A/N: I'm going to waste a little space here to give thanks to all the reviewers. Thanks GCTIGERFAN1, ansam, Majin Putty and johncorn for your continuous support. Thanks iloveyou, pallyndrome, Tensa-Zangetsu102, Cara2012, The0Blind0Writer for your review! Your support has become my source of motivation! And some of your questions/comments also made me rethink about some of the plot elements. I really do appreciate it! And thanks to all the readers and those who have this fic on alerts and favorites!
Game of Life
Chapter 6 – The Schemes
Time flew by as Bulma concentrated on the blueprints before her. In the dark basement where nights and days were one, Bulma had lost track of what hour it was and she did not care. All Bulma knew was she has a daunting task of saving her son and possibly the life of all her friends.
Bulma massaged her temples with both thumbs, loosening the knots forming around her heavy lids. From the tunneled vision between her hands, Bulma's eyes lingered on the empty ashtray hidden behind the rows of stacked books. How she wished she could take a drag of the foul substance now. Sighing, she lowered her hand to pick up the next best thing, coffee. She took a sip. The aroma of the bitter stench assaulted her nose, slightly rousing her from the growing drowsiness. It was not enough, but it would do for now.
Bulma's gaze fell upon her unborn child and sighed. It was as if fate has decided to test her endurance. Not only did Bulma have Trunks' condition to deal with, she also has to be wary of her health. It was fortunate the result showed she only have partial placenta pervia. Even though Bulma had skillfully convinced her doctor from confining her to the hospital, she was still under strict order to rest. Her doctor warned her of the consequences. Bulma knew what was at stake if she refused to follow her doctor's advice. But she was now faced with two threats, one on the life of her son and the other on the life of her unborn daughter. Bulma took another sip. It was not difficult to come up with a final decision on which was more important. Her son's situation was more immediate and it was within her ability to fix. Her health, on the other hand, was beyond her capability to control. Bulma took another sip before placing the cup next to the pile of long white papers and returned to her work.
"You look like shit, woman. Get some rest," Vegeta demanded from behind. Vegeta was right where she left him hours ago, leaning against the feeble shelves by the exit. From the way he squeezed his biceps on his folded arms, Bulma could tell he was on alert for any signs of foul play from their uninvited guests. Vegeta was not pleased to learn that they would be spending the remaining time under the same roof as her son's captor and frankly, neither was she.
Bulma ignored her husband's demand. With renewed energy from the caffeine, she plowed through one blueprint after another. After she scanned through one page, she threw it behind her, forming a pile of crumbled papers. When she came upon one with possible lead, she slowed her pace and traced the model drawing. She quickly read the note and frowned when it did not have the information she was looking for. She threw it back with the rest of the pile.
She heard footsteps stomping against the oak hardwood floor. Again, she ignored it. She flipped through another page. Suddenly, Bulma heard a swooshing sound followed by a gush of wind. The workstation vibrated as Vegeta slammed his fist on the top sheet, blocking the words. "Did you hear me, woman!" Vegeta shouted beside her ear.
Trying to calm herself, Bulma took a deep breath. "Even our deaf cat can hear you, Vegeta," she said through her tight jaws. She did not need this now. She had not showered; had not slept; had not eaten. Her house was infested with unknown viruses. The monsters lived just across the damn room. Trunks was still in the hospital and his condition did not improve. Their unborn child was now at risk from some stupid crap illness. And now she has a temperamental husband to deal with. If she could form ki blast, she would gladly shut Vegeta up by blowing him out of this room, just to vent her frustrations. But she could not. And it was probably not wise to get into a full blown argument right now so she held her anger. "Unless you can fix the damn system, don't bother me," Bulma said as she swatted his hand away, her voice filled with irritation.
She knew Vegeta was also not in the best of mood and her action would only escalate his foul temper, but she did not care. As expected, she heard a low growl and she readied herself for a heated confrontation. Before he could respond, the laptop made a beeping noise and the image of pink critter flickered on the screen.
