Authors note: Hey, everyone! AshRB here! I have been working on this story since June 2012 and I figured that I should probably get around to actually posting it on the site. The Ivy Wall was born out of my disappointment in the lack of sci-fi HM fics, so I figured, "If anyone should write one, it might as well be me."
I want to thank my awesome beta Sweetielove! Thanks!
Fun fact: I'm posting this on September 8th, 2014, which is the same night as a super Harvest Moon! I did that on purpose. Ain't I punderfull?
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons.
Chapter 1
The fate of the world was decided in a dark room.
Five beings sat surrounding a large, round pool of water. This pool was one of many in the room. Each pool had a purpose, some being for the use of teleportation, others being for the use of spying, while others kept track of things otherwise easily lost. The pool in question was the most important as its waters fed all the others and helped the ones who sat around it hold counsel.
The five beings glanced at each other and at one of the two empty chairs at the end of the pool. That chair brought out different reactions from within each of them. But they had to leave their thoughts about the former occupant of the chair in their minds at the moment. They had been summoned to this most sacred place for a reason.
"Hello, my children," a sixth being entered the room. He appeared to be an old man with brilliant blue light bursting forth from him and shining off of his distinctly bald head. He walked to the pool where the others sat and stood before them, looking each of them in the eye before taking his place at one of the empty chairs.
"Hello, father," a man with a red aura greeted him, bowing his head with respect as he did so.
"Greetings to you as well, my son, and to you, too, my daughters," the man with the blue aura said in reply. "I wish we were meeting for a happier reason."
"Yeah, why are we here exactly?" said a female with no aura, but who commanded powers so dark; she would have considered it an insult to have light shining from her anyway.
After giving the girl a look of contempt, the old man waved his hand above the pool. An image of a television screen began to appear. Twelve eyes watched as a disturbing commercial took stage upon the dusty glass screen. Five beings anxiously waited with bated breath as a television announcer began to speak.
"Does work stress you out? Is there never enough time in the day to do what you want to do?"
The television set depicted a worn out office worker and a collapsed farmer. Each had an exaggerated amount of fatigue painted on their faces. Worry lines had never been that shade of purple.
"Worry no more! I'm proud to introduce Future Tech's newest invention, Hubots!"
The tired faces of the overworked humans were replaced by an image the six in the room had hoped to never see again.
"No," gasped a being with long violet hair and a matching aura, "It can't be…Not him. Anything but him…"
The screenshot that scared the beings portrayed a man… or what at least appeared to be a man. The "man" wore blue denim overalls, a backwards baseball cap, and had a red bandana tied around his neck. His brown bangs popped out from underneath his cap and defied gravity as they floated above his face.
Upon closer inspection, however, it was easy to see that he was not a mere human. There were lines ending in circular nodes centered on his forehead, cheeks, and arms. His elbows were not held together by a natural flesh joint, but by visible screws. His hair was made up of tiny silicon wires and, as realistic as his skin looked, it was nothing more than flesh colored plastic. The biggest giveaway, however, was his soulless eyes. The eyes were made up of three constantly spinning brown circles with silvery-blue rectangular-shaped plates hovering atop them. The black pupil resembled a camera lens much more than a human eye. There was nothing to indicate that there was anything behind those eyes other than a backlight.
"Not only does it look like him," remarked the male who glowed red, "It's a robot. The humans' technology has progressed too far…"
"Hubots are the perfect workers!" the commercial continued, "They can perform any task, no matter how menial, difficult, or dangerous! You'll never have to work again."
The screen now showed the office worker and farmer lounging on a sunny beach while the hubots did their respective jobs.
"So what are you waiting for? Order your own Hubot for only 500,000G!"
With another wave of his glowing hand, the leader of the beings cleared away the image from the water. Their stunned faces now reflected back up at them.
"So, the time has come again, hasn't it?" whispered the violet one.
"I'm afraid so, my daughter," the eldest answered.
"Finally!" said the female with no aura, "I was getting so bored of this world!"
"Time to start fresh!" agreed a being with matching aqua hair and aura.
"It's such a pity. The last few generations of farmers have been the best we've ever had," a being with a green aura sighed. The others could not see how she clenched her fist.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Yes, the Harvester family has been quite successful, but their time has come to an end," the bald one began, "We cannot allow technology to evolve any farther. It is our sacred duty as Kings and Goddesses to protect this planet. We must begin the search for this world's Ivy Wall immediately. Gather the sprites.
"It's time to create a new world."
Authors Note: Review if you feel the urge to!