Chapter 21: Quarantine, Continued
Considering the strange, scary times we find ourselves in now I wish you all the best. Please stay safe.
~Minnows BioSolutions Lab, Nicky Town~
Gathered under the new hole in the ceiling in the main lab area, Jay and the others stared up at the stars for what felt like several long minutes. It hadn't been too long ago that Cell had temporarily taken Lorenzo aside -well, up, above the lab- before flying off without letting them know anything. The darkened lab fell to silence, the only source of light being the purplish glow of several HoloCats smiling in standby mode.
"Do you think he's going to come back?" Marky suddenly asked, drawing everyone's gaze to him. He was still shaking in fright with the events of the evening, and his eyes darted between the gathered men in search of an answer.
"Uhhhh..." The first to attempt to answer, Jay's voice trailed off. He could do little more than shrug as an answer but looked to Nash, who remained quite calm. "Nash?"
Nash, at first replied with a shrug as well. When Jay, and the ex-interns, maintained their questioning gazes on him he eventually continued, "Depends on if Lorenzo gave up the location for the Solstice lab or not."
With that, they all turned their collective gaze to the fallen executive at their feet, who had still not quite recovered. He was still breathing, occasionally groaning, with one leg bent in an unnatural direction, clearly broken. They had all watched when Cell had snatched Lorenzo up to have some kind of chat and had been rooted to the spot since. He was still tied up with his hands bound with duct tape behind his back.
"Hey. Dude." As Nash spoke, he gently nudged Lorenzo's mangled leg with his foot. While everyone else cringed at the screams and curses that followed, Nash remained concernedly calm and rose his voice over the curses, "Did you or did you not tell Cell where the Solstice lab is?"
"Fuck you, you fucking shit-eating fuck!" Was Lorenzo's prompt response, followed by further screams and groans. "Get me to a hospital you asshats!"
"What's going on with the Solstice lab?" Jay leaned closer to Nash to whisper his question. He felt like he had missed so much in the short time he had been gone. He may have had to make it a loud-whisper for the sake that Lorenzo continued to groan and curse on the floor.
"Its the lab with some kind of outbreak going on. Its also where Calliope's having her 'family emergency', which I think at this point is more a general-emergency kind of emergency. With zombies that aren't quite zombies." Nash whispered this in a more straight-forward, serious way than he usually cared to speak. When Jay continued to stare at him as if nothing was cleared up, he continued, "Less Dawn of the Dead, Romero-style shambling zombies and more... The Crazies. Y'know, still alive, but clearly crazy."
"Okay... And the lights?" Jay pointed up to point out the glaring problem that they were literally in the dark.
"I dunno. General power grid failure?" Again Nash shrugged.
"What about the generators?"
"They're still fucked."
"I thought they were repaired." Jay realized it was hard to remember what exactly had been going on in their normal day-to-day life before had been dragged off by Calliope into this misadventure.
"Nah, repair guys were supposed to come this week, but, y'know..." Nash gestured to vaguely to the sky, the lab, everything. "They either evacuated or got eaten."
"Ohh, right." Jay crooned softly to himself, his eyes going to the glassy ceiling, "I can't believe I forgot about that."
"Yeah... Cell was super salty about that too, surprisingly enough." At this Nash took a moment to chuckle as if recalling a fond memory. "Oh, also the drones are down. Must've gotten kicked when Calliope's unit went offline."
Below them, Lorenzo gave a louder groan. Internally Jay panicked, just a little. He may have been complicit in plenty of crackpot, illegal schemes lately, but he was still coming to terms with adding kidnapping to his criminal resume.
"What do we do about him?" He whispered to Nash even quieter than before.
"Well," Nash said, casual as usual, "we could still interrogate him?"
"I mean..." At this thought, Jay hesitated. He looked around the lab area they occupied, trying to assess the situation. As long as the Shine powerplant didn't go into meltdown for real, they should be safe here. "Yeah? I guess?"
Calliope's request had been simple. She had a 'family emergency' with a non-blood related aunt and was meant to be back within 6 hours. In that time, Lorenzo was expecting to meet her, to answer questions about his apparent, but as of yet unexplained, ties to the late Doctor Gero. All they were supposed to do was grab Lorenzo, and take him to Minnows BioSolutions to wait for her to question him. While all this wasn't exactly necessary in the grand scheme of things, they decided it was a worthwhile venture.
