The path of Light, part 1
30 years earlier…
Thomas Light was a child the age of 12 in the young Monsteropolis, or as it was known at the time, Laytonville. It was a quant town built around a coal mine. Light's dad, Joseph Blue Light was a miner. He was often busy with work, and Tom rarely saw him. However, it was the day before Light's birthday, and his father was going to come home early and take the next day off. Just 2 more hours.
At the time, Light was playing with Legos. Even then Light had a knack for building things. Someone knocked on the door. Light's mom, Elaine called out. "Al's here!"
Light ran to his door. Albert Wily and his brother Reggae were Tom's best friends. Indeed, his only friends. Albert looked at Wily and held up a toy rocket.
"Hey Tom, I got a model rocket! Want to play with it?" said Albert.
"Yeah, Al!" said Tom.
Outside, they began to set up the launch pad. Tom said to Albert "Where's Reggae?"
"He spilt some of my dad's whiskey. He got grilled bad, and isn't allowed to leave" said Al. Albert's dad was a drunk, and not a very kind man.
Tom finished the launch pad and lit the fuse on the rocket.
Unfortunately, he set it up wrong, and it exploded. "Darn!" said Tom. "Don't worry, Al, I'll pay for it…."
Tom got out his wallet and tried to pull out some of his allowance, when suddenly, he heard an ambulance drive by. He looked at the ambulance, and then at the sky.
His rocket had not exploded at all, it was still in the sky. He then noticed the mine was smoking.
"There was a mining accident. I'm sorry, Mrs. Light, but Joe didn't make it." said the doctor.
Elaine fell to her knees and wept. "Why, Joseph!? Why!?" she cried.
Tomas Light's sorrow turned to dreams over the years. Steel and clockwork began to fill his mind. He and Albert spent years learning how to sculpt alloy, and how to bring it to life. Eventually, in Albert's garage, they created the very first Joe. Returning to the mine where his father had died, now abandoned, they gave the Joe a pickaxe, and the steel miner did more work than a dozen human miners. It worked until its pickaxe broke. It was unharmed by the dust, it never slept, it even survived the disasters which took the lives of miners like his father. To this day, it still works in that mine-alone, oblivious to the fact that its coal is going nowhere.
And so Light industries were born, and so the city of Laytonville grew.