Smoke by Elay Arson

It's the first half of the 21st Century.

Humanity is living in a burgeoning cyberpunk dystopia. Multiple layers of intertwined reality form the worlds of online, offline, entertainment, and drudgery. While some do prosper, the cost of their prosperity is misery and planetary destruction. Proxy battles between superpower nations comprise wars all over the earth, fueled by an indomitable military-industrial complex. Massive corporations spy on every person's digital trace and have emerged as a dominant force in daily activities, competing with the powers of nation-states.

This time period is complex in ways never before seen in history. A time optimized for the business sociopath and obedient workers. Splintering attention spans into a billion parts for a profit. Lives reduced to a dollar value to sell ad space.

The concept of self is a tricky thing, not free from the environment inhabited or the connections made within. "I am myself" seems like a straightforward enough statement. But it's not so simple. True free will is something few can afford at this point in time.

Contemporary society is a mechanical monument to human sacrifice. In that monument, how does a human spirit carry the torch known as life? Do humans fit into the new mechanized world? Is it time to burn it all down? If humans can't change the machine, maybe it is time for mankind to re-examine the self. Forge something new, tested by fire.

May we emerge as something greater from these flames.

A man with a heavy metal dance music project.

Making synthesizers sound angry since MMXV.

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