There are hundreds of sounds in existence, some soft and some loud. There are sounds that can make one cry, smile, laugh, or even run in fear. While this is true of sound, overall the perception of how one feels given a particular sound is highly arbitrary and evident to change depending on the individual or circumstances. It is also a proven scientific fact that humans are incapable of hearing the full spectrum of sound. However, machines, in particular Reploids, do not have this malfunction. Cybernetic beings built to be superior in the senses to humans, they exhibit vastly improved capacity for sound filtration and stimulation. Even still, there are certain sounds that transcend the forms of life, sounds that all can hear and all relate the same, despite the change in life form or personal perception.
One such of these sounds, is laughter. A joyous and surprisingly addictive force, it once filled the now dimly lit and cold hallways of the Neo Arcadian citadel. Yet now, despite the glaringly sunny day and bright blue sky above, there was no joyous music of laughter echoing across the halls. Instead, there was an eerily cold and quiet whisper as the gentle winds outside cascaded their way across the open windows and archways of the capitol. Constructed as a safe haven for all creatures, both Human and Reploid, the Neo Arcadian Empire had stood strong since its inception. Under the formation, and subsequent leadership, of its sole creator X, Neo Arcadia ushered in an era of peace when it had for the most part been stuff of legend. However, things were beginning to deteriorate as history, as it tends to do, began to repeat itself.
X, lord and 'Master' of Neo Arcadia, sat upon a golden throne erected at the head of a large courtroom. The windows lining either side of the court were spread wide, the alternating crimson and navy blue curtains billowing in the breeze. To the right and left of the esteemed ruler sat eight Reploids clad in brilliant white and gold robes, distributed among his flanks. They all sat upon an elevated region of a stage, small electronic nameplates imposed upon the practically invisible glass in front of them. This glass had been placed for the protection of those behind it of course, and was made of the most resilient and study materials available. It also acted as a computer screen of sorts, the staged desk the group sitting at acting as a terminal from which they could pull information and evidence. Indeed, the acquisition of these things was highly important considering the nature of the room, the courtroom. This was Neo Arcadia's highest and most esteemed court, the eight white robed Reploids in attendance being the Judges. These overwhelmingly powerful individuals, known as the Eight Gentle Judges, sat and heard all of the important cases presented to them by the Neo Arcadian citizenry. On this such of a day, the court had convened in order to see a most heinous and heretical of cases.
Standing before the Judges, and their Lord, was a single man. This man, middle in age, wore a long white lab coat. Embroidered on his chest was the insignia of Neo Arcadia's finest scientific organization, an organization responsible for practically all of the advancements seen since the inception of the Empire. He stood with his head held high, his gaze fixed upon the court before him, despite the weight of the situation impending upon him. His hands were kept firmly at his sides, not by choice but instead by the powerful electrical cuff that floated around him. Beams of brilliant blue and green electricity radiated in a circle around his wrists and ankles, but never once touched him. Despite this, the force of gravity they gave off made it impossible for him to move his hands or feet willingly. Standing to either side of him were Neo Arcadian soldiers, their blasters and sabers sheathed at their hips.
It was the master of the room who spoke first, X.
"Doctor Weil, I would assume you understand the charges you now face?"
The young doctor gave a slight nod.
"You've brought me here on charges of treason, if I am correct."
His voice was terribly cold, sending a slight shiver down X's spine. The doctor seemed almost uncaring of what was about to happen, yet one could detect a slight hint of spite underneath his seemingly calm demeanor. It was one of the judges who spoke next. A rather thin man, his clean white hair parted along his head in three sharp stripes arching backward. His cloak hung snugly across his shoulders, buttoned neatly by an emerald green broach just to the right of his neck. The nameplate blinking on the screen before him read 'Judge Schilt'.
"That is correct, Doctor. While you have introduced and contributed too many of Neo Arcadia's technological achievements, none of that can help where you stand today. We have called you here to issue verdict on the matter of your abduction of the Mother Elf, corruption of her, and the subsequent use upon the war weapon you created named Omega."
"We are here to judge you of your sins, Doctor. To place law upon you for the hundreds of thousands of innocents you massacred, and the many brave lives you destroyed of our Neo Arcadian brothers and sisters in your mad clutching for power during the Elpizo Project."
The second voice was that of another Judge, one sitting on the opposite table from Schilt, Judge Biblio. He sat rather hunched over his pulpit, only his mouth and nose visible from under a rather strange helmet that covered his entire head. All along the helmet ran bright red pulses of energy, the helmet acting as a conduit to contain is erratically high levels of natural static electricity. It was his words that restored the sound that had been lost within the halls of the citadel; laughter. Doctor Weil was laughing. Deeply guttural as it was, it was a laugh nonetheless. The Judges and their Master all made a face of disgust at the man before them, the clearly psychotic man.
"Hahaha…Judge Biblio, you flatter me. 'Mad clutching' for power, you say? I was only doing what was required in order to set history on its correct path. Don't you see? You filthy Reploids are what caused our great wars in the first place. And yet here you sit, up upon your mighty throne, domineering your way above us all. What exactly are we to you? We're humans. We created you filthy warmongering fools, and it is to be by our hand that you are exterminated! You have done nothing but bring death, plague, and destruction to us all! The destruction of your kind is to be the salvation of all humanity."