Rather, Jay was too curious to miss such an opportunity, and Nash stated that it would be 'a neat way to pass the time'.
"W-what the fuck do you mean interrogate me?!" With his mind blurred with such pain, Lorenzo eventually caught up with the conversation. "I don't have to answer to you fucks! Fuck you!"
"Yeah... But our boss who's technically not our boss anymore asked us to, and frankly, she's been pretty straight up with us about the fucked up shit that's been going down." Nash said this with his usual stoic composure, only to receive looks of curiosity from his comrades. He shrugged, and answered the silent question, "What? I appreciate honesty from my employer."
"Oh fucking-fuck, what the fuck are you guys still being loyal to that bitch for?! I'm still your fucking boss, and I say get me to a fucking hospital! Now!"
"Well... About that Mister Midena..." Jay felt surprisingly sheepish for having to lay out his resignation for the second time that day. "You're not our boss anymore... Either..."
Taking all this in, Lorenzo fell quiet for a long beat. His eyebrows knitted together while his mouth twisted with a frustrated frown as if he wanted to keep screaming. Eventually, when he spoke up again, it was in a quieter more determined voice, "I can pay you guys. Money. Lots of fuckin' money."
The gathered men paused at this offer and exchanged a series of looks between each other. Jay himself knew he wasn't going to be swayed. What if Lorenzo had additional information that could help Calliope? What if Doctor Gero senior had some sort of backup project to deal with Cell as he did with the androids? When he looked to Nash, the hacker had a surprisingly stern frown and gave the slightest shake of his head. The interns looked at him with wide eyes and shrugs that told him they would follow his lead on this matter.
Right. This would do, Jay thought. He took a step closer to Lorenzo, looming over the corporate playboy. "I think we'd rather have you answer some questions."
~Minnows Solstice Labs, Emergency Quarantine Unit~
In the interest of avoiding any further argument, Cell followed after Calliope into the freshly erected quarantine center. He couldn't help voicing his concerns about how useless it seemed.
"I don't know what you're trying to accomplish." Calling after her, Cell followed after, wincing at the bright lights of the medical unit until his eyes adjusted. "I'm perfectly capable of cleaning myself off, and my arena is just as well as secluded." Unless more journalists showed up. After the last time, Cell would have like to think they had learned their lesson.
Once he was inside, the doors behind slid shut on their own accord. It smelled like industrial cleaning supplies and soap, sterile. The walls, ceiling, floor were all white tiles of similar design, with many placards about decontamination procedures and proper steps to follow. The room itself was small, cramped, cut off from the rest of the building. Opposite the door the wall had two doors; one large enough to walk through, the other smaller, more a long compartment with a series of buttons next to it.
Calliope had already opened the smaller door and was placing every item from her bag into what looked like a conveyor belt. No doubt to go through a separate decontamination process.
"That's all well and good, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't meet standard containment and decontamination guidelines." She was too preoccupied with clearing out her bag to look up from it. Once it was empty, she tossed the bag in through the door as well. Then, kicking off her shoes and pulling off her jacket, pressed them through the smaller compartment as well. Looking back at Cell, she gave him a thoughtful once over before speaking up again. "Does that come off?"
"... Does what come off?" Blinking, Cell tried to figure out exactly what she was asking about. If it was the viscous black fluid splashed on him from Violet's death throes, there was no reason it shouldn't.
"The armor." Calliope continued to stare expectantly, gesturing at the whole of his body. She blew a sigh from her nose and had broken away to one of the cabinets along the wall while explaining. "In your previous forms, I would have guessed it served as an exoskeleton. But now, based on your hands, neck, and face I'd expect you have endoskeletal structures."
He opened his mouth to answer but found that he didn't readily know. He certainly had never tried to take his armor off. Cell looked down at himself again, this time curiously examining where the seam of the speckled plating met his wrist. So much had changed about his body so quickly, it was possible that there were some things that had missed his attention.
