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...
If you trust in the possibilities
within and try with all your might,
،إن آمنتَ بالقُدرة التي بداخلك وحاولتَ بكلّ ما تيسّر لك
Si confías en las posibilidades de tu interior
y lo intentas con todas tus fuerzas,
Si confías en las posibilidades de tu interior
y lo intentas con todas tus fuerzas,
Crois en toi
et en toutes ces possibilités.
Abbi fiducia nelle tue potenzialità,
Acredite nas possibilidades dentro de si, 
empenhe-se com todas as suas forças,