Disclamier: I do not own any of the DBZ characters because those are creation of Mr. Akira Toriyama. However, I do own everything that comes out of my mind. Any relationship with reality is just pure coincidence because this, as the summary says, is just fiction.
The Beginning of it All.
Chapter 1: A new discovery and an unwanted visitor.
Cling!! The champagne glasses sounded as the people at the S.G. Institut für Biotechnologie celebrated their latest achievement. It wasn't an ordinary achievement though. It was the achievement of a lifetime for Dr. Schneider, founder and main scientist of the institute.
As the night went by and the scientists at the lab started to drink more and more champagne, Dr. Schneider thought it would be a good time to make a speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the SG Institute. I know you are having a great time enjoying the champagne and the food at your disposal. You deserve it. You've worked hard and many times had to postpone your own family and hobbies to be here and keep working on this magnificent project, a project that will bring mankind to the new millennia and will surely help our sons, and our sons' sons…."
(cheers and applauses were heard all over the main lab)
" Although, this wouldn't have been possible without the help of our loving wives that are here with us tonight. Without their support, we wouldn't be here in the first place".
(more applauses and cheers were heard, this time from the women in the room).
"Tomorrow will be a big day….tomorrow we will make it public so people no longer will fear disease or oldness. Tomorrow we will unveil the genetically perfect-made human being. Tomorrow we will change history!!"
As the last phrase was said, people went crazy cheering up and applauses were heard even on the outside of the 3rd floor of the building.
" But tonight we celebrate. We owe it to ourselves and to our families. Have a great night!"
The jazz trio that was specially contracted for the evening started to play and people kept celebrating as the night went by. Little did the old scientist know about the grave consequences that his project will bring to him, his family and his friends.
The sun raised in it's full splendor and the day was clear. Birds were singing and squirrels revolted on the trees. Nothing on that beautiful morning could suggest anything but happiness and joy, as if a new dawn for the entire universe has arisen. With that view from the scientist bedroom he woke up with a telephone call. His head was aching and his mouth was dry. Maybe was the champagne, maybe the delicacies or just maybe the 26 or more hours he was awake the day before. In any case, he didn't want to answer the machine, as that implied
having a better tone and a better temper than the one he had right then….but something inside told him that call was important…VERY important. Trying to wake up a little bit, he answered the phone only to hear a frightened voice speaking fast and quietly.
" Dr. Schneider, this is Johannes, your assistant. Please do not come to the institute. I repeat, do not come to the institute. They have found about our project and want to take it away from us. They don't want to make it public. They want to…"
The call was suddenly cut off and the old scientist awoke almost immediately. Why would his loyal assistant call him early in the morning knowing that last night they were all celebrating in the lab? Why would he wake him up knowing the old doctor for so many years to know he never gets calls from the institute on his phone line and instead use his cellular phone? The situation was odd, for saying the least, and as such, he became worried. He knew that if his experiment falls in the wrong hands, terrible things could happen to humanity and to the universe itself.
While dressing himself up and without any notice, his bedroom door was smashed, his wife screamed and his pants fell…all at the same time. Standing on the door was a tall man with a black coat and a gun. "Dr. Michael Schneider?" the man asked with a deep voice. "Please come with me" pointing his gun to the surprised scientist. The old man quickly dressed himself up and told his wife very quietly "remember THE conversation we had years ago…please, now it's the time". His wife nodded and quickly dressed up as well. The tall man took the scientist by his arm and walked down the stairs to the front door, where a black Mercedes was parked. Both men entered the car and immediately departure towards the doctor's institute. Half-hour later he was in his lab right in front of a small bald man. He reached about dr. schenider's shoulder and had a pretty funny moustache that moved from left to right when he spoke. The guy was no other than the president of the Pharmaceutical Industries Association, Dr. Charles Lavoisier (yes, like the chemist).
- "Bon Jour Dr. Schneider…"
- "Guten Tag" he replied with disdain
- "I see that even on the most stressful situation your manners haven't changed. Anyway…getting to the point: last night, one of my guys told me that you have finally reached the cure for AIDS, Cancer and almost all diseases with your…'human 2.0' as you call it."
- "It is not the cure, it's just a new human being, that's all. It has nothing to do with you!!" replied in anger and despair, while he was being held by the arm.
- "Doctor…I see your idealism hasn't changed after all….you see, even if it is not a cure, your 'new human being' will not need any medication because almost no disease will affect it. As you can see, that's pretty bad for our little business and we don't want to loose any money, don't we? Besides, many other countries would pay billions just to have a handful of the cells you have here. Did you actually think your project would be kept secret for all these years?"
- "You dirty greedy son-of-a-bitch!! All you think of is money….you don't care if people dies, if boys hunger in Africa or if your family gets sick. All you cared and all you will care is money…dirty money."
- "Well…you see, doctor, you don't care about your family as well…you WILL give me all the data on your mainframe and all the cell cultures so we can profit from them or you will pay the consequences with your life and your family's as well."
Schneider thought for a moment. He really loved his wife and kids and he couldn't bare the idea of some pharmaceutical mob killing them, let alone the pain the friends will feel for their death. On the other hand, helping Lavoisier would mean put his family into safety, while letting the entire world into danger. "There must be a way…" he thought as he quickly gazed the place. Finally, there WAS a way….a way that he had foreseen long ago but he never thought he'd have to use it.
"Ok, Charles, you bought me, as long as you keep your word. Let my guys prepare the cultures for you so they will be in perfect state".
After saying that, he quickly called Johannes which he knew for so long. Johannes, horrified for what he just heard, walked shaking towards Dr. Schneider, hoping he was kidding and that the whole show was just that: a show. Schneider quickly got close to Johannes and whispered to his ear: "we will give them the cultures, but not the mainframe. Call your hacker friend and tell him to remotely erase all data from it. If you need my password, it's on my PDA. Just make it look like an accident so they don't blame us. Without the data, they won't be able to do much with the cultures".
Johannes quickly ran away towards the incubator, while in the way, he sent a sms to his hacker friend, complying with the old scientist orders. In a matter of minutes, the cultures were ready and delivered to Lavoisier, who was taking a coffee at that time.
" I see you are a civilized man as I am, Michael. I'll keep my word as a gentleman I am….for now".
Lavoisier left the building with the mainframe keys and the cell cultures without knowing the truth: while Johannes was preparing the cultures, the hacker had already deleted all data from the mainframe, leaving only useless system files. "There goes 20 years of research" sighed Johannes while the black Mercedes ran through the streets. "At least the world is safe for now…"
"Don't worry, my friend. I have a backup copy of everything on my house, including our project. I have a little mainframe on my basement. It's not as powerful as the one in the institute, but it does it's job well. We shall go now to backup all that data and put it on a secure place".
Johannes was happier than ever after hearing that news. He knew his friend was a bit paranoid about his work, but he never thought he was that much….after all, it was his paranoia the one that saved the scientists' work at the institute.
Several minutes passed and the computer at Schneider's basement finished writing the BR-Discs with the research data, software and papers. It took them nearly the rest of the day to finish backing up their files. They couldn't put their families at risk so each one made a promise: the data will remain secret and only their son will know where the data is stored and he will only know when one of them is about to die. Swearing for their lives to never again try to believe themselves "gods", each one got another job at different pharmaceutical companies in small countries so they will never fall in the claws of big pharmaceutical corporations.