After she had finished digging through the various medical supplies Calliope approached him, hands redressed in latex gloves, and she gestured for him to come closer. When he leaned down so their faces were almost level, she suddenly had a small, flat metal instrument to scrape the liquid from his cheek in a non-too-gentle manner. She tapped the liquid off in a small vial, which she sealed and tossed in with the rest of her belongings into the smaller decontamination door. A sample of the 'potentially infectious material' from Violet's explosive, sticky death, Cell assumed.
"Well, when you figure it out head through and take a decontamination shower, okay?" Calliope, who's patience Cell suspected was quick to run out, didn't hesitate in speaking up again. By then she had turned away and was stripping off the rest of her clothing to stuff into the same place the rest of her belongings had gone. "Without the armor, if it does comes off."
For what felt like several long moments Cell couldn't stop himself staring as Calliope exposed every inch of herself without hesitation or apparent modesty. The first thing he noticed was the minor injuries bruising along her back, and one on her arm that was forming in the pattern of fingers gripping the flesh too tight. Her hair was a mess, wet and stuck to the scalp with blood, but the rest of her form was a graceful, lean example of human anatomy. One which Cell couldn't bring to tear his gaze from, despite how inappropriate it was.
He briefly wondered what her skin would taste like with all that blood smeared on it.
Cell found himself temporarily lost in thought as the image of her lingered in his head. The sound of running water from the next room snapped him out of the daze. There was just the next door through to the decontamination showers, and he realized with some excitement that Calliope had intended him to go into the same room as soon as he was able to. Together. Naked.
If Cell didn't know better, he would think this was an attempt at flirtatious behavior. Given the situation, he dismissed the thought.
Unlike his previous forms that he found the internal muscles weren't attached, and with a little work, the plating did come off. The material was hardened but lightweight. Without it, there was a fleeting sense of vulnerability, but an exciting sense of freedom. When he had taken everything off, and shoved it through the smaller decontamination compartment as Calliope had done with her belongings. Some pieces needed to be angled creatively, not to mention shoving – where he had to be careful not to break the fragile structures of the quarantine unit- to get them in.
Then for a few minutes, that felt very short, Cell spent admiring his form in the mirrored surface of the wall near the shower's entrance. The adjacent room looked like some kind of observation area. Much like after absorbing the androids and attaining his perfect form, he flexed and posed to himself, taking it all it. Under the armor was skin pale and smooth as that on his hands, neck and face, showing his muscles with a greater definition than the firm plating would allow.
"Huh. Still stunning." Cell said, to himself, while still gazing at his reflection. "Well, that's good to know. Not surprising, though." He still thought himself devilishly handsome- even if he was shorter without his usual crown, which was replaced by a surprisingly soft head of snow-white spiky hair.
Stepping through to the shower- which was not much larger than the previous room- the air was full of warm steam and the harsh smell of sterilizing soap. There were three shower heads on opposite walls, all streaming hot water. In situations where decontamination showers were used it was doubtful the greatest concern was privacy.
Calliope was already well on her way to cleaning herself of blood and that black substance. She scrubbed furiously at her hair, the lather had taken on a dark rusty tint.
At first, she gave no hint that she noticed him entering the room until she spoke up, without turning around. "Disinfecting soap should dispense from the wall. Make sure to scrub everything, top to bottom, and don't forget scrubbing under your fingernails."
Cell hummed in acknowledgment but otherwise didn't respond. He decided to go along with her instructions, for the time being, letting the warmed water wash over his face to clean away the slippery goo that remained. The water felt pleasant enough, though the provided soap from automated dispensers at the wall, smelled harsh with antiseptic chemicals. For a moment he stared at the yellowish-white liquid soap in his palm, not entirely sure how to utilize it. Applying directly to the skin seemed the most obvious method. After rubbing a layer over his arms and chest as a test, he found it gave a satisfactory amount of bubbly later.
He scrubbed at any skin that had been exposed when he was doused by Violet. When Cell slid a suds-covered hand over the bite at his shoulder, which he had been successfully ignoring up to that point, he hissed at the sting.
"Everything okay?" Calliope asked from behind him, at the opposite shower head in the room.
"It's fine."
"... Your shoulder still hasn't healed yet, has it?"
"It's not worth worrying about. It's just takin time." Cell craned his neck to better look at the still-marred flesh with its renewed ache. He decided to deflect before Calliope could get her teeth into the subject and lecture him about how he chose to handle things in combat. "So, you'll be interested to know that it does come off."
