A new life starts for many and a lot of changes for others. And a little revolution is cooking itself little by little, but hush, don't let the saiyans know or they'd eat it before it's done

CHAPTER 22

A NEW THREAT?

Five years after the Tenkaichi Budokai in which Piccolo was defeated, several changes had been made to the group. Goku and Bulma were happily married and with twins, Gohan and Bura, but they were not the only married couple. Yamcha and Chichi got married two years after them and had a son, Kofi, and the same could be said about Krillin and Blue-haired Lunch, who had a daughter, Kuri. Tien and Blonde Lunch were living together with Chaozu and that was enough for them, apparently, because they had no children of their own at the moment. On one hand, it was kind of a pity but, on the other hand, it was better for them to stay like that in the opinion of many in the group. It would have been rather complicated for a possible child to live with parents such as Blonde Lunch, a former criminal, or so everyone wanted to believe, and Tien Shinhan, a warrior raised by an assassin and a merciless master of martial arts. All things considered, everything was just fine.

Apart from these changes, nothing was different in their lives. Piccolo Daimao had not disturbed peace in any moment, which was suspicious according to most of the group because they were sure that he was up to no good, but as long as he stayed calm they had no intention of trying to hunt him. They had enough for themselves by taking care of a family and all the responsibilities that that implied. However, the fact that they were living in peace for the moment did not mean they neglected their training, but quite the contrary. Because of his mission as a saiyan, Goku had doubled his training routine, just in case something went wrong, as well as to accomplish the mission sooner than later. The rest of the fighters of the group, following his example, had done the same, joining him in his training routine and in the same place, the training room at Capsule Corp.

And they did the right thing indeed.

One day, five years after Goku's wedding, an extremely rare event took place near a farm. The local farmer was about to start his job as always when he spotted an unidentified flying object falling on the ground and provoking a crater large enough to start a new underground line. The farmer, alarmed because of such a strange event, approached cautiously and discovered the source of the impact: a strange ball with a tiny, rounded window, made of an unknown material that, suddenly, opened itself, revealing no less than an extremely long-haired man, tall as a mountain!

What in tarnation, is he an alien?, he thought, his legs shaking in fear while he was trying not to drop his shotgun, barely able to keep himself standing.

The strange man, dressed with a weird armour with pauldrons, gauntlets and boots, but curiously enough without covering his legs at all (he wore nothing but black underpants and a curious red band around his left thigh and a similar one around his left bicep), emerged from the spherical vehicle and looked around, apparently puzzled, as if wondering where he was. When he noticed the farmer, he simply smirked. The terrified farmer could see that the man was manipulating an odd visor located on his left ear, pushing some buttons, and what he saw in that screen clearly amused him to no end, because he stretched his smirk, turning it into a toothy, evil grin, the grin of a hunter who had just spotted his prey.

Hmm, it seems that that good-for-nothing brother of mine has failed, there are still people living on this planet, thought the strange man, consulting his visor. But it's nothing I can't handle. Look at that man's power level. Five? What a piece of shit. I hope it isn't the average of this planet or I won't have fun at all massacring them all.

Fear had dominated the farmer's will and shot his shotgun without even aiming beforehand. Despite that, the shot was perfect and he would have succeeded if not for the fact that the strange man had managed to grab the cartridge effortlessly. After that, he simply showed it to the farmer and gave it back to him… maybe with excessive strength.

'What a pathetic race, those humans!' declared the man, laughing maniacally, when the farmer dropped dead. 'So fragile, so weak, I can't stop laughing!'

Suddenly, the visor beeped and the maniac stopped guffawing just to start to shiver in fear, as if something had terrified him. He looked at the direction indicated by the device and saw her floating above a rock. A woman with short, shaggy hair, who wore an armour similar to his own, yet without the pauldrons and with a skirt made of the same material as the rest of the armour, her tail waving menacingly. He noticed she sported a curious halo floating over her head, but that meant nothing to him. There were more important matters at hand, such as the fact that he knew her, but not how come she was on that planet… or any other to any extent.

