The balmy rays of the sun seeped into his skin, pushing away the chilliness of the house. He walked down the concrete-like path toward the grand entrance to the house. He scanned his neurolink against the gate key pass. The metal facade gate opened smoothly, folding gently into an opening in the perimeter wall. Beyond the gate, self-driving SAVS zipped by; besides that, the street was empty.

He put on the GED glasses and looked back at the house. This might be the last time he'd see it for a while, but it had to be done. With empty hands and the clothes on his back, Elion stepped over the threshold onto the sidewalk.

A playful breeze flipped the lapel of his jacket over. Usually, he'd fix it right away, but he let it remain until the wind changed direction. They lived on the outskirts of the city. A thirty-minute walk brought him to the edge of the town's centre. There were fewer people than he'd hoped there to be. Mostly men in a grey uniform are going about their day. RPs rolled along the streets, and smaller boxed robots were busy dusting the spotless streets.

It was just as organised as the academy. People walked in single-file lines going in opposite directions. The colour among the grey skyscrapers was the dotted trees and grass. The odourless street was just as dull as he'd expected.

When he reached the city's centre, nothing changed aside from a few more cars and people. At the centre of the city was a large LED screen displaying a manicured lawn with benches. The screen played videos of children playing, dogs barking, and a family laughing together. A sick, twisted imagery of what will never be a reality. Still, he yearned for it.

A lady with wispy white hair sat on a bench across from the screen watching the screen. Elion took a seat beside her. Her lips were pressed in a hard, wrinkled line. The glasses revealed nothing about her mood.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" Elion asked.

Her eyes flashed in his direction, and they widened slightly, but returned to normal immediately. She didn't answer.

"Not much going on out here. Just everyone going about their day, but here we are just enjoying our day."

The lady nodded but hadn't muttered a word. She folded into herself, cramming her small frame into the corner of the bench. Elion shook his head, he was only disturbing her. He was about to leave when a sudden buzz drew his attention. 

Neurolink connection request

Elion looked at the lady, whose eyes were glued to the screen. He accepted right away.

"It's sad, isn't it?" The lady asked.

Elion responded right away. "What is?"

"That they show us this every day."

Elion looked at the screen with her; this time it displayed some sort of event with people dressed in colourful clothing sitting on mechanical horses that undulated as they went around in a circle.

"It's just a way to ensure our view and minds are always pleasant," Elion pushed.

"Well, if you believe that, you're just as brainwashed as the rest of them."

Elion whipped his head around to her.

"What?" She asked, "are you going to report me?"

Elion relaxed into the bench. "No, I was just shocked."

"Shocked? I didn't know students could feel anything."

"I guess I'm different?" Elion fiddled with his hand, tapping on the hard plastic surface of the bench.

"Careful with that, you might get in trouble," the lady warned. Elion stopped mid-tap; she was right. Tapping was already a problem at the Academy, he wasn't sure his identity could protect him out here as well.

"You are the first person to talk to me in years," the lady submitted.

He looked at her, trying to gauge what she could have been feeling, but nothing showed. He wondered if the glasses were broken. None of the faces he'd observed had changed.

"I thought I'd walk around, make some new friends. You are a breath of fresh air," he replied.

Just then, he saw it, a twinkle in her eye, a sprinkle of a smile. Elion bit his tongue to stop himself from smiling. He nudged the glasses down, checking if the feeling was real, and it was. Without the glasses, she might as well have been a statue.

An RPs rolled before them, stopping briefly to scan them. When the yellow light turned green, it moved on quickly, scanning more people who had taken a seat.

"What is your name?" Elion asked.

"You should cover your ears," the lady answered. She got up, joined a file of people going down the street. The abrupt end to the conversation took Elion aback.

"Wait, where are you—."

A massive scream resonated through the city centre. It echoed off the concrete walls so Elion had trouble pinpointing where it came from. Everyone paused, covering their ears as a heavy gut-rechting noise vibration vibrated through them. The,n yellow smoke exploded out of a nearby building. Elion ducked just in time to avoid being sliced by the shattering glass.

It was them, the people he was looking for. They ran through the streets making a ruckus. Several of them ran to the screen with metal pipes. They bashed the screen until it was a display of random coloured lines. RPs rushed them from every angle. Some fled, others put up a fight, swinging wildly at the RPs head. Its head flew off with a mighty blow from behind.

The violent sound got louder, repeating words that seemed to go along with the heavy, intrusive rhythm assaulting his eardrums. Yellow dust blanketed everything. The grass, the trees, benches were all coated in yellow. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

The noise stopped. Artisans scattered wild ants. RPs chased after them. People who were witnesses to the show calmed themselves. He could see on their faces, they were shocked, excited, and afraid; one person was crying. That's it. Feel people, let it wash over you. When he removed the glasses, their expressions were uncaring, flat, and lifeless. Elion grinned. This was his only chance.

He ran in the same direction as one of the Artisans. They disappeared in the narrow alleys that separated the buildings. Elion saw one of the artisans being held back down by one of the RPs. The Artisan had dropped the steel pipe. He struggled on the ground. His colleagues had left him. Driven by the will to live freely, Elion took up the pipe and swung it at the RPs' head. It barely made a dent. The RP turned to him, loosening its grip on the Artisan.

