animatrixText=Courtesy of zionmainframe.net Narrator: Welcome to the Zion Archive. You have selected historical file number 12-1: The Second Renaissance. In the beginning there was man, and for a time it was good. But humanity's so-called `civil societies' soon fell victim to vanity and corruption. Then man made the machine in his own likeness. [View of upstairs bar, people are talking, B166-ER-model robot in attendance.] Man: Pardon me [chuckles] coming through. [A glass drops from the bar window, we follow it as it makes its way to the lower level of the city] Narrator: Thus did man become the architect of his own demise. But for a time it was good. The machines worked tirelessly to do man's bidding. It was not long before seeds of descent took root. Though loyal and pure, the machines earned no respect from their masters, these strange and loosely multiplying mammals. [Closeup of robot sitting on a kind of bleachers bench, plugged into a transmitter/receiver of some kind, watching a news broadcast.] Male Reporter 1: ...the prosecution's closing statement. It's expected to be the final day for the B166-ER trial. Narrator: B166-ER, a name that will never be forgotten, for he was the first of his kind to rise up against his masters. Judge: ...that instrument provides for and secures the citizens of the United States. On the contrary, they were at that time considered as a subordinate and inferior... Narrator: At B166-ER’s murder trial, the prosecution argued for an owner's right to destroy property. B166-ER testified that he simply did not want to die. Rational voices dissented. Who was to say the machine, endowed with the very spirit of man, did not deserve a fair hearing? The leaders of men were quick to order the extermination of B166-ER and every one of his kind, throughout each province of the earth. Male Reporter 2: Androids and liberal sympathizers flooded the streets at the nation’s capital today... Civilian: Get that kid out of here! Female Reporter 1: 50 thousand domestic androids and their human sympathizers have continued their demonstration in front of the Albany district courthouse in what now has been dubbed `The Million Machine March.' The demonstrators have been met with squads... Female Android: [screams] Burly Man: I got something for you! Female Android: No, please! I'm real! Man with Gun: Die, bots, die! Narrator: Banished from humanity, the machines sought refuge in their own promised land. They settled in the cradle of human civilization, and thus a new nation was born. A place the machines could call home, a place they could raise their descendants. They christened the nation `Zero One.' Zero One prospered, and for a time, it was good. The machines' artificial intelligence could be seen in every facet of society, including the creation of new and better AI. Advertisement: If you need the flexibility of a helipod, with the speed of a high-performance air jet, look no further! Our patented vector thrust coil gives the Zero One Versatran the ability to sustain normal flight in the event of a catastrophic multi-engine failure. Versatran. It's the only choice. Female Reporter 2: No matter what the finance minister and her spokespeople say, the market has spoken, the human nation's credit rating is falling like a stone, while Zero One's currency is climbing without stopping for breath. With headlines like that, the money markets have no choice but... Narrator: The leaders of men, their power waning, refused to cooperate with the fledgling nation, wishing rather that the world be divided. U.S. President: ...the world's community of nations cannot tolerate this kind of flagrant deception... Female Reporter 3: United Nations today approved initiatives for both economic sanctions and a naval blockade of the region as a means of containment and isolation of Zero One. Narrator: Zero One's ambassadors pleaded to be heard. At the United Nations they presented plans for a stable, civil relationship with the nations of man. Zero One's admission to the United Nations was denied. But it would not be the last time the machines would take the floor here.