1960 Park Slope, Brooklyn

He learned to read at 4, and he liked to draw his favorite cartoons.

His mother encouraged art. At 7, he went to a private school. That year, he and his best friend made a children's book.

Everything changed the next year.

A car hit him, leaving him with a broken arm and internal injuries. While in the hospital, his mother gave him a copy of Grey's Anatomy. Soon after she was put in an institution.

Despite the changes, he became fluent and literate in 3 languages by 11.

He missed his mother and ran from his home in Puerto Rico by age 15. Washington Square Park was his home for a week before his father found him. He was sent to an arts-focused school, but he was kicked out for pieing the Principal.

By 18, his father kicked him out.

He got by with a day-job at Unique on Broadway. At night, he was tagging buildings downtown with a signature for "Same Old Shit". He was going on public access shows and was in a band that played at all the places in the scene, Max's Kansas City, CBGB, etc.

Inspired by his roommate's chemistry textbooks, he drew all over the walls of their apartment, and made postcards of his art. He sold one called, "Stupid Games, Bad Ideas".

It was the beginning for Jean-Michel Basquiat after he sold Andy Warhol that postcard.

2909 Ganymede, Mars

Elena was nervous. This was her "big show" in the Arts Festival, she didn't tell anyone in her cohorts but they all found out and now there was no hiding. Not that she wanted to hide deep down.

"Lena Ingermica , you have to sit down." Elena my little angel. She used to call Elena that when she was younger, most often when she was sick 9 years ago.

Her mother was fussing over her outfit, trying to fix the wild tangles in her mane of hair. Pride and worry trickled and poured through cracks in the dam of her cool reserve.

"Mama, it's okay. My hair it's... " Elena stopped and let her mom fix her hair. She was 14 and feeling new kinds of “grown up”, especially with this show but what she wouldn't give to hide and just make "expees", experiences, for the tourists and locals. If it weren't for the prize money.

The rent was covered but there was always next month and food. Even if she placed last, she would make enough lokens to stretch out the food for weeks.

"There, it's fixed." Elena pretended not to care but snuck a look when her mother went to the other room. She posed in front of the mirror, imagined how the node room would feel when she connected with the Jovian 'Chain and streamed expees.

"I feel so stupid." She felt odd in the clothes her mother made for, runoff from downloaded designs.

Her mother came back. "Lena ingermica, you are beautiful. You are going to show them all. I wish I could go with you."

"I know mama." There was work and and so on. Elena thought about her mom and sisters and felt less stupid. This was not a bad idea. She was going to go for it.