At 4:22 PM, the first crack hit.

A leaked video emerged — a fabricated exposé claiming Sophie manipulated Vault release dates to sway elections in key regions. The footage showed emails between Sophie and alleged Phoenix donors with phrases like:

“Hold Kenya until the polls close.”

“France’s press is ripe. Use the scandal week.”

The footage spread like wildfire. Six million views in under two hours.

Camellia immediately flagged the video.

“It’s deepfaked. The data code is forged. This isn’t real.”

But the damage was already happening:

France’s parliament called for a motion of censure against Sophie

Germany froze its Phoenix tech partnership

The EU ordered an emergency ethics probe...