All their built up tensions dissolved instantly as they turned their attention to the bright screen at the end of the workstation. Bulma ran and grabbed the side of monitor. Shaking it, she shouted, "Giddymouse, it's about time! Report!"
"Master Bulma, I am not able to identify the type, but able to locate the source. On May 23, a virus was released into the system through IP address 102.10.402 –" Bulma cut him off.
"Wait…did you say 102.10.402?" Bulma repeated the address to confirm. She could see from the corner of her eyes, Vegeta stood beside her with mild confusions on his face. It was obvious he knew next to nothing when it came to computer technologies. Not to say he was ignorant of technology, since he was quite capable when he served under Frieza. It was he chose not to dabble with it when he claimed his number one priority was training.
"Affirmative," the critter responded.
Bulma's jaw dropped open. She slowly turned to face Vegeta and managed to say, "Vegeta, that came from Trunks' room."
Vegeta was still for a second. Bulma could almost see his thoughts running through his head. In the next second, a scowl appeared and his fist slammed on the workstation once again, almost breaking the metallic table in half. "Great! Just great! I swear if that kid wakes up, I will put him back to sleep with my own hands! Damn kid got way too much time on his hand!"
Bulma grimaced and cowered a little from Vegeta's outburst. "Calm down, Vegeta. Trunks is still a kid. Kids do these kinds of brainless stuff," Bulma reasoned.
Bulma heard a sharp hmph. Sighing, Bulma turned to the computer. "Giddymouse, how did Trunks release the virus?"
"Records showed that there was an attempt on a system breach on May 19 to May 23. A small virus was created…"Bulma cut the rodent off again.
"And why did you not report this to me?" Bulma accused the pink critter.
"Master Bulma, I was programmed to only respond on demand. It was not requested of me," the critter said, batting its eyes and rubbing its paws.
Vegeta snickered from behind and said, "I'm surprised you didn't have this little punk reported all our secrets to you."
Bulma sent Vegeta a deadly glare to silence him. He growled but did not speak another word.
Bulma bit the tip of her thumb and stitched her brows in concentration. Finally she asked, "Was the virus created internally or was it transferred from an outside source?"
"It was coded internally."
"This might explain how the system was hacked into," Vegeta said as he tossed a piece of plastic on the table. "I found it on Trunks when I brought him to the hospital."
Bulma picked up the plastic card, flipped it around and groaned. Of course, that would explain how Trunks could access the room in the first place. Again, Bulma should have known that Trunks would pull a stunt like this. She had seen him crack codes in his game with ease. "Trunks must have accidentally programmed a virus when he tried rewriting the codes to make a copy of the access key," Bulma explained more so to herself.
"What exactly are we dealing with here, Bulma?" Vegeta asked.
"I don't know. Without knowing the type of virus, it's hard to speculate what are the damages to the system. To counter the attack, we must know the exact type," Bulma explained as she rubbed her chin. "I can make educated guess, but it will not do us any good at the moment." She heard Vegeta growled. She knew he was looking for a straight answer, but the fact was there were too many variables to consider.
"Forget about the damn viruses! What are the chances of you lifting the handicap? If it is low, I say we come up with a plan B," Vegeta explained in a calculating voice. Bulma could tell he was coming up with a strategy, which probably involved fighting and bloodsheds. Then again, Vegeta did show his brilliant strategic battle intellect during the fight on Nameks. Perhaps he could really devise a plan. "It's safe to guess, the bastards will send out the strongest fighters. If we can convince them to not fight one on one, then Kakkarott can defend against three while two of us can fight in pair against one." Vegeta's attention was no longer on her. His head was tilted down and his eyes closed. Bulma guessed he was running scenarios in his mind. Finally, he opened his eyes and said, "The success of this plan lies with speed and Kakkarott's ability to avoid injuries. It is not a guarantee win, but this is the best we have."
