The Synergist

[Year 15 | 2267-68]

As Artur walked through the streets, he was inundated with neon colours clashing with kawaii culture in an assault on both the eyes and ears that put the garish colours of the City to shame.  This represented the teenager’s second visit to the Heart.  The first cost him his Dad; and this second, with no end in sight, had taken him away from his Mum.  It was his birthday, and all Artur wanted to do is call his mum, hear her voice, and tell her he’s safe.  Artur hoped against hope that his mum was safe; that is what his instructors led him to believe, at least.

“You try to contact your Mum and it’s game over for the both of you,” his instructor told him.  “We have shinobi tailing your every move.  Any further dampeners, any effort to reach your mother, any effort to find your father, and you can kiss both your, and your mother’s, lives goodbye.”

Despite the cacophony of sound and vision, his missing parents, and the fact that he was presumably being followed by an assassin that could likely kill him with a single finger, Artur didn’t mind it in the Heart.  Based in New Tokyo Sector 1, where the atmosphere was lively and the people seemed genuinely happy to be part of the thriving region, Artur was even provided some money to replace his Gogh Tab Plus.  Between this having been superseded years prior and the Heart being a different market to the City, a direct replacement was not possible.  Instead, he replaced it with the Hiroshi Block 7.0, a far more modern device, enabling him more control and colour options than the Gogh Tab Plus ever had.  It is also what was used by the professionals in YatopiCorp’s Synergy Department.

As the year continued, Artur took his Hiroshi Block 7.0 with him everywhere he went.  Despite generation upon generation of cross-pollination between the City and the Heart, he still felt like a stranger in a strange land.  During his rare breaks from his study, the teenager was more comfortable sketching an image than engaging with other human beings, or AI.

Artur’s instructors were unable to grasp his love of art.  When he turns fifteen, he will be able to choose his major, and they all feared that he would choose the pacifist route, rather than the bloody violence he drew during those innocent times of yesteryear.  But, alas, should he win the challenge, which his instructors believe he should, it would be his decision.