Under The Radar

Chapter 6: The Park of Good Intentions

The park was alive with the usual chaos of a San Francisco afternoon. Families lounged on the grass, children screamed in delight as they ran around, and a dog chased a Frisbee with single-minded determination. Casey Heart sat on a worn, graffiti-covered bench, half-drinking a lukewarm iced coffee while Hiroshi "Hiro" Takahashi hunched over his laptop next to her, his fingers moving rapidly across the keyboard.

"This connection is garbage," Hiro muttered, barely loud enough to be heard over the park's noise. "I swear, I could reroute through three satellites faster than this public Wi-Fi."

Casey glanced at him, unimpressed. "Well, forgive the park for not catering to underground conspiracy exposés. You sure no one's tracking us?"

"Please," Hiro scoffed without looking up. "If they wanted to track us, they'd have found us by now. We're in a park, for crying out loud. I'm blending in with the soccer moms."

She rolled her eyes, shifting in her seat as she surveyed the park. Hiro's laptop cast a faint glow against his face, the screen filled with code and progress bars. The whole thing felt too easy, too casual for what they were trying to do.

"Maybe blending in is the problem," Casey said, taking another sip of her coffee. "I don't know... this whole 'sit on a bench and expose a global conspiracy' thing feels a bit... pedestrian."

Hiro smirked, still typing. "Oh, sorry. Should we be filming this in a secret underground bunker with neon lights and dramatic music? Maybe hire some ominous guys in suits to walk by for effect?"

"I'm just saying," she replied, grinning despite herself. "Might take this seriously if we weren't surrounded by kids playing Frisbee."

Hiro gestured to a man in a business suit who was juggling a phone call and a smoothie as he walked past. "Even your average stiff in a suit isn't paying attention. Perfect cover."

Casey sighed, pulling out her phone. She scrolled through TikTok, her thumb moving in rhythmic boredom. "So what's the plan? We drop this video, it goes viral, and boom—instant revolution?"

"Exactly!" Hiro said with mock enthusiasm. "We'll topple the elites between cat videos and dance trends. That's how revolutions work now. Didn't you get the memo?"

Casey chuckled, though the tightness in her chest remained. She was growing frustrated with the whole process, despite the banter. "It's not funny, Hiro. This video is everything we've been working on. People need to wake up."

Hiro's expression softened. "Yeah, I know."

They sat in silence for a moment as Hiro's hands slowed, finally tapping the last command. A little beep from the laptop signaled the upload was complete—the video was live. Just like that, their truth bomb was out there, waiting to detonate.

"Alright," Hiro said, hitting the final key with a sense of ceremony. "It's live."

Casey stared at the screen, her stomach flipping. "And now we wait."

The tension hung in the air between them, a silent acknowledgment that there was no going back now. She tossed the last of her sandwich into a nearby trash can and leaned back, eyes drifting over the park, watching life continue on as if they hadn't just set a digital fire to the system.

"You think people will care?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.

"They'll care for ten seconds. Then they'll swipe to the next thing," Hiro said, casually scrolling through his phone.

Casey let out a humorless laugh. "Maybe ten seconds is all we need. It's gotta start somewhere, right?"

Hiro's phone dinged. He checked the screen, lips twitching into a wry smile. "Well, someone cares. We've got... two views."