*May 6, 2125*

"What's this?" Elion held up a glass jar with a thick white substance in it. The rim of the jar was darkened, just like the nub at its centre.

"It's a candle," Kaelan answered.

"Oh, a candle," Elion turned the thing in his hand. "What is it made out of?"

"Wax," Kaelan answered with a heavy breath.

"Wax," Elion repeated.

"Smell it," Kaelan instructed. He did. It had a smell that he could only describe as warm and inviting. Like he couldn't get enough of it. He inhaled so much of it, wanting it to consume every cell in his body.

"I guess you like it, it's vanilla," Kaelan said, handing Elion a hot beverage.

"What's vanilla?"

Kaelan looked up from his mug. "What do they even teach anymore?"

"Mostly about history, chemistry, human anatomy, a lot of Artificial Intelligence," Elion answered.

Elion had been at this Artisan's base for two days. It was one of many he was told. This one was Kaelan's most frequent, hence all the items he had stored in here. Elion fiddled with the little ceramic objects that he had on the table.

"What history did they teach you?" Kaelan asked. His tone was deeper than before.

Elion put the round object back on the table. "Well, a hundred years ago the world went into a recession—" he started.

"Yes, we know," Kaelan answered. "Huge recession, Artificial Intelligence took over. It started with Art and music, and bled into other fields, stripping people of their livelihoods"

"Yeah," Elion answered, "but not about strupping people, more like it saved the world. Surgeries became more successful, cancer, some weird disease that used to kill people, they got rid of that."

"Sounds like you're defending them," Kaelan said.

"No, well," Elion paused. "I just know what I've been taught."

"Well, you have a lot to learn," Kaelan began. He told Elion about how the advancement of AI slowly took over the Education sector. People stopped thinking and just used it to do everything. Cook, clean, make music, paint, build virtually everything. POLARIS was the cause of it. It began small but expanded to multiple continents. Wherever there was an internet connection, there were AI and robots.

Elion didn't even know what this internet thing was. Kaelan pulled out a small metallic box from the corner. He opened it, revealing an array of black devices. Some were thin and sleek, others large and flat, one had a band you could wrap around your hand. Elion reached in and grabbed one.

"What is this?" He took one from the box.

"That one is a cell phone."

Elion's eyes widened.

"They became obsolete over 50 years ago when POLARIS invented neurolinks," Kaelan spoke like he tasted something bitter.

"So they used this before neurolinks? How?"

"Well, there were like radio waves that allowed cellphones on the same network to talk to each other. Send message,s etc. And if you had internet, WiFi, you could talk to anyone in the world."

"What? So it has a chip in it? What's WiFi?"

Kaelan sighed heavily. "I guess they don't teach you anything. WiFi it's... I don't know, I just remember what my father taught me. It's just like how we talk now. A connection, but with no wires."

"Oh," Elion said, though he didn't quite get it. "So this is a big cellphone?"

"That's a laptop."

"A what?"

"A computer."

"So big?" Elion said. Computers were simple square chips that gave power to their SMART desks and neurolinks.

"Yes. There aren't any museums that display these things. Like they wanted to erase the last century."

Elion calmed his enthusiasm, taking the hint of the sombre mood Kaelan was in.

"That company, POLARIS, basically took away everything that made us human. First AI was unavoidable, then, when humanity wasn't looking, they took our rights."

Kaelan spent the rest of the evening educating Elion on what they didn't teach them. It was just as he'd suspected. They changed the story, made it seem like the Artisans were the biggest threat. They just wanted the freedom to live and to create.

"Do you listen to music?" Kaelan asked.

"Yes, but I don't like it very much; they all sound the same."

"That's what happens when AI copies AI, they kill the real artists."

The rhythmic knocking that he'd gotten used to broke their conversation.

"I hope I'm not interrupting your bonding session, but it's time to go," Misha yelled through the door.

"I guess we'll have to continue our history lesson another time."

~~~~

They walked to another part of the city in the dead of the night. Guided only by the glow of the street lights. The three of them were clad from head to toe in black. They stuck to narrow alleys rather than the made streets. Just like Jax said, there were no RPs.

Misha knocked rhythmically on a metal door at the end of an alley. After a few seconds, the door swung open. Misha entered easily. As Elion went to enter, a pipe blocked his path. A large man stepped out of the shadows. He stood a good three feet over Elion.

"Who is this?" He directed at Misha.

"A new recruit," she answered, walking away, "don't scare him away."

He eyed Elion from head to toe before dropping the pipe. Kaelan followed close behind him.

"They're just being cautious," he comforted.

They walked down a narrow hallway that led to steps. The steps brought them deeper underground. The concrete cushioned walls and ceiling were damp.

Then, following Misha, they entered a room that was just big enough for a couple of tables and stools. There were wooden items hung on the farthest wall, with strings on it.

"Is that a guitar?" Elion whispered to Kaelan. He nodded.

A small black box played a soft melody in the corner that quietly set a calming mood in the room. An old man stood behind a table, and behind him, there was a wall decorated with glass bottles.

"So this is the young man?" the man asked Misha, pouring something from a bottle into a glass.

"Yes, he says he can help us,"

The man was chewing on something. He spat it onto a glass container, slowly rounded the table and grabbed Elion by the neck.

His grip tightened, and he turned Elion's head to the side as if inspecting his neck. Up close, his smell was as if he hadn't showered in a while. His eyes lit up a bright green, and he scanned what he assumed was his neurolink.

"Let me go!" Elion squirmed, but the man's grip would not give.

When he was satisfied, he let go of him. Elion stumbled back. Kaelan caught him before he fell.

"Well?" Misha asked the man.

"He's one of them," the man said, "why would you bring him here?"

One of what Elion wondered. Wasn't he just like them? Born in an oppressed world.

"Damn it Loran, he might be our ticket to get to what we've been looking for,"

"How?" Logan shot at Misha.

"He's on an internship there, he can —"

"Interns don't have the clearance to get what we want." He cut Misha off.

"I can," Elion said.

The man took up the glass and took a big gulp. A bead of the liquid ran down the corners of his mouth. He walked up to Elion. Their faces were so close that their nose almost touched. "How so?"

Elion sucked in a deep breath. "Because my full name is Elion Strider."