'So, you've arrived, just as I expected,' she said, approaching him without ever touching the ground, while glaring at him menacingly. The halo followed her as if it were attached to her head by a needle. 'Why did you kill that bystander out of the blue, I wonder? Any strategic advantage or merely because you felt like it? I'd bet on the second option though.'

It… it's not possible!, thought the man, trembling like a leaf, despite him being far superior to her in both height and weight; he dwarfed her about two heads. It can't be! She can't be here, she's supposed to be dead! She presumably died with the rest of the planet when that bloody asteroid fell upon it, dammit! Why on Vegeta is she here? What the hell is happening?!

'Surprised to see me, aren't you?' she asked, smirking.

'W-w-what are you…?' he asked, stuttering.

'…doing here?' she completed, showing a toothy grin for an instant, to turn it to an angry expression. She finally landed, placing herself just in front of him, and even when her shaggy hair could not even reach his shoulders' height, he recoiled, imposed by her powerful presence. 'Well, that's my line, you know. You're not supposed to come here, yet here you are. It doesn't surprise me at all, I knew this day would come, though I wonder why you've come. Besides, killing people is what you usually do when you meet them? You just killed him out of pleasure.'

'He shot me!'

'Ooh, he shot you, how inconsiderate,' she mocked, but in her face was nothing but anger. 'Only after you scared him shitless with your very presence. The same thing I'm doing right now to you, come to think of it,' she muttered to herself for an instant, but she focused and kept on. 'But anyway, it's not like he could harm you by any means at his disposal, but you killed him anyway, and that's why I'm here, to prevent you from killing more innocent people just for the evil of it,' her glare became even more threatening. 'Now tell me. What are you doing here, apart from killing that farmer? And I hope for your sake that your answer is satisfactory, I'm warning you,' she emphasised her words with a ball of energy emerging from her hand, as an ultimatum. 'Now talk.'

'Good! You've improved a lot, I'm impressed!'

'If you say so... we can't even hit you yet.'

They were in the training room for two hours already and they were still trying to connect a blow on him. Despite being five against one, the odds were still against them. Goku was simply too strong. They could not land a hit on him even working as a team, yet he was saying they were improving? Was he joking or what?

'Well, you have to get used to this room first,' said Goku, stretching. 'It isn't like the old one, you know.'

'You bet,' panted Bulma, sitting on the floor. 'And I thought I finally got used to this kind of training… I was clearly wrong!'

'Don't be so hard on yourself, honey,' said Goku, approaching her to comfort her. 'Working under a gravity five times stronger than Earth's is tough, that's why I told you to start with an easier task, only doubling it. This is your first day training like that.'

'By the way,' said Tien, his legs aching because of the effort, 'how did you come out with this training room? I mean, now I weigh more than five hundred kilos! How is it possible?'

'This room has a gravity regulator,' said Bulma. 'In other words, there's a machine that can alter the gravity of the room, so he can train under heavy weight without relying on special robes.

'I thought about the possibility of training under a stronger gravity after Goku got naked when he tried his last robes,' she continued and he laughed awkwardly. 'The fabric simply couldn't withstand the supplementary weight plus Goku's strength and it tore to pieces when he raised his energy.'

'I see…' muttered Tien. 'But that didn't happen when you were at the Tenkaichi Budokai, dressed like temple residents.'

'Because he was wearing special robes that weighed one hundred and twenty kilos, well distributed to prevent the breaking,' she explained. 'But when I tried to increase its weight…'

'Maybe if I put the clothes of the tournament on, you can match me, so we can train harder,' offered Goku. 'First I'll stop the automatic increment of the machine just in case it changes the gravity again or you might not even move.'

'Wait,' said Krillin, still trying in vain to stand up due to the exhaustion, despite the time resting. 'Are you telling us that the machine was increasing the gravity automatically?'

'Yes, we started with Earth's gravity,' said Goku, manipulating the machine. 'It increased it little by little until it reached twice Earth's gravity half an hour later, and after that the increase continued until it reached the current five times Earth's gravity. You didn't notice it because you got used to it while it was changing. You felt heavier and heavier and you thought it was because of the tiredness of the training, which is true, but it was also because of the increment of the gravity. Neat, huh? Bulma's inventions are the best of the best. Now let's take a rest, shall we? Come, I have some food here.'

