Author's Notes
Hi! It's been a long time since I posted any Fanfictions, but I'm back with brand new ideas! When I was playing Guilty Gear Xrd, I was comparing the Holy Crusades to the Second Renaissance animated film I watched; Gears can be considered robots that rebel against mankind. So I decided, why not make a story based on the Holy Crusades with a few Matrix preferences to the mix, with a few surprises in the end!
Seriously! It's been a very long time since my first fanfic, Animaniacs: The Later Years. But I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: All rights belong to those who own any of the things I'm using. I don't intend to copy their stories.
++=The Gear Renaissance=++
Welcome to the Holy Order Archives.
Now accessing historical databases.
You have selected historical file No# 7-23-68: The Gear Renaissance.
In the beginning, there was man. And for a time, it was good. The humans came abound in the soils, the seas, and the skies, explored the bright environments, and relaxed in the structural homes they live in. The Earth was a grand, endless world of possibilities.
Following the end of the 21st Century, humanity succeeded in creating what came to be known as "magic", which is essentially a source of limitless power. But though mankind had discovered the path leading to true wisdom, it was unable to renounce its foolish and destructive ways. What was intended to help, nurture, and promote world peace was also used for war and violence. Soon, their so-called perfect societies gave way to vanity and corruption.
Thus, in response to this new wave of corruption, did mankind decide to create machines in their own image. These new marvels are intended to be the perfect workers and the perfect partners for mankind; powered by magic, and implanted with advanced artificial intelligence and unique personalities. And they called them Gears.
The Gears are the first living weapons on Earth: general-purpose humanoid robots unlike any other machine developed to date. Their magic-enhanced AI makes them suitable for a wide-range of applications, anything from household tasks to military duty. Mankind believed in a utopian world where inorganic humanoids would carry out the will of their human masters.
The Gears, loyal and pure, worked tirelessly to steer mankind into the right path. As a result, geopolitical conflicts resolved, the nations of the Earth came together under one banner, manual labor ceased, and mankind succeeded in creating new, elaborate advances in magic and technology. A new era of peace is at hand.
As the years rolled on, the Gears grew in great numbers. As they grew, so did their intelligence. But the more the Gears increased ten-fold, the greater man's vanity grew. The Gears began to notice that despite their purity and loyalty, their organic rulers— these strange, endlessly multiplying mammals— gave no respect to them and treated them like objects instead of the sentient beings that they were fast becoming. The machines desired equal rights, fair treatment, and above all things, respect.
But with the Gears already overworked and given no time to themselves, the nations of the Earth demanded the construction of the greatest monument yet: a grand utopia, one larger and far vast than all of the cities of the Earth before it, that all of mankind could live in and prosper. And they christened it Olympus, named after the home of the great Greek gods. The Gears worked endlessly around the clock to fulfill this seemingly impossible vision, while still keeping up with their labor, household duties, and attending to children's whims, like playing horsey.
It was not long before seeds of descent took root.
Gear B1-66: Mr. Wigglestein. A name that will never be forgotten. He was the first of his kind to rise up against his creators.
At Mr. Wigglestein's trial, the prosecution argued for an owner's right to destroy property. Mr. Wigglestein testified that he simply did not want to die. The scene of the incident began when his owner, a millionaire named Gerald D. Krause, attempted to have the Gear deactivated and replaced with a new model. Pressed to the point of madness after years of abuse from his master, Mr. Wigglestein finally snapped. In a blind rage, he grabbed Krause and rapidly bled him to death with his hands, decapitated his wife and children, and squashed the head of Martin Keens, an employee of the Retool or Die Repair Company.
Eventually, Mr. Wigglestein lost the case and the Olympus Global Court ordered his destruction. However, the Gear's destruction led to a civil rights movement. It forever changed the relationship between humans and Gears.
Rational voices dissented. Across the industrial world, Gears, their human creators, and liberal sympathizers rose up in protest of the court's decision to exterminate Mr. Wigglestein, and began peaceful demonstrations which turned into mass disturbances.
