*May 10, 2125*

Elion woke up in a large room lit from the ceiling with a blue light. He was surrounded by CANAs, all of which wore a dark blue coat. The CANAs milled around, attending to small blue spheres that extended as far as his eyes could see. There was a dull throbbing at his head. He was getting used to headaches by now. He tried to get up, but he was strapped down to the chair he was seated in.

"You're awake," Quinn said. Elion flipped his head around to see his father in a similar coat to CANA's. Tiny bumps formed on his skin, though the room was rather warm.

"What is this place?" Elion questioned.

"Well, I thought since you were so curious about the company, I'd show you the foundation of POLARIS."

Quinn stared deep into his son's eyes. "I see I don't need the glasses to read your emotions anymore."

Elion didn't realise that he wasn't maintaining the stoicism his father required.

"No worries, we'll fix that soon."

"What do you mean? Where am I? What..." He trailed off when he saw one of the CANAs lift a tiny human from one of the green spheres. It was crying, like a baby. She brought it just behind a white translucent wall. After a beat, the baby stopped crying, and then an announcement came over the comms.

Neurolink implantation was successful

"What? What is this?" Elion's chest twisted and tightened.

"This, my son, is your past and our future," his father smiled. Genuinely happy to show Elion his work. "Welcome to the FARM," he announced in a grandiose Elion was not used to.

"What do you mean? FARM?" he struggled against his constraints.

"This is where you were born, Elion," he said softly. "You and Arion and all your—"

"No, no, no. I was born to Nyra, my mother."

"Well, no, you were genetically bred from a woman's egg and a man's sperm. It really was the turning point for POLARIS several years ago. Really solved the population reduction problem," his father said matter-of-factly.

"Stop, wait, untie me, please?" Elion begged. His wrists were burning.

"So you can run back to your artisan friends?" His father asked.

"What? I don't know any Artisans."

"Did you really think it would be that easy to just leave the house?" His father questioned. "Did it not occur to you that it was just a little too easy?"

Elion blinked in disbelief. Were they watching him the whole time?

"I guess so. Tell me, son, what did you hope to achieve when you found them?"

"I, I never went to them, it was an explosion. I think they took me."

"That's the same story they gave," he said. They? Did they find the people who took him? Another baby was taken behind the wall. Its cries were louder than the others, piercing through his father's words.

Neurolink implantation was unsuccessful. Termination in progress.

The baby stopped crying abruptly.

Termination successful.

Elion froze from the shock, he stopped struggling. He was one of these babies. The reality sunk in. How many did they terminate because the neurolink didn't work? Not just him, Arion, too, Kira, Jax, they were all products of the farm.

"If only you'd just stuck to what you were programmed to do. I won't be around forever. I need someone I can trust to run all of this." Quinn announced with his arm spread wide. "If only your nature weren't so strong."

"Are you going to terminate me?"

"A termination would be a waste. I've invested a lot in you and our future."

He picked up a tiny plastic box with a small silver square inside.

He brought it close to Elion so he could see it clearly. "What is that?"

"This is our new and improved neurolink, better capable of blocking each specimen's personality. A complete reset."

"How do you know it will work?"

"Well, we've done it many times before. You wouldn't remember."

Elion froze; shivers ran down his spine. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Elion, that you were the first successful total reset. You were a bit too curious as a child, but that incessant will was getting out of hand."

A CANA readied a syringe with a thick grey liquid in it beside him.

"We'll leave the basics in, the presets, like who you know and your name, but everything else about you will be by my design."

"Wait, wait," Elion begged, "since I'm going to be reset again. Tell me what happened to Kira."

"Kira Steele, the girl who seemed to be the reason you keep acting out of your programmed character, was our most recent reset."

So the real Kira was gone. He did all this for her— to get her memories back. And turns out that it wasn't even in the memory bank. That's impossible.

"Where's the memory bank?"

"Memory bank?" his father's brows knitted. "There's no memory bank."

"So what did you do with my memories?"

"They've been deleted. They are always deleted. No use in saving those."

Elion shrank in the chair. He shook his head vigorously. No, it can't be. The memories they've stolen had to be around somewhere. He couldn't accept it. Tears streamed down his face. It couldn't be.

CANA approached with the syringe.

"Wait! No!" He yelled. She held his head over with so much, she could easily break his neck.

"Stop struggling, Elion."

The thick needle pierced the back of his neck. His body went numb as CANA plunged the liquid into his spine.

A massive explosion shook the entire building.