Bulma understood fight as much as Goku understood computer, but one thing she knew was during the heat of battle, caution was the last thing on anyone's mind. She highly doubted that the power fanatic Saiyans would gauge their own injuries. Even if there was a point one percent chance that Trunks could lose his life, Bulma was not willing to take the gamble. They have another day to increase the probability of success and she planned to use every minute of it to find a solution. She turned to the monitor. "Giddymouse, is it possible to access sector 934? If I remember correctly, it is far from the mainframe. The virus might not have spread to that part yet."
The critter disappeared and returned within a few seconds and responded, "Affirmative. Sector 934 is free of viruses."
For the first time since her journey to the hospital, Bulma felt elated. All the ill feelings disappeared. She threw her arms around Vegeta and gave him a wet smack on the cheek. She let him go and said, "Sector 934 is a black box I created for emergency. With luck, I think I can reprogram the shutdown design logic just using that part!"
"With luck," Vegeta reminded her.
"I have another day, anything is possible…"
"This is getting ridiculous, Minat! How much longer do I have to stand around while you talk to that measly little mouse!"
"Be patience, Gizeth," Minat said with a sigh. It has only been a day and already, Gizeth was growing impatient. He knew his other half was irritated from being stuck in a standing position for hours on end, but there was naught he could do. Minat had to make sure that all was going as intended. He needed to communicate with the computer in order to move forward with his plan.
"Patience!" Minat could hear Gizeth spit out the word with vexations. "Is that all you know how to say? I thought you're the brain, surely you have more vocabularies than that!"
With their head only inches apart, it was nearly impossible to zone out the voice behind him. It took great concentration to achieve this undertaking, but Minat managed. Though he knew he would have to return to Gizeth's whining soon to keep him from getting too bored.
Minat returned his attention to the paneled monitors. These bright screens felt out of place in this deserted but soothing surrounding. He had chosen the scenery from the same planet Trunks, his creator, resided on. To him, it was even more exquisite than the last area. Instead of the low blue plains, he was now surrounded by low and high green hills. On the lower hills, he could see alternating colors of fiery red, shining gold and icy blue flowers bloomed alongside the weed-filled path. Minat closed his eyes and breathed in sweet fragrance in the air.
He could stay here forever, Minat thought. He did not even mind if this world was programmed. It was real enough for him. But alas, even if he wished so, the owner of this room would eventually force them out. Not to mention, Gizeth would oppose this idea. To him, imprisonment was imprisonment whether it was in a land of beauty or a sea of darkness.
So now, Minat must find a way to leave this entrapment and to guarantee their safety once they reached their goal. From the collective memories of the inner system, he had found many useful facts in regards to the enemies he was going to face. Saiyan was a race full of savages and brutes whose only enjoyment was to fight. At least that was what the memories showed. There was, however, a slight contradiction to the information he gathered and the real life version. Whatever the reason, Minat had to plan for the worst case scenario. And if there was a chance that the Saiyan could still be the brute they were, Minat felt they could be in serious trouble. No, it would not be wise to confront the Saiyans when his strength was so low. Though, what Minat lacked in strengths, he gained in knowledge. Knowledge of the woman who built this system and knowledge of the existence of the virus that had given them life.
"Giddymouse, have you given Bulma the information she needed?" Minat asked the pink rodent on the screen.
"Yes, Master Minat," the rodent replied.
"Does she know of Tysfia?"
"Only the source."
"What is Bulma's plan of action at the moment?" Minat asked.
"As you predicted, cleaning Sector 934 of infection has encouraged Master Bulma to focus on repairing the shutdown system," the rodent reported.
"Did she suspect your words on the infestation to her whole system?" Minat asked. Tysfia was a virus that could manipulate the existing codes and enhanced the programming logic such as the decision-making trees. But there was a weakness with Tysfia. It has a slow capability of multiplying itself. Though majority of the sectors within the system was infested, the mainframe has not been infiltrated yet. Until that time arrived, Minat has to be cautious of his next move.
