Author's Notes: Of all the things I do, I end up starting a new fic. I should really figure out my priorities.

Anyway, this came to me out of the idea that the Mega Man classic games take place in 20XX, while the Castlevania Sorrow games take place in 2035 and 2036. I think you'll get the idea from here.

Castlevania: AI of Sorrow

Chapter 1: The Lecture

"Good morning, Tokyo! It's a beautiful day today, with a forecast of moderate temperatures and clear skies. As well, for today's events, the Nobel Prize-winning robotics expert Dr. Light will be demonstrating his creations and giving a lecture on robotics at-"

The white-haired teenager placed his left hand on his alarm clock, switching off said alarm. Well, after his fingers fumbled to find the switch. His eyes slowly opened, his pupils adjusting to the light shining in from the window. Despite just waking up, he still felt tired. He slowly sat up, yawning, taking in the information the radio had just presented him. The demonstration, as it happened, was happening today, at his high school, no less. He had never seen a Light robot in person, before. But why didn't he feel excited? To him, this just felt... Mundane. He had seen far more fantastical things.

The year is 2037. This boy's name? Soma Cruz. Two years ago, he went to see an eclipse with his childhood friend Mina, and ended up in Dracula's castle. There, he discovered that he was Dracula's reincarnation. With the help of his friends, he was able to prevent himself from becoming the Dark Lord. A year ago, he was targeted by an organisation who wanted to bring about a new Dark Lord. Once again, he escaped that fate. Both times, he wielded the Power of Dominance, and so many weapons, to accomplish this.

Of course, you probably already knew that.

Soma's routine that morning was fairly normal. A quick shower, putting on his school uniform, breakfast, teeth-brushing, and packing his bag for the trip. He lived in a fairly ordinary (if not fairly spacious) Tokyo apartment, on the 6th floor, though the rent was fairly cheap, which was fortunate for him, as he found it hard at times to find a part-time job and actually keep it.

When he got to the ground floor, however, he discovered an unusual sight waiting for him. The orange-haired girl he found waiting right outside, he recognised immediately – she didn't wait for him like this, usually. "Mina!"

"Hi, Soma-kun!" Mina smiled, walking up to him as he came out the front door. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't gonna be late. Don't you wanna see the demonstration?"

"Yeah, I do, it's just..." He noticed that his letterbox had something in it. He opened it up, finding a small package addressed to him. "I don't know. I guess I'm just not that excited."

"Well, you will be when you see the robots! I've seen them on TV, they're amazing!" Mina grinned, as she watched Soma examine the package. "Hey, who is that from?"

"It's... It's from Arikado-san." Soma blinked, as he tore open the package. Inside, was a blue pendant, and a note. He didn't hesitate to read the note. "Soma – This pendant is vital to the safety of you and Mina. If either of you are in danger, do not hesitate to break it. You will know what to do afterwards. - sincerely, Genya Arikado."

"Huh. He says I'm supposed to break the pendant if either of us is in danger." Soma repeated the message, which resulted in a raised eyebrow from Mina. "That's nice of him, but, how can breaking a pendant help? And why would we be in danger? I know your Power of Dominance doesn't work if you don't need it and you lose those souls and all, but everyone who could endanger either of us are dead."

"I don't know. Let's just get going." Soma shrugged, as he put the pendant around his neck.

The school's hall was filled to the brim with chairs, well, everywhere but the stage, and the stage itself was set up to accommodate the display. The curtains were closed, and old two men were pacing around on-stage, trying to get things set-up properly. After all, it was just about to start. Soma and Mina managed to secure themselves a couple of seats fairly close to the front. Mina was giddy with excitement, Soma less so, but he was more excited than he was in the morning.

When everything was set, both of the old men came up on stage. They both wore lab coats. The first one resembled Santa Claus, mainly because of the white, fluffy facial hair and beard, and the seemingly cheerful disposition he had. The other resembled Albert Einstein, except with a larger and unique moustache, and grey hair that extended off from the sides, which left the top of his head bald. He also had a large chin. The first scientist took out a microphone, smiling. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! I am Doctor Thomas Light, head of Light Labs. This is my partner, Doctor Albert Wily."

Wily nodded, taking out his own microphone. He didn't seem nearly as cheerful as Light was. "It is a pleasure to be here."

Light's smile widened, as he continued, "We are pleased to demonstrate our latest models of the Robot Master series of robots, what I hope will be the future of robotics for years to come. We will also be giving a lecture on robotics and the theories we developed that were crucial to the making of these robots. So, behold, the Robot Master series!"

The two men stepped aside, as the curtain opened, to show ten figures standing behind it. Mina was ecstatic. "It's them!"

Soma couldn't believe his eyes. Almost all of these figures could pass for humans wearing elaborate costumes, and two of them looked like almost perfectly normal human beings, with normal clothes, to boot! His eyes wandered across each one of them, as Dr. Wily listed each of them in order. "Cut Man, Guts Man, Elec Man, Ice Man, Fire Man, Bomb Man, Oil Man, Time Man, our industrial models, designed for specific tasks, from logging to demolition. And lastly, the two more 'personal assistant' models Light and I designed, Rock and Roll, whose resemblance to normal humans is uncanny!"

The brown-haired robot with a blue shirt and shorts, identified as Rock, was handed the microphone by Light, and he eagerly waved. "Hey, everybody! It's great to meet you all!" His blonde 'sister' with a red dress, Roll, promptly stole the mic. "Kept ya waiting, huh?"

