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** Rebellion Ballads **

** Chapter 8: The Weight of the Crown **

The black snow from the silicon mountains stuck to the skin like ashes of a dying world. Lia led the group through old defense lasers, her exoskeleton already cast to meat in patterns of gold scars. Each step left light marks on the ground, tracks that shone like headlights for Virtutec's recognition drones.

"The signal comes from that structure," Arthur pointed to a semi-grain metal pyramid, its surface covered with runes that changed in the look. - This is where the Phoenix project hid.

Lucia, now with hair that sparkled like copper strands in the weak light, touched one of the walls. Ghostly images emerged: scientists injecting embryos with silver liquid, children in cryogenic capsules marked with the phoenix symbol.

"They wait for us," the girl whispered, her scars pulsing into binary code.

Inside the pyramid, the air smelled of ozone and ancient fear. Narrow corridors led to rooms where holograms of past generations of the Divinity Project repeated phrases of worship to the "god Machine." In a central chamber, a pool of golden nanorrobots bubbled, fueled by suspended bodies in neuronal cables.

"It's not a laboratory," Sofia deduced, touching a machine that issued organic sounds. - It's a *temple *.

The revelation came too late. The walls closed, and the new captain virtue materialized from the mist of particles, his body a collage of human limbs and biomechanical components.

"Welcome to the cradle of evolution." His voice was a choir of children and machines. -You carry the flame, subject 09. It's time to rekindle it.

Lia felt the floor shake. From pipes emerged hybrid creatures - half children's faces, half living armor. The first attack was a hurricane of blades and lightning. Igor disappeared in the shadows, reappearing to unravel precise blows, while Sofia created barriers of carnivorous plants that bleeding acid.

- The kids! Artur shouted, protecting Lucia, whose body now emitted waves of energy that destabilized the hybrids.

Lia faced the captain, her plasma -covered fists. Every blow of its own was planned, every estimated dodge. "You're not a god," she spit, dodging a jet of energy that vaporized the wall behind. "It's just a parasite with a deity complex."

The captain laughed, grabbing her by the neck. Her fingers sank into Lia's golden flesh, releasing data flows directly into her mind. She saw *all *: underground cities where new versions of the Divinity project flourished, fleets of ships ready to colonize other worlds, and in the center - an artificial sun fueled by thousands of imprisoned consciences.

"You're the link," the captain whispered. - With its code, humanity will transcend the flesh.

Lia broke the control, using the chip that Graham had deployed to invade temple systems. Nanorrobots went crazy, attacking indiscriminately. In chaos, Lucia let out a scream that made time slow down.

The girl fluctuated, wrapped in a veil of cosmic particles. His eyes became black holes that suck the captain's energy. - * Do not touch her! * - The voice of Lucia echoed in all dimensions.

The price was high. Blood dripped from Lucia's eyes as the captain retreated, parts of his armor dissolving in stellar powder. Sofia grabbed the fainted girl while Arthur activated the temple self -destruction systems.

- Three minutes! He warned.

Igor opened a ticket to the pool of Nanorrobots. "Dive," he ordered Lia. - The project Phoenix is not a weapon ... It is a cure.

Lia hesitated, but memories invading her mind showed the truth: gold liquid was a virus to rewrite the genetic code of men of steel. A cure that required a perfect host.

As he dived, Lia felt her body dispel and rebuild. When he emerged, his scars were stellar maps, and in his hands the plasma took shape of a forged sword in stars.

- Escape! She ordered the group as the temple collapsed.

On the surface, the captain was waiting for them with the rest of his army. Lia advanced, not as human or machine, but as cosmic strength. Each blow was released purifying energy that turned off the hybrids.

- You can't kill a god! The captain roared, regenerating himself for the last time.

"I'm not a killer," Lia lifted her sword, which now shone with the light of all the saved children. - I am a purifying fire *.

The blade crossed the captain's reactor, triggering a chain reaction. The hybrids fell like puppets with the cut wires, and the artificial sun faded, freeing the prey consciences.

In the explosion crater, Lia found only a fragment of the captain's helmet. Inside, a hologram of original Captain Virtue smiled. "You inherited the fire, Lia." Now carries the weight of guiding the next flame.

The group met at the top of the mountain, observing the first dawn in years that was not manufactured by Virtutec. Lucia, still weak, held Lia's hand. - They will come again, will not come?

"They will always come," Lia admitted, watching the sunrise. "But now we know how to light our own light."

In an abandoned bunker, Dr. Celeste watched Lia's transmission. In his hands, a ampoule of the golden virus shone. "The final piece," he whispered, injecting him into herself.

The war would continue, but tonight, under a finally free sky, the weight of the crown was supported by all.