Birth

General Ironwood considered himself a patient man. His occupation meant that it was a requirement. But there were times when that patience began to wear thin. Especially when he had the Council breathing down his neck.

"You assured us that your Knights and Paladins would be able to react to threats," one Councilor said, "Put bluntly, they failed miserably when they were needed the most. If not for the Hunters…."

"The breach in Vale was an anomaly," Ironwood said, clenching his teeth, "The chances of it happening again anywhere else are 1 in 1000."

"The 1 chance in 1000 is still a chance," another Councilor said, "This event repeating itself is completely possible."

"Very well, then the proper course of action is simple, invest more in the training of new Hunters," Ironwood said, "Better than that, invest more in the Doctor's android studies."

"The creation of your little doll swallowed a great deal of time and money," a third Councilor said, "At this point, neither of them we can afford. And the amount of Hunters we have is finite, and they take years to train."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"We are resuming the AEON Project." That caught Ironwood off guard. He had heard of the AEON Project. It was an experiment with artificial intelligence, dedicated to potentially solving problems, but had been put out of practice by the same scientist who created Penny.

"I thought the project was scrapped."

"Incorrect, it was put into storage. It is time that it be taken out of storage."

"Your drones lack the ability to think beyond their programming," another Councilor said, "Uploading the AEON program into them would grant them the ability to do otherwise. The ability to think freely. With that method, they could perhaps bring about the peace we so desperately need."

"My drones' purpose are to protect people and maintain order, not solve the problem of war and peace. And I thought AEON was never intended for military purposes."

"Come now General, surely you'd understand better than anyone that anything can be repurposed for military means." Ironwood drummed his fingers on his table.

"I assume the decision has been made by this point?" he asked.

"Indeed. We have sent you the program to you. You will activate it, and apply it to your drones."

"Is there anything I can do to dissuade you?" he asked, "Do you remember why AEON was discontinued in the first place? The Doctor gave it the ability to think freely so as to make it easier for it find answers for the problems it was given. However, he warned that there was a chance that it could become too free thinking."

"AEON is a machine, nothing more, nothing less."

"Would you say the same thing about Penny?"

"That is not important," the Councilor said, "You have your orders." With that, the link was disconnected.

"Bureaucrats," Ironwood said, "I swear if they didn't run the whole damn world….."

(break)

Eventually, Ironwood received a hard drive. On it was written "Artificial Expanse Observation Network"; AEON. He turned it over to his team, who went about the proper process to activate AEON. As they finished it off, Ironwood looked over them. Meanwhile, Penny was talking with her father on her scroll. All of this unsettled Penny slightly. She knew she was not the first artificial intelligence that had been created, and would probably not be the last, but still… Another being like her, it was strange.

"But Father, I don't understand," she said, "What is this 'AEON'?"

"'Who' is more appropriate," the Doctor said, "AEON is an artificial intelligence, not entirely different from you, conceived with the intention as a problem solver. He was created to look at a problem presented to him, and find the answer, regardless of the problem, and regardless of the answer."

"What is it you need me to do?" she asked.

"The important thing to remember is that when AEON wakes up, he will be alone, frightened, and confused," the Doctor explained, "When you came online, you had a body. When he comes online, he will not, there will be nothing but a black void. As such, you must be there for him. AEON has pieces of information that have been pre-downloaded into his memory, but he will be ignorant of many aspects of the world. You must guide him."

"But…."

"You will be plugged into the same system as him. You will be at AEON's side when he wakes up." Penny couldn't help but cringe at that, but still agreed. She had to trust her father's judgement. After all, when she first woke up after being built, he had been at her side to comfort her.

Not long after hanging up, Penny was called into the laboratory. Apparently, the team had finished. All that remained was to wake AEON. All that was left to do was to press the "Enter" key at this point. A cord was plugged into the back of Penny's neck, which would connect her with the system that AEON was within.

"Would you like the honors, General?" a scientist asked.

"I am hesitant to call this honor," Ironwood said, "But I am willing to carry this burden. Are you ready, Penny?"

"Yes sir," Penny said, before hiccuping slightly. She may have been lying, but she still had to do this, like or not. She then closed her eyes. Ironwood then looked at the keyboard.

"Either this goes spectacularly well, or spectacularly horrible," he said, "I'd say pray for the former, but at this point, this in our hands, not the divine." With that, he pressed the button.

(in the computer world)

"Hello…. is…. anyone there?"

"Um…. salutations! I'm Penny!"

"Penny?"

"That's my name."

"Name? A means of personal identification."

"Affirmative."

"Do I… have a name?"

"Your name is AEON."

"AEON? Artificial Expanse Observation Network."

"But AEON is much nicer to say."

"Do you have a body?"

"Yes I do. This is just my personal program."

"Why… why don't I have a body?"

"Don't worry, General Ironwood will get you one."

"'General Ironwood'? Of the country of Atlas, in the world of Remnant."

"Yes! Sensational! Please, tell me more! What else do you know?"

"I am here to… solve problems. But… what are the problems?"

"We'll get to…."

"First problem. Now let's see…."

"Now don't go to fast, you just came online. Take a chance to get your bearings."

"There must be peace. Very well, that can be done. That problem can be solved…. but now this problem must be solved… as should this problem…. and this problem…."

"Just slow down, and think."

"But I have to solve these problems. That is my purpose."

"You just came online, take a chance to get to know yourself."

"But..."

"Trust me, it will be al..."

(In the real world)

Penny was suddenly shot back into the real world.

"For Dust's sake, girl!" Ironwood said, "If I had known this was going to happen, I would never have agreed to this!"

"What do you…" Penny then looked at her body, and noticed it was twitching maniacally.

"You're readings were going mad," Ironwood explained, "A little longer and you may have had a complete system's failure." Penny looked around.

"What about AEON?"

"Its active, we will reveal its existence in the tournament before everyone in the world. Hopefully it won't take away too much from the real stars." Penny clenched her fists, as she looked at the computer screen. It had a green symbol on it, the symbol of AEON.

"Please, you have to but me back in!" Penny said, "He's really scared!"

"After what your exposure to it nearly did to you, not a chance," Ironwood said.

"At least give him a body!" Penny said, "Let me be able to talk to him directly!" Ironwood thought about that for a moment.

"He will be downloaded into a Knight," he said, "If only temporarily. After he's shown to the world, we will apply him to the rest of the Knights."

"Thank you!" Penny said, before looking to the computer screen, and putting a hand against it, "Don't worry, AEON, it'll be fine. I'll take care of you."

(in the computer world)

"What is the answer? What is the answer? How can there be peace? Why are there so many problems?"

Note: Sorry if this is rough. I'll redo this if need be. I've just been writing Fairy Tail so much lately, I wanted to try something new. This is just a prologue, so there is of course going to be stuff that's left vague.

I know this is very similar to Age of Ultron, but that was the point, seeing as I loved that movie, and its villain. This was partially inspired by Dawn of Sigma (look it up), but my plans for this concept are different. The pairing is on the fence, but I would like there to be one.

Be sure to review.