Marching in Time

Chapter 1: Prologue

"My name is Ciel, leader of the Reploid resistance, and I was there the day Ragnarok fell from the sky." I take a shaky breath and continue to talk into the camera.

"I'm sorry, that was…we were all THERE, in some way or another. I just…" I stopped myself, the flashbacks coming back. A satellite falling from the sky, a mirror image of an event a hundred years ago, being able to do nothing but scream and cry as a hero, a reploid…a man who was only awakened because of my own actions fell with that satellite, sacrificing his own life to put an end to a series of conflicts that started well before his time.

"I was in command that day. In a lot of ways it was my own fault everything got so bad. Zero bought us peace, a reprieve, and I'm proud of all we've been able to do in that time, reploid and human working together. But we all know deep down that it can't last forever. But I've seen too much to let it happen again in my lifetime." My confidence picks up, my voice getting louder and more focused, it's been three years since I've had to talk like this, three years since the resistance disbanded.

"My closest confidants want me to stop, that I've done enough as the Leader of the Resistance and creator of the Ciel system, and maybe they're right. I may be young, but I fought through the creator of a new era, maybe I should just step down and let others lead this new world. But then I think of HIM, Zero, hero of the resistance. He fought in the Maverick Wars, the Elf Wars, and against Dr. Weil. To do anything less would be to disrespect his memory."

My voice goes softer again. "However, he and I never quite saw eye to eye on how to fight evil. The things he did were necessary, and I never condemned the violence he brought with him, but I always wished it would stop. I will not disrespect his memory, but I won't pick up a sword either. I'm not the naïve child I was when I made Copy X, I know that just replicating our heroes and idols misses the point. We all have to become heroes, every single one of us. But we can learn from the past, and I want to retell the stories of the one who saved us all and those who came before him. Starting with a helper robot named Rock."

Behind me, a screen lights up, showing the schematics of a small blue robot, primitive by today's standards, but revolutionary at the time.

"In the year 20XX, Dr. Light created a super-robot…"