Chapter 12: Charade

I was grateful for the mere fact that she remained quiet while I gave this some thought. I needed to decide right away what should be done. She couldn't stay—that much was for certain. I need the time to mediate and prepare myself for the upcoming slaughters that were about to take place here tomorrow morning. Having her here would only disrupt my calm ways of thought; she had to go.

Although, perhaps I should ask her what it was she intended on doing. Why had she come? She claimed she didn't know, but I couldn't believe that statement. It was much to general and for a human to throw themselves into my presence was a result of complete insanity or an ulterior motive.

"Well, Layrial," I asked, "what do you propose should be done now? Shall we continue yet another lengthy conversation which will include insults and torture on your mind while I indulge in the pleasure of getting you frustrated, or do you think that its time for you to give up this charade and leave."

She looked at me with mild irritation, just as I had proclaimed. "First of all, who says I get frustrated?"

I smiled broadly. "I refuse to answer such an obvious question."

"Alright, then why is this a charade?"

"What would you prefer to call it?"

She was quiet for some time, but finally she looked me square in the eye; I could tell she thought of some way to retaliate. "Look Cell," she began, "I want you to honestly answer this without any attitude or sarcasm involved."

"Well my dear that all depends on the question itself," I pointed out.

She sighed and continued without lingering on my statement. "Do you or do you not feel something other than the need or desire to kill me?"

It was a fair question on her part, but I couldn't answer it. That's why she told me to restrain the need of attitude or sarcasm I usually throw into my answers. She wanted it put clear and simple on a silver platter right in front of her nose. I stared at her, my face unfaltering to my knowledge, and thought for several moments what I should say. "Perhaps," was the only thing I could let escape from my mouth.

She didn't like that, but I couldn't blame her. I'll admit it was rather pitiful. "That's not a straight forward answer," she said. "Perhaps it leans more towards yes, but you could be playing your mind tricks again."

"I take no pride in provoking people with mind tricks. I'd much rather use my supreme intellect in making others feel inadequate." Her expression was quite amusing, being rather lazy and stupid to put it simply, but I figured that she deserved enough of an answer to make her return a bit more rewarding, since she was risking her life on her own terms. "To answer your question completely, though first I'd like to inform you this is mere observation on my own personal feelings, that yes, I do believe there is the chance that there's something that has kept you alive longer than any normal human would've lasted under the same circumstances you found yourself in."

I wished I hadn't said that after I had finished. Her face became relaxed and steady as she stared at me. "Stop looking all blissful," I said with a bit of annoyance. "Do you think I take pride in admitting that to you? I'm ashamed of it, really. It's against my programming and everything Dr. Gero requested of me. Not to mention the fact that I have no use for you."

I could feel my control over my temper snap and immediately my hand shot up and my energy formed a small ball in my palm. I held it for her to see, my face angry and nearly revengeful. I hated her so much it pained me to look at her any longer without doing something about this.

"Don't think you'll survive this one," I told her. "I have more important matters to look forward to and I need to keep my concentration on that rather than having you around to attempt to distract me. Say good-bye to your miserable life, Layrial."

She backed away and looked scared beyond belief. "So that's it then?" She asked suddenly, her voice quivering.

"Yes," I stated and pushed more energy to the ki blast that was waiting to be released.

"Is it because you don't know how to handle it; or is it because you're too much of a coward to face the fact that you went against your so-called programming."

"I am not a coward!" I yelled. I know I had never raised my voice at her before, but how dare she even consider trying to call me such a demeaning word! Of all people in this universe, I was not a coward and I would not allow her to even think she had any sort of unearthly right to think it.

"You're not, huh? Then what the hell do you call it, Cell?" She was pushing her luck; I raised my energy level quickly and the wind started to pick up around us. "You never thought that you'd find a flaw in yourself! But if you think about it, it's not a flaw! It only makes you more real than a stupid machine!"

