September 1, 1519, Jaya Island.
This had once been a pirates' paradise, its atmosphere much like a frontier town in the American West during Blue Star's pioneering era.
Four and a half years had passed since the Mechanical King announced the founding of Titans on February 10, 1515.
Now it had become a Victorian steampunk city. It retained an elegant British style while brimming with the technological fantasies of the early Industrial Revolution.
In a residential district within the inner ring, not far from the Clock Tower.
"Good morning, Mr. Senior."
Dressed in a suit and polished shoes, Senior stepped through his apartment building's entrance and onto the street. A neighbor collecting his newspaper greeted him.
"Good morning, Mr. Red. Your day off?"
Senior noticed that Red was dressed very casually.
"Yes. I just got back from the night shift yesterday. I'm trying to save up for a long vacation."
Red was too embarrassed to mention that his tenth wedding anniversary was two months away. He planned to take the whole family to Heaven's Gate for a good, long holiday.
Mr. Senior was such an outstanding man, yet for some reason, his wife always seemed rather cold toward him.
While the neighbors exchanged pleasantries, Red's wife happened to ride back on her little electric bike, a basket of groceries on the rear seat.
"Ah-good morning, President Senior."
Seeing her husband chatting with the bank president, she greeted Senior first, then looked at her husband.
"...Did our son wake you?"
Her husband was a mechanical engineer who had only just returned that morning.
"No, he didn't. The little brat isn't even up yet."
"Didn't I already make breakfast?! He's going to miss the school bus!" (An indescribable maternal screech.)
She had assumed their son had woken her husband while getting up.