"Negative. We have created an illusion of the mainframe being controlled by Tysfia. Even if Master Bulma checked the validity of my words, she will find enough truth in it."
Minat breathed a sigh of relief. He knew of Bulma's intelligence since she was the mastermind behind this virtual world and the master of the little rodent. From the classified information he gathered from Giddymouse, Minat learned a great deal on Bulma's skills and competency. He knew she was quite capable of finding their weaknesses. Minat could not allow her to focus on the virus when his plan involved keeping Tysfia from being destroyed. So far, it was all going according to how he expected, but he could not relax. He could not calculate how long it would take Bulma to repair the shutdown system. If it was earlier than intended, then he would be in trouble. Somehow, he would need to device another backup plan.
"Giddymouse, if she asks of Tysfia again, tell her it is a rare strand of Trojan horse, but do not tell her which strand. She will believe you since Tysfia has similar characteristics," Minat said. He hope this piece of information would lead her astray, at least until all was too late for her to counteract.
"Yes, Master Minat," said the rodent and then spun around like a tornado. "Master Bulma summoned me. I must return."
"Remember, Giddymouse. Give only enough information so she could be distracted," Minat reminded the pink rodent.
"Yes, Master Minat," said the rodent before disappearing from the screen.
"I don't get you, Minat. Why are you wasting time talking to a damn mouse? Don't you think we should be preparing for the battle ahead?" Gizeth said with annoyance. He shifted slightly to his right, causing Minat to catch a glimpse of his own reflection through the shadowed corner of the screen. Minat flinched and quickly cast his eyes to the side. Minat understood now why those Saiyans seemed disturbed and furious whenever they looked upon him. Even he felt the same disgust when he saw the wide cracked lips stretched across his face in a frozen smile. His jagged sharp teeth spilled out his mouth in crooked layers. Minat felt that his image was at odd with who he really was.
Minat sighed, fixing his eyes on the pink rodent, shifting his gaze away from the monstrous face. "The staging of the battle is complete, Gizeth. There are not else I could do in that aspects. The priority here is to prevent Bulma from figuring out and ruining our plan."
Minat heard Gizeth snickered from behind. "Bulma? You mean a woman? Please, what can a woman do to us?"
Minat sighed again. Without a body to control, there was no much he could do to express his growing impatience with his other half. Not only that, from the one day of released into this world, Minat felt extremely disconnected from this body. When he was relaxed, the body tensed. When he was soaking the beauty of his surrounding, his body heated with anger. His wish for freedom did not end with this room. His most desired wish was to be free from his other half.
"I fear the woman more so than the violent Saiyans. Brain is a far greater weapon than brawn," Minat explained, knowing his reasoning would be lost on his other half.
"Sure it is. Once we become the most powerful being on this planet, I'm sure we'll have much use for your brain," Gizeth said as he burst out in laughter.
"True, I agree if we do reach that point. But do not forget, we can still be turn off with a flick of a switch. We are but binary numbers made of ones and zeros," Minat warned. It was a sad fact. A fact he learned from the brief moment when he returned to the inside of the system.
He felt his body shrugging. "Whatever. Back to the battle. Who are you going to send out?"
"That will depend on who will participate in the game," Minat said. He felt uneasy sending out the most powerful characters. It would be hard to control them once they were released, since there was no doubt that those characters would exhibit the same personalities as their originals. It was a shame that the Saiyans had only developed their adversaries not their comrades.
"The stronger the better," Gizeth said, moving away from the screen. Minat felt his body shaking and guessed that Gizeth was punching the invisible air. "That way, we can guarantee we can level our power quickly."
"Simple thinking, Gizeth. To control such power requires great concentration. With the slightest mistake, we could very well be victims to the ones we control."
