[𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬] - (formerly) skephalo

[city colors] - III

EDIT TO CLARIFY: 

Students in the Blue clan/associates of the Blue clan do not officially learn about the Red / Blue war. It cannot be considered a fully censored subject, but no one bothers going to the library since they learnt everything extremely easily. The library is there primarily stacked with digital books with fiction genres for the entertainment of readers. Therefore, the idea of the Red / Blue war was lost through time. It is easily accessible public knowledge, but ironically only people that are involved in the war really know about it.

Students learn about the Mass Radioactive Wipeout event, and how the Blue clan had survived through the horrid disease and that's why they're here today but not about the war between the Red and Blues. War puts them in a bad light. And the Blue clan wants citizens to comply with a sense of a 'perfect' clan. Books about the war cannot mention anything 'bad' that the clan has done.

The war is still going on though. The Blue clan fights with robots, weapons of mass destruction, and a small handful of human leaders, who are government officials with many, many enhancing implants. However, they all came back from the war with memories that haunted them - therefore all of the humans that have seen the war have had their memories of the war wiped completely. 

Memory alteration is legal in Azure City. Bad memories or people could be wiped from your memory for a small fortune. It is also used as a form of punishment for the small number of criminals that Azure City has. 

---

Zak furrowed his brows.

'...Red?'

"Well, maybe you'd learn about this in the future- when your parents think you'll be ready," Techno dismissed the subject quickly, instantly regretting his words as a pit of dread formed in his stomach.

But the nearly eight-year-old kid only became more intrigued by his statement.

'...Red...Oooh- how would you spell it?' Zak's smile widened as he said the taboo word again, making Techno flinch. His eyes looked like stars were shining in them as he looked at Techno with a face of awe and expectation.

"Zak- look," Techno stumbled through his words. "That's not relevant to your area of study. I am not allowed to teach you things like this-"

'Why not?'

"Um..." Techno's voice faltered.

Techno struggled to find the correct words to explain or excuse himself to Zak. On one hand, he would have told Zak everything. The kid deserved to know about the outside world- to him, the heavily modified, incorrect and morally horrific information he was teaching the curious child was....well- wrong.

On the other hand, he didn't really enjoy the idea of being handed over alive to Blue scientists, presumably to be experimented upon.

That didn't sound very fun at all.

Gosh, why did Zak have to be so much harder to teach than his precursors? Was it the mutation gene at work?

"R-E-D. Red."

Techno, you idiot.

//

8:00 PM

'..All cake friends..!'

Zak half-sung, half hummed a small melody as he walked happily to the hyperloop train station. He tilted his head childishly, slightly skipping in beat to the song playing in his head.

His mind wandered back to Tutor Techno.

Red...

Yellow...