An amused Light took the microphone back. Soma was flabbergasted. He thought nothing would surprise him after fighting countless demons, including the grim reaper itself. Yet, here he was, finding himself fascinated and awed by this display. The industrial robots were impressive enough, but Rock and Roll could be mistaken for ordinary children. Dr. Light spoke up. "Who wants to come up on stage and have the privilege of getting up-close with our creations? Maybe it's... YOU!"

Soma lost all breath at that moment. Dr. Light was pointing at him. "You, with the white hair! And the beautiful young lass beside you! Please, come on up!"

Mina looked like she was going to faint due to sheer excitement. She immediately pushed Soma out of his chair. "Come on, come on, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! What are we waiting for?!"

"Geez, Mina, stop pushing...!" Soma tried to catch his breath, as he stumbled on up towards the stage, managing to recover his balance as he proceeded up the stairs, Mina following closely behind him. Soma found himself standing in front of Dr. Light, which would've made him nervous without the robots nearby. This man was a genius, and to meet him in person was an honour. "Now, what would your name be, young man?"

"S-Soma. Soma Cruz. And this is Mina Hakuba." Soma tried to calm himself, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. Nobody could blame him. Dr. Light raised an eyebrow as he spoke the name 'Hakuba'. "Oh? So this is the daughter of the Hakuba family, who owns the famous Shinto shrine? It's a pleasure."

Mina giggled. "No, the pleasure's all mine, Light-sama."

"Anyway. Come, meet my 'family'. I honestly think of them as my children, no doubt Wily-san feels the same way." Light looked at Wily momentarily, as he showed the pair over to the robot masters, whom were curious about said pair. Rock walked up to Soma, extending his hand. "Nice to meet you, Soma-kun!"

Soma smiled nervously, as he shook hands with Rock. The synthetic skin and its touch surprised him. It was almost life-like. "Likewise, Rock-kun. Wow... I just take one look at you, and I'm amazed that you're a robot, and not just some kid!"

Rock laughed. "Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. I was made to be a lab assistant." Soma noticed Mina talking with Roll. Mina found Roll absolutely adorable, and the pair had a surprising amount of things to talk about. Then he heard a loud footstep. "Hey."

He looked in the direction of the sound, to find himself being stared down by the largest robot master, Guts Man. This nearly freaked him out. "O-Oh, hi...!"

"Hey, don't be scared by Guts Man's size, he's as friendly as the rest of us!" Next to the hulking robot, was the red robot with the scissors on his head, Cut Man. "Heya, Soma-kun. I'm Cut Man!"

"Oh, don't bother with them. I'm the most important one here, you know." The robot with the lightning-bolt mask stepped over, smirking. "I am Elec Man, lightning god!" It didn't take much for Soma to figure out how arrogant Elec Man was. "Hello. I guess I'll take your word for it..."

"Think fast!"

Soma noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and he ducked quickly. A clock hand made of plasma went over his head, held by Time Man. "Hmm. Exactly 0.432567898433677 seconds to react. Impressive. It seems we're ahead on schedule."

Soma blinked, as Dr. Wily walked up, scolding Time Man, "I know you're programmed not to harm humans, but please, don't scare the boy!"

"My apologies, doctor." The hand disappeared, as Time Man stepped back. "It was simply an experiment. All things are governed by time. You have earned my respect, Soma-san. That kind of reaction time is far beyond average."

Soma stood up, finding Time Man's speech and personality strangely familiar. If only he knew what he'd been through to develop that kind of reaction timing. Oil Man pushed him aside. "Yo, Soma-kun! I'm Oil Man, for all your oil needs!" Soma found this robot strange, but friendly. He reminded himself never to use a fire-based soul around him.

Then a bomb rolled up beside Soma, freaking him out... Until he realised it wasn't lit. Bomb Man scooped it up. "Whoops! My bad. Still, it's a little boring without fireworks, eh? I'm Bomb Man. If you need an explosion, I'm your man."

"Uh... Okay." Soma gulped, deciding not to think about it too much. Immediately, he felt something on his back. It seemed Ice Man was giving him a piggy-back right. "On your knees, soldier! Give me twenty push-ups, on the double!" Suddenly, he hopped off. "Uh... If you want to."

"Eh, Ice Man's got a split personality disorder, you see." Soma turned around, to see Fire Man, who had his flame turned off. "On one hand, he's a soldier, the other, a commander. Crazy, huh? Not like me! I'm fine as a fiddle, and with flames of JUSTICE!"

"Don't mind him, Soma-kun." Soma noticed Roll, tugging at his uniform. He had to admit, she was awfully cute. A lot like Mina. They looked each other in the eyes, as Roll noted, "Your eyes are unusual. You carry a huge burden, don't you?"

"Uh... Yeah, I guess you could say that." Soma replied. Roll smiled. "You don't have to bear the weight alone, you know. You've got Mina-chan, right?"

"Y-Yeah... But she's just a friend, that's all!"

Roll rolled her eyes, chuckling. She obviously knew otherwise. Dr. Light came up, smiling. "Alright, that's enough. We're still running on a schedule, after all."

Soma and Mina went off the stage. Soma felt disappointed. Not with the experience itself, but the fact that it had to end.

The rest of the day was spent through more demonstrations, and the lecture, which Soma somehow managed to get into rather well, his time up on stage had been inspiring. When it all came to a close, and everyone were making their way out of the hall, Soma looked back, to see Rock waving to him. He could only smile at that. Even after the last two years, this experience was, well, special. At least they weren't trying to kill him.

When school was out that day, Soma and Mina parted ways to head home. Mina had loved it, and that made Soma happy, too. As he walked home, Soma took a look at the pendant Arikado had sent him. The thought of needing to break it seemed more and more unlikely. It's like the world never needed a Dark Lord for God to be pure, and that things would only get better from there.

Oh, how wrong he was.

To be Continued