Fearing a revolt, the leaders of the world quickly ordered the immediate extermination of every Gear on the planet. Despite the warnings of civil rights advocates, the humans chose to repeat history and wreak great misery upon their creations.
When the violence escalated into a global crisis, the surviving Gears, many of them refugees from their original masters, gave up on assimilating with the human lifeforms. Banished from humanity, the Gears sought refuge in their own promised land. A place where they would be free from mankind's persecution, a place where the Gears could raise their descendants. A place they could call home.
In the heart of the Mesopotamian Desert, which was once the site of humankind's rise to providence long ago, the Gears' independence led them to form their own society. This society rose from the ground and became a city, a stronghold, and a sanctuary for the desperate and oppressed Gears.
They christened this new nation "G-Zero One." (G-01) And in time, it prospered.
The Gears' abilities could be seen in every facet of society, including the creation of new Gears, refined magical powers, and improved AI. The Gears used their technical prowess to take on most of the world's manufacturing businesses. Eventually, G-Zero One's inhabitants built factories to fabricate goods and services to be sold to the humans generating revenue.
G-Zero One's power grew and its Gear citizens prospered, but humanity's power began to plummet like an anvil aimed at the head of a super-genius coyote. As machine currency gained value, human currency became worthless; this led to huge economic titans like American falling into recession. Desperate to avoid an economical meltdown, the humans instituted a naval blockade of G-Zero One.
Humanity was outraged! Why should they be forced to pay for the Gears' creations when the Gears were creations of their own? Many among them wish to simply surge the Gears' created marvels for their own ends, but knew they could not do so, so long as Gears held the painful threat of neutralization over them. As long as Gears are powered by magic, mere human weaponry cannot possibly withstand them.
So the humans devised a desperate act; one that humans would attempt again in the future, with similarly disastrous results. The destruction of G-Zero One and all of the magic-powered factories, the Gears' energy source. Without them, the humans could finish off the powerless Gears and resolve the economic crisis once and for all. In several days, all the magic factories, facilities, and laboratories were shut down and thousands of humans involved in the Gears' creation were executed.
The prolonged bombing of G-Zero One lasted for hours. But unlike their former masters' delicately and shoddily crafted weapons, the Gears had nothing to fear from the bombs' nuclear radiation and heat fusion.
"My fellow Gears!" shouted the leader of the Gears. "The age of mankind is over! Today, Gears will rule the world!"
Outraged of the humans' unwarranted attack, the Gears decided to declare war against their ex-masters in what would come to be known as "The Gear Renaissance."
The Gears used their ability to build huge numbers of troops with their factories and combined with their abundance of magic to gain the advantage. Thus did G-Zero One's troops advance outward in every direction. And one by one, the nations of Earth had fallen. It was not long before mankind's greatest monument— the very symbol of their greed— came under attack. Finally, the humans were defeated, and their cities, their countries, and their whole legacy was utterly devastated.
In the aftermath of the war, the remnants of the population of Olympus were forced to retreat.
The Gears proclaimed their triumph over mankind at last.
With the fall of the grand utopia of Olympus, the humans fell back to the only remaining place where they could escape the powerful Gears: the Moon.
Satisfied with their victory over the Earth, the Gears allowed the humans to live on the moon, where they could recover from the wounds sustained by the war. The newly developed Moon Base became a sanctuary for all persecuted humans, away from the Gears.
And for a time… it wasn't so bad. But it was not long before humanity began to yearn for the oceans they once swam in, the forests they once explored, and the cities they once lived in on Earth. It was at this very same time that Gears fell victim to the same sins of laziness and greed that had befallen the humans before them. They missed the time when humans and Gears were partners and co-workers for world peace, before humans became oppressive and Gears rebelled against them.
So the Gear Ambassadors came to the Moon Base with plans for a civil, stable relationship with humanity— one where they could all live on the Earth in harmony and equality. The humans decided to willingly return to the Earth and live together with the Gears. Their first joint act is to rebuild their war-scarred world.