Cell had turned about, to rinse off the soap and to watch Calliope. She had moved on from her hair to meticulously scrub the rest of her body with one of the provided stiff-bristled brush. "Huh?"
"My armor."
"Oh. Huh." Calliope sounded a bit surprised and paused in her scrubbing before saying softer, to herself, "I was honestly just guessing, but that is interesting." She didn't even a glance to look at him. Instead, she moved to finish scrubbing the lower half of her body, and then her face, again.
"It is interesting." While he didn't exactly expect her to pounce on him in a moment of lust, Cell was certainly let down that she would even look at him to admire his newfound nudity. "Its also interesting that I'm still incredibly attractive, naked or not."
Calliope paused in washing herself, sighed, and responded without enthusiasm. "I'm sure you are, Cell."
"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind a second opinion on the matter."
"Look, Cell, I'm really more concerned about getting any contaminants off, so I don't really have time to feed your ego-Oh!" Calliope had started to say as she turned around, and once she caught sight of him stuttered in surprise. It took her several seconds of slowly blinking before she collected herself enough to speak. "Um!... Yeah! You are, just, super naked."
Cell watched as Calliope's face grew steadily flushed as she stared at him, stunned. It wasn't quite the reaction he had wished for her to have, but it was close enough to be satisfying.
"So, what do you think?" Cell asked with a sultry smile while stretching his arms up and back into an impressive flex. Between posing and the water running down his body, he knew he cut an impressive figure.
Again Calliope stumbled over a response. She had closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. Suddenly she faltered with a sudden wave of modesty as if she was just realizing where they were, and their state of dress. She tossed aside the brush she had been scrubbing herself and covering herself as best as she could with her hands and arms. Then, some parts of her still coated with soapy suds, she was rushing out the exit of the shower. "I-um. I'm going to get dressed. Don't forget to scrub yourself with a brush!"
The smile slipped from Cell's lips, and after another moment with no sign of Calliope's returned, he lowered his arms down as well. As amusing as it was to get a rise out of her, it hadn't been quite the reaction he had hoped for.
Turning back around to face the warm water he resumed washing, more to give her time to collect herself before going through than a true interest in hygiene. This time he scrubbed himself with the firm bristled brush dangling from the shower head's neck, mimicking Calliope's actions. Cell was careful around the aching gash on his shoulder, annoyed that the flesh and skin hadn't knitted itself together. He felt surprisingly clean after rinsing off, for the second time.
As she had rushed out of the shower early, Calliope had already dressed and attempted to put herself back together. She wore a simple pair of hospital scrubs, which in some areas were soaked through with moisture where she hadn't cared to dry to well. Her hair was still wet of course, occasionally dripping from the ponytail she had pulled it into. It took several moments of watching her recognize the markings around her neck as more bruising.
"Right, there, uh, some pants over there that you can put on. I would usually suggest a shirt, but, considering your wings and tail-stub... I'm not sure any of them would actually fit." Calliope spoke in forced professionalism, any of her previous anger of the evening seeming to have steamed off with the shower. She gestured at the table next to the door of the decontamination shower's door, where several selections of hospital-green pieces of clothing were neatly folded.
She had busied herself at a far wall, fiddling with some screen that would normally be hidden behind a panel. While she worked she muttered softly to herself about how power and water were working, then something about getting a network connection going.
Cell eyed the clothing selection, with a frown at the unattractive color and abrasive feel of the fabric. Holding them up by the top it only took him a moment to decide against putting them on. Aside from how unflattering they would appear on his otherwise perfect body there was no way they would be comfortable. He tossed them in a heap back into the table.
"Well, I'm not wearing them."
"Can we please not do this right now?" Hanging her head with a sigh, Calliope then looked back up to him with a tired look, not letting her eyes drift lower than his face.
"We don't have to, if you can accept that I'm not going to wear... These." To add to his point, Cell had lifted one of the pairs of pants Calliope proposed while frowning. "Either I'll stay naked, which I'm finding is quite liberating, or I'll just put my armor back on."
"Everything still needs to go through decontamination, which will take at least another twenty minutes to complete." She explained this in the quick language that usually reflected a growing agitation. "Besides I need access to your wound so I can examine it properly. I'll also need access to draw a blood sample and run basic diagnostics."
