fists. “Zee. Patch me in.”

“Are you sure?” Zee’s eyes flickered in disbelief.

“Yes. It’s time.” Jaylen spoke in a harsh voice. 

Within minutes, Jaylen’s signal overrode Elijah’s stream at once. 

 The city screens glitched, stuttered and then Jaylen’s face appeared, calm, sharp and every of his words were deliberate.

“I don’t need to rant. I don’t need to smear. I’ll just show you the truth.”

Behind him, Zee uploaded the raw green-screen rehearsal files. Clips played across the split screens. It was Elijah himself offstage, sneering as he directed paid actors.

“No, no… make Jaylen look more desperate. Add shadows. Perfect. Hah, this will bury him.”

The juxtaposition was brutal. On the left, Elijah’s polished deepfake of Jaylen bribing criminals. On the right was the raw footage of Elijah laughing as he manufactured the lie.

The world didn’t need explanations. The proof was undeniable.

The crowd watching in Times Square roared with boos against Elijah. Social media that was once aflame with Cancel Cruz hashtags, flipped like a coin. Memes exploded instantly. It was Elijah pointing at green screens captioned, “When you CGI your whole career.”

Elijah’s livestream faltered. His smug composure cracked as his eyes darted off-camera. “Cut the feed. CUT IT!”

But Jaylen anticipated this. Zee had locked the stream into a mirrored blockchain upload. There are no deletions and no cover-ups. It was just the truth.

Marcus laughed. “Its game over, clown.”

“Not yet.” Jaylen replied. “He is not going to go down like this..”

Elijah, cornered, screamed into the camera. “Don’t you see? He’s manipulating you again! Cruz is the real virus!”

Elijah’s desperation stank. The audience at his live venue turned. Investors whispered. The boos rolled like thunder.

That was when Elijah unleashed his trump card. The bot army. Thousands of fake accounts mass-flagged Jaylen’s entire music catalog. Within minutes, platforms began issuing takedown warnings.

Zee’s eyes flared with neon. “He’s trying to wipe your legacy from the net!”

Jaylen’s jaw tightened. “That’s not happening. Do it now, Zee.”

She deployed mirror servers that contained an endless flood of counter-uploads. For every flag Elijah’s bots triggered, ten new authentic copies of Jaylen’s performances appeared across platforms which was impossible to erase.

At the same time, Toni, working her own channels, contacted an ex-Zenith engineer. Within hours, the whistleblower leaked files proving VirtuCast wasn’t revolutionary at all. It was a recycled stolen code from Zenith’s failed projects.

Jaylen’s pulse raced. The tide was turning. But he wanted the death blow thinking it was too slow. 

After some hours, Elijah launched another emergency livestream, Jaylen crashed it mid-sentence with a final payload. Internal Zenith emails went across the screens.

“Roman, please fund VirtuCast. I will sacrifice Cruz as my comeback offering. I’ll make sure I bury him publicly if that’s what it takes.” Elijah Drax spoke cruelly. 

The world froze. Then it erupted into jeers

Online feeds flipped violently. Hashtags like #GreenScreenKing and #VirtuClown trended globally. Investors began pulling out in real time. VirtuCast’s stock nosedived 40% in an hour.

The boos in Elijah’s venue turned into jeers, and extreme curses. Some people hurled cups at the stage.

Jaylen’s system chimed in his ear, “Sub-Quest Complete: Beat the Machine. Rewards: +15 Fame, +10 Influence. Trait Unlocked: Viral Immunity,  Deepfake and smear attacks are 70% less effective.”

Jaylen exhaled. His shoulders relaxed for the first time in days. He had finally won this round. 

Elijah, humiliated, staggered offstage. His face was pale with fury. Cameras caught him muttering, “This isn’t over. I’ll take him down with me.”

 Protestors who had once marched against him flipped their signs to support Jaylen. “Cancel Zenith.” The city was alive with roars, laughter, and memes celebrating his victory.

……..

…

………

In a private lounge, Roman Vale watched everything unfold with a glass of brandy in his hand. He didn’t look angry. It looked like he just got entertained.

“Let him dance with me on this stage,” Roman murmured to an aide. “Every step made, makes him more predictable.”

Zee’s voice cut into Jaylen’s ear like a knife.

“Warning: Zenith escalation imminent. Roman Vale preparing direct confrontation. New Boss Quest Unlocked: Kingmaker’s Endgame.”

On the balcony, Roman Vale raised his glass toward the glowing light in the city. His smirk was sharper than any blade.

“Your rise makes your fall that much sweeter.”