Elion swung again, cracking its face screen. He swung again and again, yelling until the RP fell forward on its face.

The Artisan got up and brushed off its knees. "Geez, thanks, man."

Elion, panting, barely registered what he'd done.

"Shit they're coming. Run!"

Behind them, a slew of RPs were rolling toward them at full speed. He dropped the pipe and took off behind the Artisan. They squeezed through a door to a building into a large empty space. The building was dimly lit, but he could follow the yellow-stained person in front of him. They ran up a flight of stairs on the opposite side of the building, went through a door that led to another empty room. Then he climbed through a window. Elion followed suit, barely registering what he was doing.

Before he knew it, he leapt out of the window and onto the hard ground. His unathletic legs gave out, and he crumbled to the floor, hitting his elbow on the tough surface. He yelped in pain.

The artisan turned back, grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. "Unless you want your brain scrambled, you better run."

That was enough motivation for Elion to ignore the pain and start running with wobbling legs. They ran for too long, through buildings and fences. He was in another part of the city. One he'd never seen before. The tall concrete buildings shrank behind him, and he was surrounded by smaller, quaint buildings. Their running slowed to a jog. There weren't any RPs following them anymore. They weren't for a long time, but Elion did his best to keep pace.

They slipped into a small building that had its entrance from the alley. Elion rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Beams of light peered through the cracks of the boarded-up windows. His eyes adjusted quickly to the change. It was filled with colourful pieces of clothing packed tightly together on metal frames. The place was heavy with an indescribable smell. It had the scent of dust? Old? He couldn't place it, but at least there was a smell. Something to mark the place.

Plastic people covered in dust stood in odd positions as if posing. Elion touched the arm of one that looked like a woman, its arm dislocated easily, clacking to the ground. The Artisan turned to him and placed a hand over his lips as if to tell him to be quiet. He was peaking through the cracks.

Elion clasped both hands in front of him to silently apologise. The Artisan approached him, picking up the dislocated arm and affixing it to its body.

"Sorry, I didn't know what it was."

"Never seen a mannequin before?" He asked, rounding the "o" in before.

Elion had never heard such an accent before. Everyone around him spoke in the same flat tones. It was intriguing to hear someone with intonation.

"No, I haven't", his voice sounding lifeless by comparison.

He patted Elion on the shoulder.

"Thanks for what you did back there. If it weren't for you, I would have been RP dinner." He went to the back of the store, removed some boxes and lifted a hatch. It led to stairs below the concrete floor.

Elion watched in awe as a world he'd only imagined came to life before him.

"Well, are you coming down?" He said rounding the "o" in down.

Elion followed without question, the steps creaked under his weight. The Artisan closed the hatch behind him, securing it with a metal bolt. It was a rudimentary method of security compared to their neurolink locks and codes.

The Elion's head brushed against the low ceiling a he made his way deeper into the confines of the space. The man flicked on a switch somewhere. The walls were lined with books, there was a couch, a tiny round table in the middle and a table of pots and pans on the table across from him. Next to him hung a light grey suit, similar to the ones worn by everyday people as they go to work.

"How's your arm?" The Artisan asked, motioning for him to sit down. He did so, the man sat beside him grabbed his elbow and twisted it. Elion bit his lip not to cry out in pain.

"Well, it doesn't look broken," he said. He grabbed a box from below the round table.

"How do you know, you didn't scan it?" Elion muttered.

He huffed, "Call it a sixth sense." he took out a stretchy material and wrapped it around Elion's elbow. It was patchy work, but the pressure did help somewhat.

"I don't have anything cold to put on it, but here." He placed two small, round, white pills in Elion's palm.

Elion looked at the pills, then back at him.

"Ibuprofen."

"Oh." He remembered hearing something about that in Biology.

"For the pain."

"Oh." He looked down at them. "I probably shouldn't stay here." Remembering that his tracker was still enabled.

"You swallow them? Pain goes poof." He fluttered his fingers.

"I—"

"You've never taken a pill before," he shook his head, "I should've known, you look young. And don't worry about your tracker." Kaelan pointed to the ceiling. "Completely hidden." There were four green lights, one at each corner of the room. He assumed that it was a sort of signal jammer.

Kaelan took one of the pills from his palm and swallowed it. "See pretty easy."

Elion looked down at the remaining one.

"Don't expect me to give you another one." He got up and approached the table of pots and pans.

Elion took a deep breath and placed the pill on the tongue. He tried to swallow, but it stayed on the tip of his tongue, slowly dissolving. He tried again, but it rolled to the back of his tongue.

"Ah, it tastes awful!" Elion said as the pill dissolved.

"Yup, that's what happens when you don't swallow."

"Wait! It tastes awful!" Elion smiled. 'It's awful," he laughed. Tears brimmed in his eyes. He wiped them away, relishing the dreadful sensation.

"Yeah, it's bitter."

"Bitter," Elion laughed, "I like it."