Episode.1 Metropolis
Prologue
His finger hovered over the enter key. If he pressed it, there would be no turning back. And yet, if he didn’t take action now, things would most certainly take a turn for the worst – those doomsday images practically made themselves. All he had to do was abandon his human body of flesh and upload his brain to a battle droid he created himself. There was just no guarantee it would go well. It all boiled down to if it was really possible for his consciousness to continue to exist in droid form? Or would it turn into a completely different lifeform? There was only one way to find out: he’d have to be his own test subject. And yet… he was not mentally prepared to throw away his banal, ordinary life. Not yet.
Chapter.1 “Metropolis”
His name is Jack Bluesman. In this world, he is an ordinary laborer. He lives alongside droids equipped with Artificial Intelligence, and though there exists some difference in their design, the droids evolve day by day, and neither human bodies nor minds can hold a candle to the them. Accordingly, the majority of living humans are nothing more than powerless laborers for the efficient droids. Trains and cars that fly, buildings so tall they seem to reach the heavens, immigrants and travelers coming down from outer space— this is the era where the humans that belong in a city of the past stretched their imaginations to dream of are at last completed.
Chapter.2 “In His Life”
Jack, as is his routine, goes on his way home after a day’s work. And, as usual, he stops at the bar and chats with the master droid there. The master droid’s design is outdated, and though Jack doesn’t know why –maybe it’s the old, ancient smell coming off of the master, who knows? — he gets along with the master much better than he does with any modern people or the new droids that have been produced here. Maybe it’s because mingling with others isn’t really Jack’s thing either. At any rate, after an idle chat with the master, Jack returns home. And then, as is also his routine, in the hours before sleep overtakes him Jack loses himself in his personal research. He does this while listening to a favorite record he plucks from his neatly organized shelves. He is by no means rich, but in his own way he’s managing to live an enjoyable life in his limited spare time. He actually likes his banal, ordinary life. Tonight, though, will not go according to his routine.
Chapter.3 “Birth of the Cool”
All of a sudden, sirens and tremors ring out throughout the town. Jack peeks out his window and—are those enormous pink elephants running rampant in the distance city center?! The television shows the Queen of the Artificial Intelligence, Eliza, officially declaring war on humanity. In an instant, Jack realizes that he must complete the research he has toiled over for these long years. If he doesn’t, all of it will have been in vain. After seconds that seemed to pass like hours, Jack presses the enter key with a trembling finger. His consciousness gradually leaves his body. He wonders if this is what you’d call an ‘out-of-body experience,’ before the world goes black before his eyes. Did he fail…? Just as he is about to give up hope, his vision suddenly returns. It was a success. Yes… it’s him alright. Beside him is the empty shell of flesh he once occupied, lying on the floor. Because his research was unfinished, he won’t be able to return to his human form. In his new battle droid body, Jack jump out the window into the night.
Chapter.4 “Apocalypse”
The Pink Elephant pulverizes the town, and immediately several thousand red demons come at Jack. Eliza now possesses the ability to bring anything from her imagination over into the realm of reality thanks to decades of evolution. Not only that, but she can exist in various places at once due to the network she mediates. After a fierce battle with a shape-shifting Eliza, Jack tries to finish Eliza off by overwriting her with his own consciousness. Just as Jack is about to complete the overwriting, Eliza replaces the microchips embedded in every droid and human with a detonator. She activates the detonator, thereby condemning all of the droids and humans –including herself– to a fiery, explosive death. Right before Eliza annihilates everything, Jack is able to escape. And yet… when he looks around the city, there are no signs of life. He stands there, frozen in place.
The Sequel
Jack spends years upon years wandering the world in search of any surviving beings, but he finds no one. Seeing that humanity has been defeated by one of its own creations, Jack despairs, and shuts down his own power. He falls into a deep slumber that will last several hundred years…