"What was that?" Quinn asked. He yanked Elion's head up. Did you lead your Artisan friends here? There was another explosion. Then rapid succession of never-ending explosions. It kept getting louder and louder. Then there was the final explosion. The wall, or was it glass? Everything shattered. Parts of CANAs flew across the room. Artificial wombs cracked, leaking a clear, thick fluid.

Elion's body hung limply in the chair. People with armoured metal plates covering their chests and rifles marched in with practised precision. They shot at the remaining CANAs. Quinn had disappeared. Elion wasn't sure where. Smoke and rubble fell around him as more explosions went off in the distance.

He did his best to keep his eyes open, but whatever CANA injected into him was coursing through his nervous system. The core memories flashed it random bursts, his sister, Kira and Jax. Jax appeared more realistic than the others.

"I'm gonna get you out of here," Jax said. Was Elion dreaming? The straps on his wrist were cut. He fell forward, but someone caught him.

"Jax? What are you—" he said before fainting again.

~~~~

*May 8, 2125*

More Artisans gathered in the small meeting room, all of whom had the large A mark on their shoulder. Elion unconsciously rubbed at his shoulder, wondering how they got it on there. Did it hurt? They chatted and laughed with each other, clinking glasses together and downing them. Some of them slurred their words, while Kaelan and the older people seemed more alert.

One man took the guitar off the wall and began strumming the strings. Creating a soft melody that filled the room, quelling the howdy energy. Elion instinctively tapped along on the armchair.

"I guess in another life you could be a drummer?" one Artisan said, leaning over, his breath smelled of whatever they had been drinking. Elion didn't mind it.

"I don't know what that is."

The man howled with laughter, slapping Elion's shoulder. "You're a funny one,"

He observed them one by one, most of them smiling and chatting amongst themselves. This was how they lived, at least at night. When they were far away from the confines of the city. Kaelan was quiet, though, a stark difference from the man he'd met a few days ago.

The door to the small hole-in-the-wall bar flew open. Logan and Misha shoved a large case into the middle of the room. The guitar music stopped mid-pluck, and the room went quiet in an instant.

"Gentlemen, we got it." Logan flung the case open, revealing an array of weapons. Everyone cheered.

"Guns?" Elion said aloud.

"Oh, at least you know what they are," the man beside him said. Everyone chuckled. Logan distributed the guns to everyone except Elion. "Sorry, none for the kid," he said, displaying the coldness Elion felt from him since they'd met.

How did they even get the guns? According to what he was taught, all weapons were eliminated. A sense of peace was brought about through POLARIS's efforts. But most of what he was taught was a lie. Feeling uneasy, he left the couch and stood by Kaelan, who had been silently observing from across the small room.

"Now, Misha, walk us through your brilliant plan again," Logan said.

"Alright,t so the kid is one of them. He has the newer Neurolink, an upgraded version," she said. They all nodded in unison. Misha explained how Elion was the son of the head of POLARIS and that Elion was able to access different spaces compared to our other operatives.

"What about his memory?" one man asked. "Yeah, if they access his neurolink, we're as good as dead."

"Elion says he has a plan for that," Misha answered. "Would you like to share?"

Elion looked around the room. With a shaky voice, he explained. "Misha said that you have someone who is good at programming on your side. My sister created a program to save my memories. I figured your people can clone the program, make it so that my memories are fragmented and not gone completely. I'll only remember the parts that feed the narrative."

"How will you restore the memories once you're back? How do we know you won't just give in?"

"We'll input a code, or trigger word that allows him to remember what his mission is."

"What if it fails?"

"It better not," Misha said. Her untrusting eyes locked with Kaelan's.

They went over the plan a few more times. Telling them that someone would have to take the fall for his kidnapping so that they wouldn't arouse too much suspicion. They needed someone else to make Elion's story about being kidnapped believable.

They had a plan for everything. When one questioned how they'd know where he was, Kaelan explained that they'd have to put a separate tracker on him, one that was undetectable.

"How do you guys have so much tech?" Elion assumed that they'd remove themselves from everything related to the modern world they hated.

"We have to beat them at their own game," Logan interrupted.

"I don't understand," Elion admitted.

"It means—" Kaelan began to explain. "Never mind, let's just get this plan underway, it's getting late."

Everyone left the room except Kaelan and Logan. Elion stooped next to the nearly empty crate, fiddling with the remaining items.

"Don't touch that!" Logan warned, shoving Elion back. He landed hard on his rear. Elion cried out in pain.

"He's weak," Logan said, "I'm not so sure this is going to work."

"Me either," Kaelan admitted. Elion ignored their lack of trust in him.

"How did they get the guns?" Elion asked.

"Use your head, Elion," Kaelan responded sharply.

"I don't know."

"What do you think all those attacks have been about?"

Elion thought hard for a second. They never harmed anyone; they just disturbed the peace, flashing. Kind of like a protest. But why? Elion perked up. "Were they a distraction?"

"Yup, while I was out partying, messing up the city and everything in it—"

"Let's not say anymore," Logan cut Kaelan off, patting him on the shoulder. "Can't give away all the secrets."

Kaelan handed Elion a glass of the clear liquid. "You should drink some of this."

He took a whiff of him and covered his nose. "What is that?"

"Rum," Kaelan answered simply. It'll numb the pain.

"Can't I just take the ibuprofen again?"

"If you liked the ibuprofen, you'll like this," Kaelan guided the cup to his lips.

He swallowed reluctantly. It burned his mouth, his throat and his chest was on fire. He coughed and gagged. "Eugh!" Elion spat. "That is disgusting!"

Logan let out a guttural laugh. "There's nothing in the world like it. I'd say that's the worst thing the government ever did. Ban alcohol."

Elion coughed, barely able to speak. "I think they were right on this one."

They both laughed, but Elion couldn't see the joke.

Logan dragged a stool to the centre of the room. "Have a seat, Elion"

"Let's go easy on him," Logan said.

"I won't kill him, since he's our best chance of finding that damn Memory bank?"

The memory bank. The Artisans believed that the memories that POLARIS erased were stored somewhere in the company. On one of the floors, there's a what they call a server room. They surmised that they could have downloaded it onto his neurolink, and then he'd find them and they'd download it from him. It might overload his brain, but it was a chance he was willing to take.

Elion sat on the stool, preparing for the first strike.