"Tsk. You think way too much," Gizeth said as he flew through the plains. Minat closed his eyes and welcomed feeling of the wind brushing against his face. Feeling his worries melting away, Minat thought perhaps Gizeth was right. Perhaps all would be fine at the end.
"I say that Frieza is quite a character..." Gizeth laughed as he zipped through the coned trees.
A soft sighed soon followed...
It seemed the world had decided to take vengeance upon him, Vegeta thought. He, one of the most powerful being on the planet, has been reduced to a pawn waiting to be moved by some weaklings. Worst of all, he was now made prisoner in his own home. He detested wasting time loitering around, playing bodyguard. But there was not else he could do except wait. Vegeta gritted his teeth and scowled. When that little brat awakened, Vegeta was sure to execute the worst possible punishment. He did not know what it was yet, but Vegeta was damn sure it would make the boy's life miserable.
"Vegeta, stop making angry faces over there and get some sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow." Bulma said from the other side of the room. Her face was glued to the computer and her fingers never left the keyboards. Her eyes rolled left to right and back to left with enough speed to make a Saiyan proud. Could that woman really read that fast? He wondered.
Vegeta shifted upright, sliding his butt closer against the metal shelf. "I can say the same to you," Vegeta said. She did look like shit. Vegeta knew woman like her did not like black circles under their eyes or skins hanging from their cheeks. Perhaps, Vegeta could kindly bring her a mirror so he could get his point across of how disgustingly tired she looked. He smirked at the thought.
"I'm different. I don't have an earth shattering battle ahead of me," Bulma said sarcastically, looking across to meet Vegeta's eyes. "My part in this is prevention, not intervention. I don't need to save my energy."
His woman was so damn stubborn. Vegeta could tell she was on the verge of collapsing. For the time being, Vegeta was no help except to act as a bodyguard. His inability to share the burden with his woman frustrated him, but unless he knew how the system worked, he could do nothing but wait.
"I'm a warrior, a couple nights of not resting will not kill me," Vegeta said as he folded one leg and pulled his knee close to his chest and rested his arm on it. He did feel drained, if not physically, then emotionally. It only had been less than a day since the incidents with Trunks but it felt like ages ago.
"Don't be stubborn. You know as well as I do that our guests can't leave the room. There's no point for both of us to stay awake. Beside it only adds to my pressure with you staring at me," Bulma said, returning to her work once again.
"I was not staring, woman!"
"Whatever." He saw her rolled her eyes. Vegeta scowled and whipped his face toward the exit. "Seriously, I don't know if I could fix this damn thing by tomorrow. If you're fighting with less than full energy -"
Cutting her off, Vegeta said, "Fine. I'll do as you wish, but sleep will not come easy when I'm in this dreaded place."
"Try."
Vegeta growled. He did not like to be commanded, but did not feel like arguing further for it would go no where. He tilted his head back further into the metal shelf and shut his eyes to feint sleep so his woman could stop nagging him. He extended his ki to flow through all parts of the house. Any movement from the bastards would alert him. Vegeta did not trust the bastards.
For the next couple minutes, all he heard was tapping of the keyboards. The repetitive sounds caused his mind to drift. His thoughts became clouded as the world of shadows forced its presence into his conscious. His alertness heightened, warning him something was amiss. He tried to pry his eyes open, but they, too, grew heavy.
Vegeta tried twitching his fingers, an act that often worked when he wanted to escape his nightmarish dreams, but that, too, was impossible, for his body refused his command.
Projection of golden structures was forced into his mind. In the distant, Vegeta could see a lavender haired boy…
Trunks!
A/N: Okay, confused yet? Bored with the geeky talk yet? I hope not! Anyways, I'm not a computer expert so some of the terms might be off.
It also saddened me to cut a whole scene (poor Goten!) out because this chapter was simply too long. I could easily pass the 6000+ words mark if I leave it in.
More on Trunks and Vegeta in the next chapter! Hope to see you there!
Please review if you have a minute. If not, thanks for reading anyways!
