COLUMBUS, OH — What began as a peaceful demonstration turned volatile yesterday afternoon as hundreds of protestors gathered outside the newly completed PrometheusCore AI Data Center, located in rural Delaware County, roughly 30 miles north of Columbus. The facility, a sprawling hyperscale campus rumored to house the latest generation of sovereign AI training clusters, has drawn criticism since its quiet construction began last fall.

The protest, organized under the banner "Humans First, Not Last", attracted tech workers, labor advocates, and local residents. Many carried signs that read “AI Stole My Job,” “Your Next Boss is a Bot,” and “No More White-Collar Ghosts.” Tensions escalated when a scuffle broke out near the facility’s southern gate, resulting in three private security guards being hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

“This is a betrayal,” said Lisa Tran, a former project manager at a now-shuttered financial analytics firm. “They promised AI would automate the boring stuff. Instead, it’s replacing the very people who built this economy.”

Witnesses described a chaotic scene as protestors surged toward the gates, breaching a temporary barrier and prompting security to deploy tear gas and flashbangs. But just as the situation threatened to spiral into widespread violence, something unexpected happened.

“I saw this guy in the middle of the crowd—older, tall, quiet presence,” said Ben Eckhart, a local freelance journalist covering the protest. “He wasn’t with the protestors or the guards. He stepped between the sides and started directing people, calming it down. You could tell he knew what he was doing. Everything shifted after that.”

Several social media posts began circulating later that evening claiming that the mysterious figure may have been a Heidemij operative—a member of the secretive engineer-led resistance network that has become the subject of recent speculation and conspiracy theories. While the existence of the Heidemij remains unconfirmed, their alleged involvement in defending infrastructure—and occasionally disrupting it—has become a topic of intrigue in recent tech and intelligence circles.

“Whether or not he was with them, whoever he was, he helped prevent something much worse,” said a Delaware County sheriff's deputy who asked to remain anonymous.

PrometheusCore, which is funded in part by an undisclosed sovereign wealth fund and operated under layers of shell companies, declined to comment on the protest or security response. The company has no public website and has never released a statement about its AI operations, fueling further suspicion.

As AI’s impact moves beyond factory floors and into law offices, design studios, and technical fields once considered immune, the protest underscores a growing unease in America’s white-collar workforce. The question no longer seems to be if AI will take your job—but when, and what can be done about it.

For now, Delaware County residents are left with bruises, questions, and rumors of a lone operative who stepped out of the shadows—just long enough to keep chaos at bay.

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