While Bulma smiled shyly, blushing severely due to the compliment, Yamcha tried to stand and he noticed it was easy to move, too easy in fact, as if he weighed nothing. Surprised, he lifted Chichi up with extreme ease as well, more than usual, at the same time the others were standing with no trouble. What was happening now?

'Oh, by the way, I've altered the gravity of the room so that it's twice Earth's now,' continued Goku. 'In half an hour it'll reach Earth's gravity again. I did it to get used to the decrease of gravity.'

'I imagine why,' muttered Chichi, feeling extremely light. 'I weigh about one hundred kilos now but I feel like I'm floating.'

'Me too,' added Krillin. 'And the gravity's still twice Earth's? Maybe we've become stronger after all.'

They went to the improvised kitchen to fix themselves something to eat. It was within the gravity room, as they called that special training room, so the gravity was still increased. However, they were not noticing it any longer as they were eating as if they were at home, under normal circumstances.

'Mum? Dad? Are you here?' they heard outside, and the door to the exterior opened.

'My, it's heavy here.'

'Very heavy. I feel like I weigh a lot.'

'Hi, Gohan, Bura, you indeed weigh a lot now,' said Goku, approaching them. 'Is anything the matter?'

'There's a woman and a man outside, they want to speak with you,' said Bura. 'Seriously, dad, it's heavy here. How can you move so easily?'

'If you started to train, you'd move here easily too,' declared Goku matter-of-factly. 'Now let's go see the visitors, shall we?'

The twins nodded and went back to the entrance with some difficulty. They felt heavy, yes, but they could move with relative ease despite that and Goku noticed it. They even tried to run, but it was still too much and Gohan tripped, just to roll over himself and stand up as if it was second nature to him.

Not bad, good reflexes and good recovery, thought Goku, smiling. And that while they weigh twice the usual, despite not being used to it yet.

'We should start training them the sooner, the better,' he heard Bulma very close to his ear. 'They have talent and it'd be a pity if they wasted it.'

'Sure they have,' confirmed Goku, nodding. 'I'm sure they're having an itch for fighting, they're fifty percent saiyans after all.'

'Speaking of the Devil…' muttered Bulma, thoughtful. She had a bad feeling at that moment. 'Children, what do those visitors look like?'

They were trying to tell her at the same time, so they were hindering each other without noticing it, which was hilarious for the adults. However, there were two adults who were not laughing. Indeed, Goku and Bulma were whispering to each other, their heads very close so as not to be heard.

'You've asked because of those energies, am I right?' whispered Goku.

'That's right,' confirmed Bulma, serious. 'If the visitors are those two energies and they're hostile, we're fucked. They're too strong, especially one of them.'

'Are you listening to us?'

They jumped at the same time when they saw their children's faces right in front of their own. They were clearly surprised to see them so close, especially while still in the gravity room, because it implied the children had jumped to their arms weighing twice their original weight, and it was outstanding, especially considering that they were only four and with no experience in martial arts.

'We can't understand you guys if you speak at the same time,' said Bulma, hiding her surprise in a poker face. 'All right, I know what you're going to do. Bura, you'll describe the man and Gohan, the woman. Let's see your improvement in your communication skills.'

And they did it, but at the same time again, so the result was the same, one hundred percent rumbling and no understanding. And it was worse now, because they were shouting in their ears.

'Hey, guys!' cut Bulma, her ear aching. 'One by one, and keep your voice normal, okay?'

'Ok, ladies first,' decided Bura. 'The man is very tall and strong, with his hair black and extremely long. A strange armour covers his chest and shoulders, but he wears nothing but his underwear, giving him the appearance of a faggot if you ask me.' Bulma raised an eyebrow when her daughter said "faggot", while the others laughed. Where did she learn that word to begin with? Blonde Lunch did not visit them at all as a precaution. 'I felt uneasy when I looked at him though,' the girl went on, 'so I won't say that in front of him. However, the man seemed to be more uneasy than me for some reason. Maybe the woman was the reason, because she was looking daggers at him, as if she considered him bad or something.'

