On the day of the ceremony marking the transition from the A.D. to the Universal Century calendar, the space station Laplace, official residence of the Earth Federation prime minister, is destroyed by a terrorist bombing. One of the terrorists, a young man named Syam Vist, is caught in the explosion but barely manages to survive. He obtains a forbidden box that will come to be known as Laplace's Box.

Almost a century later, in Universal Century 0096...
The Earth Federation government
is about to host a ceremony
حكومة اتّحاد الأرض الفيدراليّ على وشك أن
،"تستضيف حفلًا في محلّ إقامة رئيس الوزراء، "لابلاس
In Kürze wird die Regierung der Erdenföderation
beim Sitz des Premierministers auf „Laplace“ …
El Gobierno de la Federación Terrestre
albergará una ceremonia
El Gobierno de la Federación Terrestre
albergará una ceremonia
Depuis le palais ministériel Laplace
s’ouvrira bientôt
A breve, presso Laplace,
la residenza del Primo Ministro,
Neste exato momento, em "Laplace",
a residência do primeiro-ministro,