“So like, is it true?” Saad asked, leaning back on his hands, and staring up at the sky.
“What’s true?” She asked, scribbling away in her notebook, only half listening. “I mean, your dad is in the military, right?” He squinted, still not looking at her. “So is it true? Did they really beat up those cops and make it look like a terrorist attack?” There was a stretch of silence, during which the only sound was the dog next to them, chewing on his toy. 

Javeria looked up, frowning. “So now you’re just gonna spout random stuff at me and hope it hits the mark one day, or…?” “Nah, no, sorry. Just curious”, he said, shrugging. “I mean, I don’t know if you saw those videos, but it looked pretty legit-” “-and so did the video of Aisha that allegedly ‘leaked’ last week, till it was reported to be AI”, she shot back, shutting her notebook, voice rising. The dog perked up at the rising voices, eyes darting between them. 
“I didn’t know you were so gullible, Saad”, she huffed, shaking her head. “I mean, honestly? I thought you knew better than to believe just about anything that comes up-” “Hey, I didn’t mean to accuse you or s-” He shot back, holding his hands up in surrender. “I was genuinely just curious. Just thought that since your old man is in that thing, he might know.” “Well, here’s something you should know.”
She got up, glaring down at him. 
She shook her head. “Not everything you see on the internet is real. Maybe you should stop following everything influencers do on your feed. It’s all propaganda! When will you ever start verifying information through valid platforms?”
“How do I know what’s real and what’s not? How does one beat all this misinformation though?” asked Saad.
“There’s no sure-fire way to beat misinformation and propaganda”, Javeria explained. “It’s gonna spread, it always does. We’re all looking for a sign that absolves us, and let’s someone else burden our sins. But what you can do? Being the front-line soldiers for the next generation? Battle it with the truth. Don’t accept and believe everything you read, especially online. And don’t spread articles you can’t trust are true. Don’t go looking for whatever justifies your version of the story, go for the truth. Go for changing the mindset, the thinking, the perception, the conception, the understanding, and above all… how to react. Change yourself, and change others around you.”
She showed him a list of newspapers Saad could read and a few valid platforms that provided correct information.  “So, what do you think?” she asked, fingers tightening around the blade of grass. 
“I think… that I need to do more research on this”, he replied, voice turning quiet. “Lots to digest, you know? But thank you, for giving me these sources. Been a bit of a rabbit hole lately, going through all the articles.” “I mean, I’m kind of at fault too, I blew up on you just for being genuinely curious”, she shrugged. “So. The blame lies with me too.”