The future. The phrase inspires images of talking robots, flying cars, spaceships and near immortality, but what if technology began to degrade?

In the year 2123, the world spiraled down into a cesspit of despair. Poverty was high, criminals infested the cities, and nearly everyone led lives that drowned in vice and immorality. However, there were exceptions. These people, The Children of the Enlightenment, began as a fringe society set on separating themselves apart from the deplorable ways of those around them. Not only did they seek to live a moral life, but they also lived an anachronistic life, free from the distractions of modern living.

The Children of the Enlightenment grew quickly, and soon gained wealthy and influential members. Within only a few short years, the Enlightenment's agenda found its way into politics and radical changes began to unfold. Most technology was banned, along with the questionably moral activities that had become commonplace. The citizens were understandably outraged, but many soon warmed up to the new ways when they discovered that they were now safer and sometimes happier.

Though most citizens were unaware of it, their new government was not only planning to reintroduce a new sense of morality; they wanted to reshape society into something like it had been centuries past. The media was controlled tightly, even after being reduced to just literature, art, music. The Children of the Enlightenment wanted to restore the old concepts of etiquette, family values, and proper behavior, and they were successful.

In the current year of 2323, the world quite resembles what it might have looked like in the nineteenth century. Once again, women wore corsets and crinolines, and men were expected to act like courteous gentlemen. Society has changed very little in the past two hundred years, but not without external influence. This stability and success was due in no small part to extensive efforts to keep the citizens ignorant and innocent. If no one knows that the world could be different, they will not attempt to change it. The factors that led to the decline of civilization so many years ago have largely been eliminated. Dissent is now outlawed, immorality is considered a mental illness, and scientific discoveries are discouraged. Adults who try to undermine society in these ways are never heard from again, but there is still hope for the misguided child.

The Enlightened School is where these misguided youths (mostly teenagers) will eventually go. Sometimes the decision is made by the parents, sometimes it's made by the authorities. The school claims to be nothing more than a place of learning with the goal to shape well-rounded young adults, but in truth it's a government funded institution created to correct problem children. This institution was established to cure anyone who might grow up to become a threat to the delicate fabric of society. Their true intentions are kept hidden to allow the changes to be made in a gradual, natural manner, but with such strict rules and stiff punishment, many students are becoming suspicious.