Exploit (2025)

Don't bury the lede. Bury your enemies. Kirby Kuo might be late to her true purpose in life--but no one would call the 30-something journalism intern out of time. When she uncovers a shocking secret about tech billionaire Cole Saxon, Kirby does what she has always wanted to do and publishes it. But the violence and vengeance that follows is like nothing she could have anticipated--pitting Kirby, her agoraphobic roommate, and the writing staff of the defunct magazine RIOT! to bring justice to a world where the rich get what they want without consequence. Exploit is a timely, biting satire of the state of the American tech oligarchy with a pop-punk edge.

On the night RIOT prepares to publish its most dangerous story yet, celebration curdles into dread as unseen forces begin to move. A public reckoning, a viral backlash and a sudden eruption of chaos leave Kirby marked and exposed in ways she never expected. As fear closes in from every direction, escape becomes both urgent and impossible.

Did you know that during the Cold War, a sabotaged Soviet oil pipeline blew up, and the detonation was so large you could see it from space? That’s what people say. Regardless, a new challenger approaches as the next Datum CEO claims the throne, and immediately uses it to transform fear into delicious oppression. PLUS: The Origin Story of Mr. Ipsum, an infamous ‘80s hacker who had root on the city power grid while your parents were learning to program a VCR. Tune in on the appropriate Wednesday for death memes, go bags, and the coldest war stories this side of Siberia. The largest non-nuclear explosion ever. That’s what they say.

The final issue of Exploit halts and CATCHES FIRE as Kirby, Lenox and their danger pals stage a daring heist at Datum Tower with the whole world watching. Predatory tech billionaire Clark Kincaid is doing amazing, and his evil scheme is finally falling into place. Can anyone stop him and his political cronies as they roll out the architecture for a technofascist state, with infinite money and power on their side? No one reasonable, certainly. But Mr. Ipsum isn’t reasonable. He promised revenge. And he’s already inside the building.