12:10 AM – July 4th, 2025 – Texas
**CNN BREAKING NEWS** 

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has advised POTUS there was a breach of their security systems. At exactly Midnight, a cyber attack completely disabled the power grid. Currently, 30 million people are without electricity. The entire state of Texas has gone dark. 

The President will be speaking directly to the nation on an emergency broadcast within the next hour. The hope is that ERCOT will restore power as soon as possible. No terrorist organization has yet to claim responsibility for the attack. During the broadcast, the administration will update the public with current details about those responsible for this action on American soil. 

We will update this story as we receive more information. 

~~

Tess woke up around 4 AM, experiencing what she thought was a fever dream, sweating profusely and feeling very hot. Sitting up, not hearing the A/C running, she realized it had shut down. Groaning with irritation, Tess rolled out of bed, stomping her feet on the floor, not fully awake yet. She didn’t know that everything was off because of the attack. Slowly, it dawned on her that nothing was working as she walked through the house, trying to turn on lights.

Damn, we must be having a brown-out, Tess thought to herself. She slowly crept back to the bedroom to pick up her phone from the bedside table. There was a notification flashing, a news alert, about the ERCOT breach.

“Dale, wake up,” she said as she tugged on her partner’s arm. He rolled over in a daze wiping sweat off his brow. “Why is it so darn hot in here?”

“The Texas power grid got attacked. No one in our state has power. I kinda wish now we’d bought that generator from Earl when he said he was selling his.” Tess looked a bit defeated.

“Attacked how?”

“I don’t know. Let me see what I can find out. At least, our phones will work for a little while till we can see when we should have power back.”

Tess searched for more news stories and saw a link for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcast and clicked on it. “Here’s something that should tell us what’s going on.” They both listened intently.

“My fellow Americans, sadly, I must share the news with you that some entity attacked our great country at Midnight. Without a doubt, it is a terrorist organization responsible for leaving the entire state of Texas without power. We haven’t yet ascertained who breached the security systems of ERCOT and disabled the power grid, but we will. I promise you that. And we will take swift action to not only restore it but ensure that whoever is responsible will face severe consequences for their actions. 

In the meantime, we’ve deployed the National Guard to Texas, specifically to the borders. Please do not panic; we are taking all the necessary measures to keep Americans safe. I promise you this; we will keep all citizens safe…

TO BE CONTINUED ON TUESDAY…