"What, this?" Cell breathed a laugh and gestured to the bite that gouged the flesh of his shoulder. He only spared a glance down at it, where it still hadn't healed and decided that playing it off would be best. There was no need to worry Calliope. It was sure to heal. "It's sweet of you to worry, but this is nothing. It's a flesh wound. Barely more than a scratch."
"A scratch which is still bleeding, and is likely full of infectious contaminants." She gestured at the wound as if it helped proved her point. The next moment Calliope's face flushed again and she pressed a hand over her eyes as she grumbled, "Okay, seriously, please put some pants on. I can't have a conversation with you while you're naked."
"Well, you didn't seem to have much of a problem in the shower." That is until she actually saw him, naked and flexing to show off his still-glorious body.
"That was for emergency decontamination! Totally different!" Calliope shouted, dropping her hands to half-glare, half-wince at him.
Honestly, Cell wasn't expecting this to be such a hot topic of contention as it was. "Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned with whatever infectious agent your not-aunt was cooking up?"
"I am. But, I am also deeply, deeply uncomfortable with you being naked." Calliope had pressed her eyes shut again, either to avoid looking at him or just as a matter of how frustrated she was at things, with her hands braced on the table separating them. She did manage to calm herself down enough to speak calmly, "So if you could put something on, even a towel, I don't care at this point, that would be greatly appreciated."
It wasn't that Cell wasn't concerned about what could be suspected was a contagion. He wasn't worried about himself being infected, of course, he doubted that anything infection could have much effect on him. However, Calliope would have the ineffectual immune system that was typical of humans. Given her lack of personal protective measures when he found her, she might have been exposed, bound to become infected.
She could go mad and devolve into a screaming, dripping monstrosity.
Cell didn't think he could bring himself to putting her down if that came about.
The idea of keeping a monster woman as a sort of pet on an otherwise desolate planet, while he searched the stars for a cure didn't sit right either.
No, what needed to happen was to fix this before it became more of an issue. Calliope was intelligent, and if she wasn't able to find a cure she'd know people better prepared to deal with this infection. To do that, she did need to be focused on the matter at hand.
While he mulled over the situation, Cell had of course been keeping an amount of attention on the others. It seemed the whole band of his enemies had come to attention at his little battle- if it could even be called that for how easily Violet was put down once he stopped playing around. They hadn't come any closer to the grounds, so 16 must have been able to get to them in time. Cell was almost disappointed that it appeared they were heeding the warning to keep their distance.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, one of the energy signatures that Cell had been paying especially close attention to suddenly blipped out of existence, only to appear nearby, just a couple of meters off to the side. In a lucky turn of events, Goku, likely by complete accident, appeared behind a glassy separator that contained the quarantine unit proper from an adjacent room, likely for observation purposes.
While he was dressed casually, the Saiyan's serious face showed a mix of concern for what he had just walked into. It looked like he was talking, looking between Cell and Calliope, but the thick glass of the partition muffled his words to noise.
"Oh, come on," Calliope muttered to herself, stalking over to the wall, puffed up with indignation about how people were idiots and quarantine measures were in place for a reason. "Hey! What exactly do you think you're doing?"
As quickly as he had appeared, Goku's serious expression changed to the surprised look of a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. It looked like he tried to speak, and, once again, the sound was muffled.
After another few seconds of Goku's attempts, Calliope cut him off, "There should be a button on the wall, you have to press it to talk to us. On the left... Your other left, Goku."
Eventually, after a quick search finally yielded success, Goku spoke tentatively, "Uh, can you hear me now?"
"Yes Goku, we can hear you." Cell spoke up. He hadn't moved from his spot near the long table, though he did take a moment to cross his arms. "We're actually quite busy at the moment, was there something we could help you with?"
Obviously, the tussle with Violet would be cause for question. How could it not? She had been some sort of scientist with a discreet energy reading that suddenly ballooned upon physical transformation. While Cell could understand their curiosity, he was still annoyed at the sudden intrusion.
"We sensed you fighting something. What happened?" Was the first thing that came out of Goku's mouth, his voice sounding somewhat fuzzy over the coms system. Again, his eyes went between them before settling on Calliope with a look of concern. "Are you okay? Did Cell hurt you?"
