When the government announced they would disband the Journalistic Freedom Association, Evelyn decided to fight back. She had seen how the regime had spread disinformation and fake news to influence voters and gain power. When someone from her newsroom discovered that it was more than the work of a few radicals, it immediately became front-page news all over the country. But instead of triggering a series of investigations into the allegations, the regime accused the newspaper of making it all up.

 

From there, it all went downhill. The government began ridiculing and denouncing news organisations and discrediting them. After a while, they even began launching criminal investigations against some, under the premise of examining "anti-democratic activities". Evelyn and her colleagues had tried not to lose hope and continued writing for the people, even though they noticed fewer people were reading their articles.

 

Another hit came six months later. The regime declared they would start reviewing journalists whose work was not in line with democratic values. By then, many of her colleagues had reached the breaking point. Half her newsroom resigned the day after the announcement, out of fear for themselves and their families. That evening, when staring around the empty newsroom, an unknown number messaged her. It's not too late to fight back. When the government forced the paper to close just two days later, she sent a text back. It was all or nothing, and she was in.

 

In the months that followed, she worked her way up the ladder of the resistance. Their goal was simple: fight back against the regime and get their rights back. When she joined, Evelyn was 1 out of only 105 people that were resisting, now it was more than 2,000. People wanted freedom, change and a fair government, free of corruption. The newspaper they had created helped to spread that message, but the regime had fought back.

 

Raids had hit the rebellion hard. Supplies were dwindling, and many members had been arrested and disappeared without a trace. Now, they were down to one safehouse, a big old cellar on the outskirts of the city. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time before they were found, but that didn't stop them from continuing their work. For months, Evelyn had been working on a project that could change everything. 

 

The regime had built a complicated digital security system that prevented the rebellion from revealing their crimes and lies, but it was not without fault. Evelyn and her small team had discovered a weak point, and they were going to use it to break the whole system. They worked tirelessly to prepare their big breakthrough, and morale was finally high again after all the setbacks. It had to be, because if this didn't work, they were done.

 

When the alarm blared in the middle of the night, it was all hands on deck. They had been found. Evelyn rushed to the central workroom, where her laptop with the programme was located. If they took it, it would all be for nothing. The rebellion had planned to launch the program in three days, during the big government parade in the city, but now they had to go with plan B. They had to launch it now.

 

By the time she had reached the laptop, everyone in the cellar was gearing up to buy her some precious time. Five minutes was all she needed – five long minutes to show the world the truth. The next four minutes were a blur. Priming the programme lasted longer than anticipated, and Evelyn began to pace around the dusty room. Right before the priming stopped, the door blasted open. Jack, her closest friend within the rebellion, stormed inside.

 

"They're here, Evelyn. You need to..." 

 

A sudden flash filled the room. Her knees gave out, and she crashed to the cold floor. The faint sound of footsteps got closer. Evelyn crawled towards the laptop. She just had to push the button. The footsteps were clear now, as if they were just behind her.

 

"Don't move, hands where we can see them!"

 

Evelyn reached out to the laptop, barely able to keep her arm up. Almost there.

 

"You there! I said don't move!"

 

 

The whole room lit up when the screens suddenly came to life. The programme worked. The message was being shown on every screen around the country, and there was nothing the regime could do to stop it.