14

** Rebellion Ballads **

** Chapter 4: The Price of Aurora **

The sky over sector 9 was dyed red by the spotlight of Virtutec aircraft. From the ground, he climbed a chorus of shouts muffled by the force fields that isolated the streets. Lady Vex floated in the epicenter of the chaos, her violet suit radiating soothing waves that collided with the despair of families. Children, marked with lightning scars, were dragged to armored vehicles while mechanical sentries crushed any resistance.

Lia watched the scene from the long -range binoculars, her fingers squeezing the metal until she leaves marks. Beside him, Sofia whispered a prayer in Yoruba, shaking the roots under the asphalt. Artur, connected to three devices simultaneously, monitored Virtutec's communication channels. Igor had already disappeared in the shadows, a knife between his teeth.

"Lady Vex is amplifying submission in frequency 34.8 GHz," Arthur warned, the eyes reflecting data flows. "If we don't block the signal, no one will be able to fight."

Sofia lifted her hands, and a curtain from ivy sprouted from the cracks of the concrete, carrying black flowers that absorbed the emotional waves. "I have five minutes until they realize the interference."

"It's all we need," Lia adjusted the exoskeleton, feeling the batteries charged with Graham's stolen energy. "Remember, Save the children, but * do not * kill anyone. We will not be like them."

The plan was simple, fragile as a spider web in the storm:

1. Igor would deactivate the generators of force fields.

2. Arthur would create holograms of rebels into opposite points to share the sentries.

3. Sofia would use plants to rescue children.

4. Lia would face Lady Vex.

When the first field of strength fell, a cry of hope erupted in the crowd. Parents hitherto paralyzed ran to hug their children, just to be contained by new paralyzing gas jets. It was a cruel dance: for each saved family, three were captured.

Lady Vex turned in the air, locating Lia instantly. "Poor Ferreirinha," his voice echoed as honey shed in ears. "Do you really think you can steal the future of the gods?"

Lia jumped from a cargo platform, the exoskeleton thrusters dampening the fall. "The future does not belong to gods who feed on children!"

The first rays of sunshine began to break the horizon, creating a perverse contrast with the artificial lightning of the sentries. Lady Vex launched a wave of apathy, but Lia countered with an electromagnetic pulse of the batteries. The two energies collided in the air, creating synthetic boreal auroras that all paused for a moment.

Meanwhile, Sofia ran between the raised roots like walls, her hands touching the floor to sprout underground passages. Children fell on them as seeds being planted, transported to safe points. A six-year-old girl, with scars shining like circuits, clung to her leg: "They said we'll become stars."

In the shadows, Igor was silently fought against a sentinel adapted to darkness, whose artificial eyes followed him for every fold of reality. Blood dripped from his shoulder where a retractable blade had hit him, but his knife found the weak point: the power cord in the neck.

Arthur, however, was in trouble. Two recognition drones had penetrated their networking, following his signal to the roof where he hid. "Iron, I need coverage!"

Lia heard the call, but Lady Vex was cornered with projectiles with pure psychological terror. It was then that he saw: In the hands of the villain, a device was pulsed with the symbol of the Divinity Project - a spiral of DNA intertwined with lightning.

"You don't understand, aren't you?" Lady Vex laughed, protecting the device against the chest. "These children are already ours. Their genetic codes have been modified * in uterus * by the energy fields of the men of steel. They are the first generation of * true * gods."

The revelation has reached Lia as a punch. The scars, the latent skills ... Everything had been planned from the beginning. Captain Virtue was not just stealing children - he was reaping what he had planted.

A scream echoed. Sofia, hit by a reassuring dart, fell to her knees as sentries recovered the children. Igor tried to reach her, but more fields of strength emerged. Arthur, now surrounded, disabled drones with a last resort virus, sacrificing his equipment in a controlled explosion.

Lia made the decision in half second. He redirected all the energy of the exoskeleton to a single point: the device in the hands of Lady Vex. The electromagnetic pulse burned its internal circuits, shouting it in pain as the artifact disintegrated.

"Retreat!" Lia ordered, dragging Sofia into a passage of roots. "We already have what we needed."

But the truth was bitter: only eight children rescued. Dozens were taken. Among them, the girl of the bright scars, who reached her eyes full of tears before being pulled to transport.

In the stampede, while Virtutec aircraft retreated by carrying their estate, Lia found in the ruins something that froze her blood - a picture of her own pregnant mother in the Virtutec archives that Arthur had managed to download. The date: nine months before your younger brother is born.

The attached report made it clear: *"Subject 09: Lia Campos. Prenatal exposure to Deep Impact's Energy Fields. Abort Mission after Incident in the Esperança neighborhood. Status: Contaminated." * *

While the sun was born over sector 9, illuminating the floor covered with black petals and melted copper wires, Lia understood the true horror. She was not just fighting for others - she was fighting the fate that the men of steel had set her even before the first breath.

The rebellion was now personal.