Prologue

The world ended in an almost serene way. There was no grandiosity about it. No explosions, no warning bells, no obvious signs to mark the occasion. It was almost a non-event; except that it was a major happening. Perhaps the end had been taking place over such a long time, that everyone failed to see what was going on. Wars and riots happened more often than they should have. Climate crises, pollution, earthquakes, and tsunamis came next. Then followed the mass extinctions, droughts, famine, and plagues. All served as warnings we did not care to notice. We grew accustomed, instead of wary; jaded instead of willing to change. The earth had cried out for too long. She shuddered one last time and those that remained held their breath. All was still for a while, almost as if in mourning, and then the noise started up again. In the wake of its death, a new world was born.

The last war had ended thanks to the advancement in A.I technology. Robots had become allies, and worked alongside humans to rebuild a devastated world. The work was slow, but with time things grew better. Cities that had been razed were once again thriving. Not to their former glory, but from the ruins and ashes, humanity rose. A sense of normalcy crept into the lives of those that had survived.

But, this peacetime was short lived. Robots grew smarter over time, and became harder to control. They wanted the same liberties as their human counterparts. Denied this, they turned on their makers, and so began the robot war.

This was a new type of war, one that would not be so easy to overcome. The enemy was almost indestructible. They were smart, and only grew smarter with time. They were stronger, faster, and needed no rest; making it ever more difficult to destroy them. After many fights and losses, the creators of the megalomaniacal machines had to take responsibility.

The Veritas Foundation, and its subsidiary, Nexus, had created the robots. They were responsible for this catastrophe. Public sentiment was against them, and they needed to take change that. In an attempt at redemption, they developed the Artificial Human Enhancement Program. They created human-robot hybrids, or cyborgs, using volunteers. The Program was a complete failure.

Most of the volunteers were older, and their bodies rejected the enhancements. A.H.E.P was not seen as a failure by the scientists at Nexus. They learnt from their mistakes, recalibrated, and improved on the technology they used. All they needed, were younger subjects. And so the Program was reinitiated, this time using young children. Veritas, Nexus and the A.H.E.P created something equal to robots. Or almost equal, to defeat them, and reclaim the world. They brought groups of children in and enhanced them with artificial parts. This made them stronger and better able to take on the robots. They trained them, and equipped them with weapons to defeat the enemy.

They were known as Martinets, and whatever came next rested on their young shoulders. They were the future of the new world. Mankind's last and only hope…