The executions changed something. The crowd's response to it was not what Hector had anticipated. Instead of fear and compliance, there was outrage. Instead of acceptance, there was questioning.
By that night, the first riots had broken out in the Middle District. Residents were demanding answers. They wanted to know why the Council had chosen execution over dialogue. They wanted to know if the accusations made during the trial were true. They wanted to know if the system was as corrupt as the condemned had claimed.
Lydia played a crucial role in the days that followed. She came forward with the data Sera had gathered—the resource allocation documents, the mortality statistics, the proof that the Council was deliberately maintaining inequality. She testified about the proposal her husband had created decades before, the proposal that had been rejected because it would have reduced the Council's power.
She revealed that she had known about the breach beforehand and had chosen to help because she believed her children's principles were just.
The Council arrested her immediately, but they couldn't silence her. Too many people had heard what she'd said. Too many people had copies of the data. The information spread through the Middle District like wildfire.
In the Lower District, things were different. With the barrier sealed and so many people gone, the remaining population was smaller but not necessarily more compliant. In fact, they were emboldened. They'd seen their champions stand firm in the face of death. They'd seen the execution broadcast to everyone. They understood that the Council feared them, because why else would they execute so many people?
Maren, surprisingly, became a leader in the resistance that followed. Despite losing his sister, despite seeing her executed, he continued the work she'd started. He worked with other young people from the Middle District to organize educational programs about the station's history, to help people understand how the hierarchy had been created and maintained.
Thrace, who'd survived in one of the hidden tunnels during the execution, continued to work on the barrier systems. But now, instead of trying to breach them, he and others like him were working to figure out how to permanently disable them. The goal was to eventually make the barriers irrelevant, to integrate the districts so completely that the idea of separation became obsolete.
Three months after the executions, the first cracks appeared in the Council's authority. A group of Middle District residents demanded representation in Council decisions. They organized peaceful protests outside the administration building. They called for reforms.
Hector's response was to increase security and threaten more executions. But it was the wrong move. It confirmed what Sera had said—that the Council would rather kill than compromise. It pushed more Middle District residents into active resistance.
By the sixth month, the majority of the Middle District had withdrawn their cooperation with the Council. Administrators refused to work. Guards deserted their posts. The system began to break down.
The Lower District, instead of being crushed by the barrier's closure, began to organize differently. Without the constant pressure of the Council's administrative apparatus, communities formed organically. People shared resources. Children were educated by volunteers who taught history and philosophy along with practical skills. A culture of resistance and mutual aid developed.