Prologue

Disclaimer: Holy crap its been forever since I've done any fanfiction. It is obvious I don't own any part of the Dragonball series, right? I've had this idea kicking around in my head for forever, and I thought I might as well put it out into the great unforgiving Internet! I'd love to hear from any readers!

~Minnows BioSolutions, Nicky Town~

When it turned out that university life was not the only place she would be pulling all-nighters, Doctor Calliope Merriweather did not mind. This was easy to accept considering she loved her work, it would be fair to say that she was, more or less, married to her career. At the moment, in the dead of night, it was starting to wear on her. The usual fuel of youthful energy and caffeine were beginning to lose their edge.

Calliope's forehead was resting on the edge of her desk- which was a clutter of cups, wrappers from snacks, and a few stacks of papers. The lab by and large was empty of her fellow scientists and other associated staff. This wasn't odd, as it was well past midnight. Everyone had long since gone home to their families. Calliope had been resting her eyes and promised herself not to fall asleep. She had to finish waiting for the computer to analyze the samples she had gave it. The arrangement she had agreed to with herself was this, one more and then bed.

It was easier to get work done later at night, she found. Especially without her coworkers buzzing around needing things. The various requisition forms approved of, incident reports reported, sharing their various analyses. Not to mention the innate small talk so many of them insisted on having with her. 'Look at these pictures of my new baby!' or 'Waaah my wife doesn't love me anymore!'

Calliope loved her staff. They were some of the smartest individuals she could find. Their ability to manipulate and understand genetic code was amazing. Over a few short years, they had made many advancements in genetic engineering and genetic therapies. Disease resistant, higher-yield crops. Therapies that resolved inheritable disease for cattle and the general public. Even a cross-species engineered breed of super-large goats. But on a personal level, they could be downright annoying to deal with. She worked better alone.

"Doctor Merriweather!" The ever-cheerful voice called from her wrist. The avatar- a glowing blue blob with cat ears and emotive eyes- was something a group of the interns had come up with. Why Minnows BioSolutions employed interns undertook an AI assistant as a pet project, Calliope wasn't entirely sure. The department head for IT insisted that it was a 'worthwhile use of the budget' as well as 'a totally cool project'. She wasn't going to snuff having an exclusive smart assistant."You have an incoming call!"

"Who is it?" And why were they calling so late, she wondered.

"I don't know!" HoloCat, the working name for the AI, chirped back with a smile. It went on to explain when she continued staring at it, "Its an unlisted number!"

"Decline it." Calliope went back to looking at the results of an analysis she had printed out earlier. Tonight her focus had been on the improvement of milk output for cattle. She didn't have time for what was sure to be either a spam call or crank-calling kids.

"Doctor Merriweather!" HoloCat started again, barely a minute later. "You have an incoming call!"

"Is it the same number as before?" She asked without looking away from her paperwork. At this rate, it would take years to figure out the right combination between genes to get the results they were looking for.

"It is!"

"Decline it." Calliope puffed a small breath in a sigh. "And then block that number."

"Okay!"

She didn't have the energy or motivation to deal with whatever misdirected nonsense was on the other line. Calliope settled her attention back on her work. The computer indicated that the current analysis was 83% done, and it would be at least another hour until they were done.

"Doctor Merriweather!"

"Oh god damn it!" When HoloCat chirped again Calliope sat down her paperwork hard. "Do not tell me that's the same number calling again."

"It is!" HoloCat confirmed with a smile.

"Didn't I tell you to block it?"

"I did!"

"Well, once again, decline it, and tell them our standard hours of operation. Have them leave a voicemail if it's so damn important." Sighing again, Calliope had dismissed the interruption and tried to settle back into something productive. Before she could return to her paperwork outlining a previous analysis the HoloCat's avatar changed to look somewhat perplexed.

"Young lady!" The voice on the other end of the call, which looked like it connected despite the order, had Calliope sitting up straight with surprise. "Do you mind explaining to me why you have some juvenile-sounding AI acting as your secretary and rejecting my calls?"

"Wh-Ah- Its a smart assistant for the lab. Some of our interns designed it." She said eventually, sounding dumb and ineffective. Recovering from the unexpected call, Calliope found herself frowning. "Maybe if you had a phone number my system recognized as yours then you wouldn't need to hack my computers to get me to talk to you."

"And risk the paper trail? Don't be ridiculous." The other voice grumbled on the line. "Your 'smart assistant' said that you're still going by Merriweather."

"I am." She had changed her surname going into university to avoid any extra infamy that her family name might incite. Calliope didn't want the association tied to her work. It would be like being the granddaughter of Doctor Frankenstein.

"Well, probably for the best."

"I know grandpa."

"What was that AI calling itself? 'HoloCat'? It's an asinine name."

"I didn't pick the name, that was the interns." Calliope leaned with her head on her hand, already growing tired again. Even if this was her only surviving family, it was always exasperating talk to him.

"I thought you worked in a genetics lab, what are your interns doing producing some... What is this, an AI programmed to act as a secretary?"

"Yeah, its a pet project for some of our interns."