'My turn,' added Gohan, apparently interrupting his sister, because she pouted in annoyance. 'The woman, however, is very short, only a little taller than Krillin-san. Her hair is black too, like the man's, but short and shaggy instead. She wears an armour too, very similar to the man's but with a skirt that covers her underwear. She seems to be very tough, because the man was scared shitless for some reason.'

Scared shitless? Faggot?, Bulma thought, surprised, ignoring Krillin's protests about his height, as well as her son's apologies to him. Or they're visiting Blonde Lunch in secret or the TV is a very bad influence for them. Either way, I have to keep an eye on them.

'Right,' she said, worried, but still with her poker face in order not to alarm the children. 'And did you notice if they had tails like yours by any chance?'

'Yes, they have tails,' confirmed Bura, moving her own frantically. 'If they wanted to hide them by rolling them on their hips it was a very bad job as far as I'm concerned.'

'Oh, and both of them had strange visors on their ears,' added Gohan, pointing at his left ear.

'And she had a curious halo over her head, like a wingless angel,' continued Bura happily. 'So cute! I wanna have one too!'

'No, you don't,' said Goku categorically. 'That means she's dead.'

'If she's dead, how is she here?' asked Chichi, puzzled.

'Good question,' said Bulma, advancing again towards the entrance of the gravity room, with her children still sitting on her arms. 'I'm asking her right now.'

'I'm with you, just in case,' added Goku, following her, and the rest followed him as well, curious about those sudden visitors.

The long-haired man and the short-haired woman were still waiting in the hall for the owners of that humongous dome-looking house to arrive, where they finally happened to find the strongest power levels on that planet, in other words, the people they were looking for. She knew the planet was called Earth by its inhabitants, mostly because she had met a couple of them some years previous, but that information was not the man's business, at least for the moment, so she said nothing about that subject. Suffice it to say that she did not trust him at all, despite knowing him. In fact, she was restraining him from doing something they would regret otherwise.

When the owners of the house finally received them, the blue-haired woman gasped in surprise, just as she expected, but when she saw the man beside the bluette woman, it was her turn to gasp. She could not imagine that he could grow so much. The man at her side gasped as well, this time not in surprise but in fear, so she could recover her composure.

'Oh, Gine-san!' exclaimed the bluette, astonished yet thrilled, hugging her after she placed her children on the floor again. 'I wasn't expecting you! And who's that man?'

'Nice to meet you again, Bulma-chan,' said Gine, corresponding to her embrace, even though she considered that habit a little awkward. 'He's my disappointment of a son, Raditz, and—' she looked at him just to see him tremble. She sighed. 'What now?'

'F-Father…? You too?' mumbled Raditz, his eyes about to pop out of his skull. 'What—'

'Bardock's dead, baka!' spat Gine, smacking him. 'It's Kakarotto!'

'What?' howled Raditz. 'Impossible! He's almost as strong as me! And why hadn't he accomplished his mission yet? Why's he living with the humans?'

'Em… excuse me?' interrupted Goku shyly. 'It's not like I don't like you to be here, mum, but why are you here? Is something wrong?'

'What?' asked Krillin, astounded, and he was not the only one; his friends were as astonished as him too. 'Is she your mother, Goku? For real?'

'Krillin, you've seen her in the holograms,' deadpanned Goku.

'Holograms?' asked Chichi, confused.

'Yeah, but it's not the same as seeing her in the flesh!'

'Holograms?' asked Raditz too, recovered from the first impression. 'What's he talking about, Mother?'

'It was your father's idea,' said Gine. 'He had a vision of our future, a vision of our extinction, and he did what he could to prevent it. Bulma-chan, can we see the holograms? My memories are rather incomplete. Too much time in that hellish place I'm "living", y'know,' she added, remarking the word "living" awkwardly. 'I'd like to know more before I start my mission on this planet.'

She did not add she had only a day to accomplish it, though, even when Bulma and Goku knew that fact. Raditz did not have to know that either, considering he could take advantage of it to harm them.

'Of course,' accepted Bulma, guiding them. 'Follow me.'

