Zero Days in the Swamp: Code, Conscience, and the Battle for Democracy

Hacker Anthology

In a near-future Washington, D.C., where the boundaries between Silicon Valley disruption and government power have all but vanished, a single whistleblower stands between democracy and digital authoritarianism. Darin J. Berlow, a quietly rebellious cybersecurity architect at the National Labor Relations Bureau, stumbles upon a covert breach: DOGE—the Department of Government Enhancement, led by the enigmatic Elyon Misk—has infiltrated the agency, siphoning classified data and deploying AI to surveil, silence, and erase dissent. As Berlow’s warnings are met with stonewalling and intimidation, he’s thrust into a high-stakes digital manhunt, pursued by DOGE’s relentless algorithms and operatives willing to cross any ethical boundary in the name of "efficiency." With the fate of American labor rights and democratic oversight hanging in the balance, Berlow must navigate a labyrinth of congressional inquests, meme-fueled media wars, and the shadowy influence of corporate giants like Amazinex and StarX. Guided by a seasoned whistleblower advocate and forced into uneasy alliances with cynical press secretaries and embattled agency leaders, Berlow races to expose the conspiracy before his own freedom—and the very soul of democracy—are lost to a world run by code. "Zero Days in the Swamp" is a pulse-pounding, fact-infused thriller where the only firewall against tyranny is the courage of one principled hacker, and the line between reformer and tyrant is drawn by conscience, not code. Inspired by: Whistleblower: DOGE Siphoned NLRB Case Data - https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/04/whistleblower-doge-siphoned-nlrb-case-data/

• (00:00) - Anomaly Detected
• (05:54) - Algorithmic Gauntlet
• (10:49) - Zero Day in Public
• (16:18) - Credits