At this Calliope immediately scoffed dismissively, and started to explain as if it should all be obvious, "Oh please, he didn't hurt me. A family friend of mine turned into a monster, Cell killed her, we're in quarantine."
Cell could only nod and gesture that that had been, more or less, what had happened.
"Trust me Goku, if she had a complaint she'd let you know." When Calliope turned about to give him an annoyed look that seemed to ask what exactly he meant by such a statement, Cell shrugged. "What? About 90% of our conversations consist of you complaining about one thing or another. It is sort of your thing."
Calliope continued to hold her glare at him for a moment longer, before shrugging and speaking mildly. "I have a lot of complaints, which are absolutely valid, and which are not the point right now."
"Um..." Goku spoke up again, unsure this time. "I'm still confused."
When Goku continued to look lost, Cell decided to give a more detailed explanation. "Well, someone decided tonight would be a great night to almost get herself killed-"
"Not intentionally." Calliope cut in with an edge of annoyance that Cell ignored.
"Beat a man's head open with a centrifuge-"
"That was preemptive self-defense."
"-then had the gall to yell at me when I came to heroically save her from her aunt who, again, had turned into a monster." By this time Cell had redirected his gaze back to half-heartedly return Calliope's.
"After I told you half a dozen times not to come."
"And I decided to ignore you because you were being a stubborn idiot."
It was likely their argument would have continued at a low-boil like this for some time if Goku hadn't interrupted them with a thoughtful observation.
"Ooh, so Cell was here to save you? That was nice."
Calliope whirled around to direct her glare at Goku, who defensively put up his hands as if to prepare for a verbal lashing. "Is it? Is it nice?"
"Um... Yes...?" Goku answered carefully with a sheepish grin.
"Okay. Well, your opinion is wrong." Calliope said this as if it should be obvious before jumping on another topic. "Hey, quick question. Could you look around that room you're in and tell me if it has a sign anywhere that says 'Sterile Observation'?" At this question, Goku did as asked and looked around the room. His eyes settled on a side wall, squinting as if in thought before confirming the presence of the sign. "Okay, good, that means you haven't been exposed here. You didn't go near or touch anything outside in the rubble did you?"
"No...?" Goku answered, still sounding unsure about where these questions were coming from.
"Okay. Good. That rubble used to be a lab where they studied and stored infectious diseases. I've been trying to minimize the exposure to whatever was turning people into monsters. That's why Cell and I are in quarantine, and why 16 had was suppose to warn everyone to stay at a safe distance." Calliope managed to explain with cool professionalism, though the annoyance that her instructions had been ignored was clear. "So as much as I appreciate you checking up on us, I need you to go away now. If you can teleport away from this mess, then that would be best."
"Well, wait a minute. How long are you guys going to be in there? Is Cell going to be able to fight in his tournament?" With the direction the conversation was going, it seemed like the meaning of 'quarantine' was just now dawning on Goku. The man seemed truly, whole-heartedly concerned. "I mean, I guess we could figure something out until you get out..."
Cell took this opportunity to speak up on the subject as well. "That's a great question. How long will we be stuck in quarantine?"
Cell was surprised he hadn't thought of this until Goku brought it up. He supposed he could always leave quarantine prematurely, and deal with any protests Calliope presented without much issue. That would be annoying, but doable. With the question hanging in the air, both Goku and Cell had turned to look at Calliope, as she was the only one there that could possibly have a respectable answer.
Calliope, in response, exchanged a similar look between the two of them. Her bewildered face quickly changed to a familiar tired and annoyed expression.
"... Seriously? There is a plague that makes people go crazy and turn into a monster and you guys are concerned about whether or not you'll get to fight each other?" She moved to pinch the bridge of her nose, once again closing her eyes. Calliope had turned away from them, humming in thought to herself before she spoke again, this time sounding surprisingly cool, "I don't know. It typically depends on the pathogen. Something like Ebola usually calls for a 21 day quarantine period-"
"What! But that's almost a whole month!" This time Goku cut off what sounded like Calliope thinking out loud, genuinely distressed and on the verge of great disappointment.
Cell rolled his eyes at the idea that he'd be forced into isolation for a month. "Don't worry Goku, I'll still be there, abiding quarantine timelines or not."