'Mother, what are we—?'

'Shut up, Raditz,' spat Gine harshly.

Raditz was about to reply, but a single glare from his mother made him think twice. Goku observed the scene, curious, but said nothing, even though he took a note to himself, so to speak. It was obvious that his deceased mother was in a bad mood and he did not want to tempt fate. She was proving to be quite severe at least with his brother, and she was still much stronger than him.

About four times stronger, which is much less than the last time, but still... he thought.

Meanwhile, Bulma's friends were almost interrogating her about those strange visitors, especially the short-haired beauty who was, apparently, Goku and the man's mother. That meant that Goku and the man were brothers, something against any probability before that moment. In fact, that detail was the only thing about her that they knew, but the scientist knew her more deeply than she had told them. And the "subtle" detail of her being dead…

'She died along with her planet when Goku was a baby,' Bulma summarised. 'That's why he's here, as you should know, because he told you, didn't he?'

'Yes, but why is she here if she's dead?' insisted Krillin.

'Why was Son Gohan at Uranai Baba's place when we met him?' asked Bulma as well. 'He was there to test Goku. She must have a reason to be here too.'

'My reasons are mine,' intervened Gine, overhearing the conversation. 'First and foremost I need to refresh my memories and then I'll see what I must do.'

'Sounds good to me,' accepted Bulma, opening the lab's door and letting her visitors enter. 'Well, first rule, this is my territory, so I rule here, and that goes for everyone, no matter the species. Second rule, don't touch anything or you might blow the house up; there are dangerous chemicals here that can't be mixed by inexperienced hands. Now sit down, I'm showing you the holograms.'

Only Krillin and Goku among the current group there had visited that laboratory, so the rest of them got surprised when they saw the dimensions of the room, large enough to contain all sorts of machines, cupboards full of ingredients to do who knows what, and, above all, Goku's space pod. And there was still a lot of free space. Gine looked around in astonishment for an instant and then she commanded Raditz to sit down with a mere gesture. It was obvious that the long-haired saiyan was uneasy with that situation but he could not say or do anything to prevent it. She was watching him closely indeed.

'What're we doing here?' asked Bura, sounding bored.

'Yeah, we'd be better off playing with a videogame,' added Gohan.

'I'm showing you a film,' answered Bulma. 'The story of your grandfather. Your grandma and your uncle need to update their memories and I think you're old enough to understand what's going on too, children, so listen to the holo.'

And she switched the holomachine on, showing the first hologram, in which a wounded Bardock was explaining Goku who he was. That hologram was the first of a long list, in which they watched the whole story. The children were thrilled with the idea of being part of an extraterrestrial race and even Raditz, who was at first disturbed by his mother's commands, was now watching with great interest and Gine was frowning, clenching her fists with rage at the news.

'I-I can't believe it!' gasped Chichi, astounded. 'You guys destroy planets out of pleasure!'

'Sure we do,' confirmed Raditz with a smirk. 'And we get paid for that.'

'It's not out of pleasure precisely, young woman, at least I found no pleasure in it when I had to do it,' replied Gine, gritting her teeth. 'We're slaves, as you've heard, and even when we served Freezer well, he destroyed our planet anyway.'

'But I've been told it was an asteroid!' complained Raditz. 'How do you trust those earthlings?'

'I trust the earthlings more than I trust any soldier of Freezer, you included,' assured Gine, glaring at him. 'And above all, I trust Bardock more than any other person, and if he said planet Vegeta was destroyed by Freezer, planet Vegeta was destroyed by Freezer. Besides, that humongous red ball of energy that destroyed our planet wasn't an asteroid at all. Have you seen asteroids capable of decelerating?' Raditz shook his head. 'Me neither. I assure you it wasn't an asteroid. You weren't there to see it. I was, and it wasn't pretty. That ball of energy killed us even before the planet was torn to pieces by its explosion.'

'Well, if you want my opinion, serves us right,' declared Goku. 'I was sent here because you wanted me to destroy Earth, but I thank you for that though, because it's thanks to that that I'm here with my family and friends.'