"That seems a bit like a waste of resources. You really need to get your lab in order, Calliope. "

"Yeah, I know grandpa." Closing her eyes for just a moment, she decided there was no point arguing.

"You're smart enough to know better, Calliope. Just because you're years ahead of your peers doesn't mean you should slack now."

"I know, Grandpa." Calliope said this a little harsher then she meant to. The familiar argument wore on her patience.

He didn't respond for a few moments. She thought he might have hung up until she heard a sigh. When her grandfather spoke again, the severe edge had left his voice.

"Yes, I suppose you do. And I didn't call to berate you about the intricacies of your career." This was a surprise. Normally he'd have at least a good five minutes of criticisms for her life choices. One or two comments about how she, the only living descendant of the great Doctor Gero, was most well known for her 'giant goats'. This would somehow segue into another five minutes of his own past failures. Then another five minutes about some kid that destroyed his long-lost army, how this 'Goku' guy was going to pay.

After 16 years of listening to the same rant, Calliope didn't think it was of great concern anymore. He had promised her that he was retired. No more revenge schemes. No more Red Ribbon.

"How are you doing of late, dear?"

"I'm fine." She answered quickly, unsure what else to say. "Got a few projects in the works."

"Still working on the cutting edge of genetic engineering, I assume?"

"We try to, yes. We've had a lot of success on a number of genetic therapies we've been working on."

"Yes. That's good." The conversation trailed to silence for a moment. Calliope had a strange feeling that there was something her grandfather wasn't saying. There had to be some reason for him to depart the usual course of their conversations. "You're still based out of Nicky Town, correct?"

"Our main labs are in the city, yes." She confirmed but had a growing suspicion that this was not a typical 'checking up on

one's granddaughter' conversation.

"You aren't still commuting from Winters' facility, are you?" Her grandfather grumbled with potential disapproval. During her academic career, she had stayed with a family friend, Doctor Violet Winters. The woman always insisted on being called 'Aunt Violet' and was an eccentric character that rivaled even her grandfather. Calliope always assumed that working in a lab with infectious diseases drew that sort of personality.

"I have an apartment nearby," Calliope spoke while trying to gauge why Grandpa Gero was trying to confirm her location. She could feel a knot of concern growing in her belly, but couldn't necessarily justify why. After a moment she asked before she could stop herself, "Grandpa, is everything okay?"

"Of course it is." He answered immediately. "I just wanted to check up and make sure you're doing well."

With anyone else's family Calliope wouldn't be suspicious. She had always known her grandfather to be a cold, cautious man. He wasn't the kind of person who did things without a reason. So why reach out to her now?

"Grandpa. You know I hate to ask," She started carefully, and found herself reluctant to continue. "But you aren't planning... I don't know, some kinda coup or something, are you?"

Calliope knew there were people out there with relatives that hadn't attempted to take over the world. Grandfathers who couldn't be called mad scientists. That must be nice, she thought.

"Young lady, I don't appreciate the accusation or your tone." And just like that, severe Grandpa Gero was back. "You know I've retired. It's not a crime to check up on my granddaughter, is it?"

"It's not, no-" She tried to cut in, wanting to recover the conversation.

"I'll be in touch Calliope. Best of luck with your research." With that, the line went dead, and Calliope was left feeling frustrated, and tired. She gave a huff and glared at HoloCat's avatar, which stared back with a sweet smile.

Something was up. What exactly, she couldn't be sure. She stared at HoloCat for a while, as if it could offer her any further clarification even though the call had ended. That call was odd, wasn't it? Odder then usual, whenever her grandfather chose to contact her. No mention of what she was doing at her lab so late as if it was normal for a 16-year-old to be running protein analysis at 12:35 am.

"Is there something I can help you with, Doctor Merriweather?" HoloCat asked eventually, enough to break Calliope out of her troubled thoughts.

"No, I'm fine." She looked around the workstation she occupied and suddenly felt too tired to continue. She should have felt assured that no catastrophe was going to be caused by her grandfather.

He was retired, after all. No more revenge schemes. No more Red Ribbon.

"Actually," turning back to HoloCat, Calliope decided to make one last note before calling it a night. "Keep an eye on any breaking news, anything that might be the actions of terrorists or any paramilitary groups. Any attacks, deaths, destruction of property. Things like that."

Calliope made a note and stuck it to the screen where the analysis was still running. Someone would record the results and get them back to her. She made an attempt to clean up the clutter on the desk and gathered her paperwork.

She left the computer running and navigated her way in the dim light to the side of the lab. Beyond another security checkpoint, a flight of stairs, her office waited for her. Flopping down on her couch, and covered with a blanket, she stared at the ceiling.

Perhaps it was time to try and check on her grandfather in person, Calliope thought idly. He was getting older, after all. Maybe his behavior and attitude could be attributed to mental degeneration. Perhaps Grandpa Gero was getting sentimental in his old age, and his intentions of checking in were genuine. She agreed with herself that, over the weekend she'd have a surprise visit with him. If she could track him down. She could bring a cake. Maybe they could catch up over tea. That would be nice.

'Yeah, I'm sure that will work out. What a joke.' Calliope immediately thought, and sighed. She rolled over and tried to get to sleep.