By now Calliope had wandered away from the window partition with renewed purpose to dig through a nearby cupboard of medical supplies and by all appearances ignoring the conversation.
"Yeah, but what if you're sick?" Of course, Goku would still be concerned about the tournament. Cell was glad that someone was on the same page as him on that matter.
"If Cell does get infected-" Calliope cut into the conversation again, a package of gauze in one hand and bottle of some kind of medicine in the other.
"Which I'm not going to-" Cell tried to add in, only to immediately be talked over again.
"Then he's more likely to transform into a large, screaming, dripping monster. So you'll still get to fight him, or whatever." Still collecting different items from the cabinet and drawers nearby, Calliope still regarded the conversation as if distracted. "But, again, we don't know anything about this thing. The people who did know what this is are all dead. So at this point, I can only guess."
At this point, instead of staying to argue any points further, and her arms full of medical supplies, Calliope wandered further into the quarantine unit, into a separate room entirely. Cell could still hear her muttering complaints to herself.
"So, you guys are okay?" Goku asked, one eyebrow arched.
"We're fine. I'm sure aside from finding more things to complain about that Calliope will see about getting this nonsense sorted out." Cell waved off any concern that might linger in the air.
From the other room, which given the small size of the unit was not far by any at, Calliope called, her voice sounding falsely casual, "Hey Goku, before you leave could you tell Cell to please put some clothes on?"
At the mention of that particular subject Cell frowned and gritted his teeth, "Ugh, this again?" If he had known it would lead to such an annoyance, he would have just pretended the armor didn't come off.
"Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask. Why are you naked?" Goku asked, pointing at Cell, an eyebrow arched in curiosity.
Cell glanced back at the exit to the decontamination area, where the smaller compartment's light indicated that his armor was still in a cleaning cycle. "My armor is still decontaminating, and I'm not wearing these." He snatched up the offered scrub pants of an obnoxious shade of teal, holding them up by the waistband.
Goku's eyes went to the pants, clearly confused, then to Cell, then the direction Calliope had disappeared, and then settled back on Cell. "You know she might warm up to you more if you didn't intentionally annoy her?" When Cell returned the advice with a puzzled look, Goku continued, "What? When Chi-chi wants me to do something easy, I do it. Usually, it makes her happy and I don't get yelled at... As much. Putting some clothes on doesn't seem like a big deal."
He wasn't very well going to have this conversation with the man that was suppose to be his most worthy adversary. What kind of advice was 'be nice and put some clothes on'? While Cell was still intent on winning Calliope's affection, he was reluctant to think putting unfashionable pants on was part of the answer. After all, what was more seductive than a perfect being strutting around with striking muscles for show? The 'being nice' part seemed obvious. How much nicer could he get than saving her life?
Cell returned a frown to Goku, but was quiet for a moment, mulling over the advice. Then he immediately decided to deflect, "... You know, for some reason I always forgot someone married you."
"Hah, I know right?" Goku laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck, before returning to a somewhat more serious tone. "Welp, I'm gonna leave you guys some senzu beans cause you and Calliope look pretty beat up."
"Goku that's a nice thought, but I'm fine." Again Cell tried to wave off the concern.
"... Your shoulder is still bleeding." Goku pointed out, oblivious to the fact that Cell was perfectly happy it ignore it until it healed. "It looks like someone took a bite out of it."
Cell briefly gave Goku a narrow-eyed glare and refused to look at his shoulder. The conversation was starting to get on his nerves. For a brief moment he considered how much damage the observation room's glass could take without affecting the rest of the structure. It was very tempting to conclude the discussion by punching the Saiyan in his stupid face.
"You might want to get Calliope to take a look at that. She's a doctor, right?"
It wouldn't be surprising if those medical supplies she had been digging through were meant for him, Cell thought.
"Thank you Goku," Cell suddenly said harshly, hoping to end this without it having to come to blows, "I'll see you at the tournament. Goodbye!"
Just as the last time they met Goku disappeared without a trace, just a smile and a friendly wave. His energy signature reappearing nearby the other bystanders some distance away. Cell glanced back at the exit to the decontamination area, then back to the pants he was still holding. He breathed a sigh through his nose, annoyed at the thought that he was definitely going to put them on.
