Chapter Text
At first, there was darkness.
There was nothing. No, there wasn't even nothing at the beginning. No concept existed, for there were no thoughts to create such concepts, for there was no life to have such thoughts. There was just absence. A void.
Then, something came into existence. A flicker, a pulse. A light in the darkness, slowly building until suddenly-
An explosion. A sudden rush of lights and sound as senses came into being, the world rushing into view as they saw the bright lights around them and heard the commotion of life coming into being and felt the ground beneath them and smelt the cool air and tasted the humidity in the air.
And then, the overload began to simmer and the information overflow began to cool, and the world began to make sense as liquid metal rose up from the soft, gelatinous ground below to gather around the spark of light that had emerged from the well behind it. Arms and legs grew out of the pool of metal to form a silver body, an exo-skeleton forming before being covered by the jelly-like metal.
Then, the metal began to cool and solidify, taking on colour and shape, growing distinguishable features and shades. Yellow skin began to grow over the body, the limbs taking on a boxy shape. Wheels and tyres took form as a horned head formed from the metal, and as the body stumbled forward and the ground beneath them solidified along with them, their kibble forming on their body and their form finally finding its shape-
"Hey, easy."
-The young bot, the new-born robot, looked up to see hundreds, thousands, millions of people emerging from the metal alongside him, the newly made sparks emerging from the well behind them and interacting with the liquid metal, taking on new shapes of their own.
A robot much larger than himself smiled down at the new-born bot and helped him onto her feet. He was but one of hundreds, maybe even thousands of other robots helping to coax this new generation into the world. The crowds behind them were massive, watching on with rapturous, reverent awe.
The world around him was made of metal. The sky was awash with distant nebulae behind a blue veil and half a dozen metal moons.
"You're going to do great things, B-127," the robot told him, "I'm certain of it."
He held out his hand.
"Let's find out what you're destined for."
The new-born robot took his hand-
-And the dream repeated for the rusted old car at the bottom of the ocean, being swept along the sea floor by the currents. Its body was tested by the violent pressure of the water around it, testing its strength and threatening to crumple it to pieces. Its body was smashed and battered and worn down from years of disuse. Time had not treated it with any kindness.
Yet, somehow, it still kept its shape, its frame and shell still intact as it was smashed against the sea floor, slowly being carried from one end of the ocean to the other.
Was the change in the ocean tide a natural occurrence? Divine intervention? The aftermath of a battle between this world's champions and their demons? Was its course made by the hand of whatever deity may reside high in the sky or a string of coincidences and circumstances brewing into the perfect storm? It was impossible to know.
But, as the dinky old car rolled along the ocean, approaching a distant shore...
As three women trained together in an undisclosed camp far away from the eyes of the public...
As a man looked over his kingdom of steel and the nightmares that he has cultivated...
As a young inventor searched the coastline for scraps and parts...
As a clan of refugees sheltered in the darkness...
As an legion of monsters made from the skin and meat of beings from another world readied themselves for battle...
And as an army of killers continued to wage war in the shadows of a peaceful planet...
A young girl and her kin would watch the coastlines, unaware of the future waiting for her, the destiny calling for her, laid out in a path marked as much by the hope that she would bring with the blood that would be spilt.
For better or worse, her path was set.
An encounter would be had, and a bond would be made...
And with it, the world would be changed forever.