The rage inside of me burst. I shoved her against one of the pillars and held the ki in front of her chest. If my hand moved one more centimeter forward she'd start to melt. I could feel the anger swelling through me, more than it ever had before. I had never been so livid, not even when I was having difficulties getting my hands on Android 18.

"Foolish girl," I said after a moment passed to give her time to realize that I was going to kill her. "I hold your life in the palm of my hand. I can blow you away without any hopes of finding a crump of your existence in the mess of rubble that'll land on the desert floor. You have NO idea what you're dealing with!"

"What's the difference? If you kill me you've lost! It'll mean that I was right after all!"

"If you live it'll mean you were right on me being fond of you!"

"I never came out and said you were fond of me!"

I refused to admit that I let my last statement slip. I took hold of her throat and immediately squeezed my fingers around it.

"Please…" she said, tears running freely down her face. "Cell…you're hurting me."

I felt a strike of realization. This wasn't the way out…it would only make me look like a child. And hurting her…wasn't what I wanted to ever do. I backed away, my power level stabilizing to normal and her body sagging against the pillar without me holding her up by her delicate neck.

"I will not admit to losing to you Layrial," I said softly; "but I will say that what you claim holds true. You caught me and I shall admit the fact that my anger let it be so."

She looked at me as if I was going to strike again at any given moment. I could feel the tension trickling away from my face as I relaxed and looked at her. I needed to know…if this was to continue, I needed to know what she saw in me. Why would she do this to herself if she knew my nature?

"I want you to tell me the real reason why you came back out here."

She hesitated before answering. "I…I guess it's because there's something that's struck me into…liking you."

"Like," I stated. "As in that intrigue you mentioned earlier was true? You have an interest in me beyond the fact that it would make such a wonderful story that you survived my clutches?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Don't ask me why…I just…I think it's your eyes and voice that have captivated me. They're so human I forget that you're an android. And your…intellect, as you called it, is so smooth and stuff that its hard for me to remember that you're a terrorist, not a poet or something."

I had never expected in all my life to hear something like that from anyone that breathed the same air I did. It wasn't ambition for her human records—it was pure self motivation for her own personal desire. She was attracted to me in ways I hadn't thought possible by either side of this force. I could only cross my arms and turn away with a deep breath filling my lungs. I had lost. I had lost miserably to a girl nearly half my height, barely a readable fraction of my strength and a girl that was purely human. A human that was supposed to be like all the rest…like the ones I was supposed to destroy.

"Cell…why didn't you kill me just now when you were so close?"

I nearly cringed when she asked me. She would force me to put what I was humiliated even to think no less express in terms of words. Damn her. "When you said I was hurting you I realized…it wasn't what I wanted to do."

Thankfully I had already turned away so I could see her. If I had to say that face to face I think I would've malfunctioned, if that were even at all possible (which it wasn't). But then something splintered through me. Something warm touched my wing and immediately I felt a sensation I had only felt once before shooting through my entire body.

I turned around to face her quickly and she jumped away, her face clearly afraid. "Did I scare you and what you put on was all a show?"

"Yeah, Cell, you scared the living daylights out of me," she said. "But I figured what was the difference whether I died in apparent fear or tried to be brave?"

She did something yet again I hadn't expected. She reached up as far as she could and touched my face. I didn't move a single muscle anywhere in my body as her fingers traced my jaw and touched my cheek. That sensation hadn't died away like it had the first time; instead it continued to flow through me freely, but I didn't seem to be trying to ignore it. Or her for that matter; I was stuck into staring at her for all that it was worth.

When her hand started to leave I caught it and held it in my own. I looked at her soft expression, as if she forgave me for nearly ending her life. I knew what I wanted…but what did she want? "Do you want to kiss me again, Layrial?" I asked finally.

She didn't move at first, as if shocked I'd propose such a thing. "Yes," she said eventually and I leaned down to her. This time I wasn't about to force her into anything just to prove a point. No, it was completely different. I indulged in the feel of her lips on mine and her body pressed against me. It was something I can't even begin to explain…and I don't think I wanted to. Whatever had happened to me had sealed my fate for eternity.