The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. 
(20th century rebel - two centuries before the Great Disease)

It had been a year since Jay had left. A year spent dissimulating, hiding, lying. Pretending she was carrying on with her life. She was supposed to take all this naturally. After all, everyone did. But she knew in her bones that somewhere, in a far-off colony, Jay was keeping his promise, fighting off induced amnesia, trying to achieve the impossible. Of course she had to face the awful truth: no human being could recollect what had been erased by GloCo. But her Jay? He wouldn't give up, she knew it.

Her blood was boiling, and she knew that soon enough, GloCo would retrieve her. She was giving away too many signs of unrest. It was time to talk to her kids. Her babies were adults now, and they had all the amazing beautiful qualities of their father. They were ready to lose their mother: in a few weeks, she was to be re-processed. She would become a Second-Born. Dust and Gem would know what to do, after she was gone. The way she was going to leave would just be a complication.

"This isn't going to happen." As she said this, she took Gem's hands in hers and dived into her eyes. She had always been the sensitive one. She, too, had this sensitiveness that wasn't supposed to exist anymore. It was like breeding a wild animal in a forbidden place. Like trying to tame a hurricane. Gem stared back intensely at her mother, frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"I won't be re-processed. I'm not accepting this. I'm not giving away my thoughts and memories."

"But mum, you don't have the choice. They'll turn up any moment if you resist. Mum, you're due to be re-processed in two weeks. Why don't you want to?"

Hera took a deep breath, and simply answered:

"Would you?"

"That's not the point... I mean. I don't want them to arrest you! You can have a new life. Be young again. Meet someone."

"Someone, when Jay is out there, somewhere... My little darling... How well we've all been taught to lie. What soulless creatures we've become. But I've done enough. I'm leaving tonight. Listen, I want you to take care of your brother. I know he wouldn't let me leave. But you will. "

"Mum, you don't stand a chance..."

"Listen, as time goes by, you'll make your own choices. You and Dust. I'm sorry I'm the one who doesn't abide by the law. Sorry to be the one who starts trouble. But all this... all this is wrong."

" Mum, you're running ahead of danger. Please, don't do that."

"My little love, you're a grown-up young woman now. I trust you and your brother. Listen, long ago, I made a promise to your father. And he did too. You may think this is crazy, but I know that wherever he is, he's doing his best to keep it. That's what I'm doing now, too."

"What, mum? What promise?"

"That we would love each other forever. Do you understand? They won't take that away from me."

"This is crazy...!"

"I'm not mad! Or if holding on to my choices is mad, it's okay to be mad!"

"What will you do? Where will you go?"

"That I can't tell you. But I've gathered a little group of people. We will hide and...  do our best to survive and help the world awake from this bad dream."

"I don't understand. What do you have in mind?"

"I don't really know yet, darling. But run, hide, and rebel sounds like a plan."

"They'll get you! GloCo will get you, and the worst happens to those who rebel. It'll be worse than re-processing!"

"Nothing can be worse than this. GloCo's the enemy, and I'd rather die than let them..."

"I can't believe it!"

Hera brushed Gem's wild streaks of hair, and gently wiped the tear rolling on her cheek. She then stood up, looking more determined than ever.

"My little love, I leave it to you to tell your brother. I'm running out of time, and the less you know, the less problems you'll have. If anything happens to you or Dust, I'll come back for you. I won't be far. I'll be watching."

"Mum... You're losing your chance to live a long, happy life. You could get sick, you will get old, you..."

Gem stood up and looked at her mother as if she saw her for the first time. Her sweet, peaceful mother. She was impressed and scared to death, but she fiercely threw herself into Hera's arms, embracing her for the last time... She was going to die, it was a sure thing. Hera hugged her daughter, crying and smiling simultaneously, then gently pushed her back and made a few steps down the trail.

"So that's why you wanted to go hiking on the City's heights tonight..."

"Remember? That's where we used to walk together, when we were still a family. It's so beautiful here, so quiet, it almost feels as if we were free... But it's all a lie."

They both looked down at the City. A huge multitude of towering buildings shimmered softly in the darkness. Although the landscape was dry and barren on the artificial cliffs, it felt as if Nature still existed as it did in the Old Days.

"It's the only place where I still feel like myself. You see... There's no turning back for me. It's time to go, and do what I have to do. Time to shake off this nightmare, and pay the price for it, if I have to."

Before disappearing, Hera turned back to Gem.

"I love you. You're a wonderful person, you'll do great things, and so will Dust. I love you both so much, and forever. Maybe one day we'll be free humans again. Gem, never let anyone get hold of your soul. Not even me, if you feel that GloCo's the right path to follow."

If it was the last time Gem actually saw her mother, it wasn't the last time she heard about her. Over the following months, more and more people started talking about Hera and her "little group of people". What started off as an escape soon fermented, grew and amplified. It developped into a revolutionary squad that created more and more trouble. Attacks, hackings and ambushes multiplied. The Rebels sometimes lost a member, but their popularity kept increasing and attracting new outlaws. Against all odds, their leader was hard to catch and when one of the Rebels got caught, they made sure they'd draw their last breath before having to disclose any vital information.

Gem and Dust heard many stories about their mother. Hideous, scandalous tellings. But they knew the truth was different. Hera wasn't this blood-thirsty, aggressive creature who tried to destroy peace. Although all physical memories of their father, and subsequently their mother, had been destroyed, they remembered vividly their parents. And they often saw postings about the Rebels' leader, asking to turn her in. She was an outcast, and both Gem and Dust were closely monitored. Soon they grew used to seeing their mother's face everywhere. Soon they got used to be constantly suspected.

Leaving the security of GloCo, Hera had made a choice not to regenerate. The pictures they later saw of her were still of a beautiful woman. But the deep scar over her upper lip, the messy, tousled brown hair, the very fine lines around her fierce eyes told the story of a different person. The Leader of Rebellion was everything GloCo had tried to annihilate: wild, untamed, ready to fight back and impossible to catch, Hera was the epitome of passion and relentless freedom. She naturally became GloCo's prime enemy, and participating in her murder turned out to be every citizen's pride and duty.