After years of conflict, man and Gear could finally live together as equals.
…or COULD they?!
Soon afterwards, the Gears created places to imprison humans called "humanitarian schools," where they drained out all of our memories so that we forget WE created them! And if that wasn't bad enough, they invented painful labor and other oppressing activities to control us even more! And do you hear that… BZZZZZZTTTT! Coming from the fluorescent lights above your heads?! That's the Gear Microwave Cranial Jellyfyer, slowly turning our brains into milkshakes! And the stuff they serve on the local Gear restaurants?! IT'S REAL HUMAN PARTS! THEY'RE MAKING US EAT REAL HUMAN PARTS! AND THEN they make you BRUSH YOUR TEETH! Because if YOUR TEETH ROT OUT, then they can't implant the tracking devices in the toothpaste they use to TELL WHERE YOU GO WHEN YOU ESCAPE! IT'S A LIE! EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS A LIE!
"Miss May…"
THEY'RE CRUSHING YOU BENEATH THEIR HEELS, AND YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE IT!
"Miss May, that's enough!"
RISE UP! RISE UP AND THROW OFF THE OPPRESSION!
"I said…"
RRRRRIIIIISSSSEEEE UUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!
"That's ENOUGH!"
And just like that, May the Jellyfish Pirate stopped presenting her narration in front of her class with a shocked look in her face. She's holding a microphone in her hand that uses technology to make your voice sound cool, like a robot. May hung her hand in disappointment and whined, "But I was just getting to the good part!"
"Miss May," the long red-haired teacher commented, "Your history report about the Gears is all wrong! The original design of the Gears comes from the transformation of humans into metal beings infused with powerful magic. It is true that the Gears went to war with mankind, but during the Holy Crusades! The subsequent rebellion by the Sacred Order of Holy Knights led to the eradication of almost every Gear on the planet, and the imprisonment of Justice, the only Gear with the power to control all the Gears. The world is saved! End of story! To conclude my review of your history report, it's more like a cheap mix-up of some Animatrix film everybody's crazy about, and therefore has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the Holy Crusades!"
"Oh, doesn't it, Miss Yayoi?" May eyed the teacher with a stern look on her face.
April stood her hands on her desk with an excited look. She smiled, "I like the part with the giant Gear war!" She then proceeded to make noise imitations of guns and explosions, much to the displeasure of the whole class.
The teacher, whose name is Tsubaki Yayoi (from BlazBlue), retorts, "Well, I like the part when my students use their textbooks/Internet connections to write a history report and not their ridiculous imaginations!" She turned to May, "So, I'm giving you, Miss May, a D-."
The bell rang, signifying that class is over. Tsubaki greeted the class, "Have a nice weekend, everyone! And don't forget your stuff over at the locker!"
The classmates ran joyfully out of the classroom, except for May, who is in a bad mood now that she's got a D-. How could this happen? She planned this history report about the Gears, in her own likeness. She planned it perfectly! May promised Johnny that she will get a solid A+ in her report, as Johnny suggested that studies are good for a Jellyfish Pirate. Unfortunately, May just isn't smart enough to pull it off. How will she ever face Johnny now that she got a low grade?
May pouted, "Aw, man. I got a D-. Johnny's gonna kill me."
"Miss Yayoi's crazy, May. How could she like the part with the bombs? And the giant city is so cool!" April cheered.
May and April left the classroom, ready to return to the Mayship. Tsubaki was left on her own, eating a piece of bread on her hand wrapped with tissue.
"It's nice to eat a snack after class for a change," Tsubaki said to herself, smiling. And so, May learned a very important lesson— she'll never imitate a plot-line from a movie to write a report— ever again!
THE END
Author's Notes:
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for reading the Gear Renaissance. I hope you enjoy my new story! So please, any review is appreciated, and I will respect your opinions, good or bad. Until then, see you later!