'What're you talking about, Kakarotto?' spat Raditz. 'You should've taken all the lives of this planet long ago, but instead you've befriended them! Dammit, I thought you were a good saiyan warrior, not a sissy! I'm here for nothing!'

'No, you're not,' added Gine. 'You're here to know the truth of that day and to join me to fulfil our vengeance against Freezer. Because I'm sure you're not comfortable being a slave, right?'

'Of course not!' raged Raditz. 'But I'm a saiyan, I fight!'

'Well, considering your power level, you haven't fought too much,' deadpanned Gine. 'Kakarotto's almost as strong as you and he has fought for his life only against an enemy, as far as I know.'

'No, mum, I've been pushed to my limits on several occasions,' said Goku.

'But you haven't conquered any planet, you don't know the true flavour of blood, not like us,' insisted Gine. 'You know my story; you've just watched it in the holograms. However, Raditz has been forced to destroy, to kill, yet he's weak.'

'I'm not weak!' boomed Raditz, hurt. 'Why does everyone keep saying that I'm weak?'

'Because you're weak, Raditz!' shouted Gine back. 'A power level of 1200 is ridiculous for a saiyan, especially when you've fought on other planets! That was the power level I had when I was twelve! Kakarotto's not a warrior, he hasn't trained under extreme conditions of gravity or pressure like us, but he's almost as strong as you! And I'm not cut out for fighting and despite that I'm way stronger than you! I worked in a meat distribution centre, for cryin' out loud! What have you been doing out there?'

'You're not cut out for fighting, you say?' asked Goku, astonished. 'How can you say that, mum? You're terribly strong!'

'There are stronger people than me out there,' assured Gine. 'Believe me, I'm quite weak for a saiyan. Your father was, in my opinion, stronger than King Vegeta himself, and the king supposedly was the strongest of us all. If he had duelled King Vegeta, Bardock would've been the next king for sure. Despite that, he was massacred by Freezer's men, like any other slave, and effortlessly to boot! Well, we have to do something to balance the situation, and that's why I'm here.'

'And what can you do?' asked Bulma. 'You're not even alive.'

'She what?' asked Raditz, astonished.

'I'm not, but I've got special permission to be in the living world and teach you how a true saiyan fights,' said Gine, acting as if revealing the secret of her death was not a hindrance to her plans, only a mere inconvenience easily disregarded. 'From where I come, it's said that I could bring peace to the universe by training you, they trust me and that's why I'm here. I think you're capable enough, Kakarotto, and I haven't lost faith in you yet, Raditz, so let's get started. Let's go to a place where we can train without holding our strength.'

'Wait, now?' asked Bulma, while Goku stood up and Gine did the same while commanding Raditz to follow her.

'Bulma-chan, we have no time to waste,' insisted the female saiyan. 'Lead us, Kakarotto.'

Goku nodded and led the way out of the laboratory and towards the gravity room, while Bulma and the others looked at each other in disbelief. Nobody argued.

'Well, let's watch the rest of the holos, shall we?' suggested Bulma, shrugging.

It was the first night Bulma spent alone since she got married. She could not sleep at all, worried about Goku's life. She knew that he was strong, but she knew too that both his brother and his mother were stronger and more experienced than him and, even when it was a mere training session, they could hurt him really badly.

I can't stay here without doing anything, she thought, leaving her bedroom.

On her way to the gravity room, she heard Krillin snoring and sighed, wondering how Blue-haired Lunch could sleep beside him, smiling briefly in the process. She could not help it.

Cute couple, those two, and their daughter is even cuter, she thought, still smiling, but that smile faded too quickly, turning into a grimace of angst. I have a bad feeling, dunno why. I hope it's nothing, but I'm not sure. It's obvious Gine-san didn't bring Raditz here to pay us a visit or test Goku. She has ulterior motives to do so, and Raditz clearly isn't part of her plan, because she's in a really bad mood. She was rather relaxed last time she came here, but now she's nervous, always vigilant, alert to any noise. Something's wrong.