~~~~

Kaelan dragged Elion to his feet and guided him out of the bar.

"Damn," Misha exclaimed, "I thought you were going to go easy on him,"

Logan laughed. "We had to make it believable."

Misha grabbed Elion's chin and flashed a small light in his eyes. Elion squinted.

"At least he's conscious."

"I avoided his head," Kaelan said. He'd apologised after every strike. He said he didn't want to do this, but it was necessary for his future and his comrades.

They carried him to another room. Similar to the one they were just in, but this one had a bed and machines similar to those at POLARIS. "How did you get this?" he questioned.

"The less you know, the better," Misha shut him down. They laid him on the bed. Misha busied herself with connecting him to the machines, they came to life once his vital signs. She pulled out a holographic pad and began tapping on it. It had the signature POLARIS insignia on it.

Elion wondered how she'd come about such technology and how Kaelan had the uniform in his underground dwelling. There was so much more to learn about the people he was fighting with, but his mind was too numb to function. The rum worked well, he barely felt any of the pain.

"Alright, everyone, get out," Misha instructed. Logan left abruptly. "You don't have to tell me twice."

"I'll stay," Kaelan protested.

"Alright fine, but don't touch anything," she warned.

"Elion, I don't have any anaesthesia or pain killers on hand—"

"Ibuprofen?" Elion asked.

"Trust me, that won't help. I'm sure you know that your neurolink is not just a communication device, right?"

"Well, yes, I use it to search things and you know, other things—," Elion trailed off, sensing that something wasn't right.

"Your neurolink is," she paused. "Scientifically, it's a part of your neurological system, actually it's the route of your being."

"That doesn't make any sense," Elion said.

Misha exhaled. "There's no time to really explain, just know that my cutting into it is like playing with your main circuit board. One bad move and I could basically fry your brain," Misha warned. She tied back her white hair so that her vision wasn't impeded. Then put on a pair of glasses that enlarged her eyes.

Elion wondered how she knew so much about the neurolink. Things he did not have an idea about. The extent of its use was to communicate and store memories. That's all he knew. He looked over at Kaelan. Who were these people exactly?

She gently turned Elion's head to the side and taped his ear in place. "This is going to hurt."

"AHHHHHHH!" Elion cried out in pain as Misha sliced the delicate spot. "Hold him!" Misha instructed Kaelan. "I thought you said not to touch anything."

Kaelan held his hands down. "Look, man, this could kill you. Calm down!" Elion exhaled in sharp, erratic breaths as Misha sliced. Elion bawled out as she cut deeper into his neck.

"Can't we just do this the old-fashioned way?" Kaelan asked, "Write a program or something?"

"That didn't work out so well in the past, did it? Our best chance is to modify the chip and—"