It’s September 2026, and the Pentagon is alarmed. Its spy satellites have detected a rapid, large-scale buildup of Chinese naval and amphibious forces across the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese government’s intentions are unclear, but military leaders in Washington hope that a show of American force will maintain deterrence.

This is not a far-fetched concern. Chinese invasion preparations would almost certainly be visible to the American military, and there would be an urgent need to try to prevent war.

In this scenario, the Pentagon cancels leave, orders ships in Hawaii and San Diego to make ready to sail west and places Marine units in the Pacific on high alert.

This is supposed to be an orderly process, but this time, it’s not.

On TikTok, it’s as if a switch was flipped. All at once the feeds of almost 200 million Americans are full of urgent messages.

“Your government is lying to you.”

“China is peaceful.”

“America wants war.”

Self-proclaimed experts share Chinese messaging claiming that Taiwan should be considered just as much a part of mainland China as Hawaii is part of the United States.

At the same time, conspiracy theorists raise doubts about the deployment orders, trying to coax sailors into staying on leave on the grounds that the orders themselves are fake, the product of a hack.

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