The doctor's sharp words left a chill in the air, and a lull in the speech. The Judges all glanced among one another, while X sat forward in his seat. After a brief moment, the lord and master of Neo Arcadia slowly rose from his place. He walked slowly forward, the glassy wall of protection and monitors parting so as to let him through. With each step forward that he took, the Judges began to mutter amongst themselves. Several guards moved in their stations around the courtroom, despite the fact that Weil was quite well restrained by his gravital-cuffs. X stopped a few mere inches away from the doctor's face, his voice low yet audible by everyone.
"Perhaps, doctor. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps it is because of us Reploids that you humans have had such hardships and seen such pain. But who, may I ask, would know more of this? A human born of this era, or a Reploid who has seen that war, and been shaped in that war? May I remind you, Weil, that it was through the bloodshed of many hundreds of Reploids as well as humans that the organization I belonged to combatted the Maverick Reploid threat, and later dissolved due to its effects. Allow me to explain in detail, just what events I have gone through in order to triumph over the enemies I faced and form the foundation of our Neo Arcadian life. Please, doctor, let me impart on you the things I have seen and felt among my own Reploid brothers, and my Human friends. You believe you to know pain of loss and destruction? You believe yourself to be some sort of messiah? Doctor Weil, you are nothing close to either. In my eyes, you are no longer human, nor are you of Reploid origin. You are nothing but some foul plague, some demon, feeding of the darkness and death of creation."
Doctor Weil endured the berating he had caused, smirking softly as each line passed on. Once he was sure that X had finished speaking, the blue Reploid turning his back to ascend back to his throne, he scoffed. The doctor's sound causing the Reploid to stop in his tracks, turning back to face the man for a moment. Weil mockingly bowed his head, laughing hysterically as he spoke.
"Some demon, am I? Then please, oh great righteous and benevolent God, issue your judgment upon me! Ahahaha!"
As X returned to his seat, the Vice Judge quickly stood from his chair. Vice Judge Mantisk, tall and lanky as he was, towered over almost all of his fellow Judges. He held his gavel in his hand, quickly crashing it down onto the table before him as Weil's hysterical laughter grew and continued.
"That's quite enough, you heretic! Be silent and stand in remorseful silence to your Lord! Do you not feel remorse for your actions? Do you not understand the immense gravity of this situation, Weil?"
The doctor smiled, giving a soft nod as he spoke.
"Oh I understand, Mantisk. I understand this farcical Lord and his controlling influence on all those in his dominion. A kingdom of peace between humans and Reploids? You are a fool X. This will never work, will never function, and will forever be combatted. Humans are superior to you Reploid scum, it is only a matter of time before others see it just as I have. Your days as 'Lord and Master' of Neo Arcadia are numbered, X!"
"Be silent!" bellowed the largest of the Judges, and the most important. The force of his standing caused the table before him to teeter, the still seated Judges reacting quickly to grab the furniture before it toppled fully over onto its side. One of them, Judge Inarabitta, the smallest of them all, gave the Chief Justice a hard jab in the side. Though, considering the height difference, it was more a strike to his upper calf, which of course the Chief Justice didn't even recognize.
"I have had enough, and will have no more, of your crazed mutterings in my court Weil! Judges, it is time for our verdict. All those in favor of the execution of this heretic, speak now."
One by one the judges began to raise their hands. However, just as the last judge's hand went into the air, and the gavel began to fall to order the death of the crazed doctor, the lord spoke. His voice high and sharp, he slammed his hand down onto the side of his throne, causing the entire room's gaze to shift toward him.
"No!" he cried, the force of his strike causing him to push himself up from his seat. "He will not be killed."
"B-But, Master X he-" started Judge Schilt.
"He will not be killed," interrupted X, "Instead I have a more fitting punishment for him. Doctor Weil, I hereby decree that you are to be stripped of your human body and reconstructed in a cybernetic suit. You are not to be human, nor Reploid. Your memories are to be digitized, forever burned into the hard drive of your brain, so you may relive your crimes for eternity. Your body is to be sustained by the cybernetic suit. Undying, you are to be henceforth banished from Neo Arcadia, and set out upon the barren wilderness your Elf War has created until such a time that your body wears into rust and fades into the wind. Judges, do I have your support?"
It was theoretically pointless for the 'Master' to ask his court for a vote on the matter. Any choice given by the Judges could potentially be overruled by X, and as such he could make any addendum he wanted. However, X was not the type to rule dominantly or dictatorially. He founded Neo Arcadia as a place of equality and peace of governance, and intended to follow his own rules and laws set forth. In seconds each of the Eight Gentle Judges had nodded their heads, eight different gavels crashed down one by one. As each one hit the desk beneath it, the doctor's expression grew more and more dark, his teeth baring in a deep snarling growl as he bellowed at his audience. The guards at his side grabbed his arms and began to lead him away as he cried out, roaring high above the clamoring sound of the Judges standing from their seats or the attendants coming to close the windows.
"You are a fool X. You are a damned fool! And I will be seeing you in the fires of Hell, 'oh Lord and Savior of the world!"