She crossed the gravity room's door and gasped in horror before dodging a ball of energy in the nick of time. Aware of Goku's intense training, she had built the room with nanotechnology, so it was able to reconstruct itself in order not to be accidentally hurt if it got broken, but she was astonished at how destroyed it was at that moment, despite the self-reparation. There were holes everywhere, some of them produced by the energy balls that were flying here and there, others caused by the impact of Goku's or Raditz's bodies when Gine hit them. In fact, both brothers were severely injured, yet still fighting as if they were trying to save their lives… and it was possibly the situation. However, the female saiyan stopped her "training" when she saw Bulma pale by the door.

'What on Vegeta are you doin' here, Bulma-chan?' she yelled. 'This is not a place for you right now, you could get killed easily!'

'I-I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep and…' started Bulma, still pale, but she suddenly got more confident and frowned, '…and you're nobody to bark orders at me, woman! Who do you think you are? This is my home! I rule here!'

'Wow, she has guts,' joked Raditz, trying to stand, but he was so wounded he could barely keep alive. 'Yelling at our mother like that…'

'You have no idea,' added Goku, who was not much better than his brother. 'But my mother's right, Bulma, you're in danger here right now.'

'Despite that, she has no right and…' she tried to move, but it was no use. She looked at the machine that controlled the gravity of the room, specifically at the screen, and got pale again. 'Dammit, Goku, why's gravity twenty times stronger than Earth? Are you guys crazy?'

'Wait, twenty times?' asked Gine back, astounded. 'I put it on ten times. No wonder moving here is so difficult.'

'And how much have you been training like that?' asked Bulma, still astonished.

'Around an hour, why?'

'Oh, Kami-sama!' screamed Bulma, terrorised. 'Disconnect the machine quickly, or we'll die due to the extreme pressure!'

'On it,' said Goku, moving with extreme difficulty, despite Gine's complaints. 'My goodness, it was escalating exponentially per tick instead of only arithmetically.'

'And?' protested Gine, her arms under her breasts, clearly upset.

'If it had risen again, it would've killed us all, even you, mum,' explained Goku, manipulating the machine. 'The gravity force would've risen to forty times stronger than Earth, too much for any of us.'

'What? How?' asked Raditz, terrified. 'I've never been on a planet with so much gravity!'

'Planet Vegeta had ten times the gravity of Earth, that's why I programmed the machine at that pressure,' added Gine. 'But I didn't know it had a function to increase the gravity force. Twenty times is too much already. Why did you design the machine to alter the gravity so much, Kakarotto? Are you crazy?'

'Actually, it was me who designed the machine,' said Bulma, trying to raise her hand, but even that move was a great effort. 'Taking into account that Goku must defeat that Freezer guy, and considering how strong you are, Gine-san, I thought he had no choice but training under a higher gravity.'

'How much can it reach?'

'Well, it easily reaches four hundred times Earth's gravity, maybe more, but I couldn't test it because I have nothing at my disposal that can resist so much pressure, so…' Bulma smiled shyly before sighing. She felt a decrease in the pressure of the room and tried to move, succeeding. Much better. 'Anyway, why are you still training? It's…' she glanced at the time in her watch and froze. 'What? Four o'clock? Gosh, I have to get up at six to go to the university!'

'But classes start at eight,' muttered Goku.

'Yeah, and I have to plan my timetable, classify my notes, order my ideas for the classes, not to mention making breakfast for certain saiyans with their bottomless pit they call stomach and…'

'Bulma, you have robots to do the homework,' interrupted Goku. 'They're probably doing it right now, while we're supposedly sleeping, and the breakfast is always ready when we get up.'

'Yes, you have a point there,' admitted Bulma, slightly more composed, but that calm was temporary. 'But my duties at the university are mine, right?, and here I am, at four o'clock, arguing with you guys because you're training under extreme conditions when you should be sleeping! You know what happens when you get overboard with your training, Goku!'

'He gets stronger?' mocked Raditz.

'Yeah, and he almost died a month ago, scaring my family shitless, and he had to be in the hospital for a week because we had no senzu beans at hand,' she replied. 'Does it ring any bell to you, Kakarotto?' she added, gritting her teeth at the last word.

'You're right, Bulma, as always,' admitted Goku. 'But now we have plenty of senzu beans, so we can get stronger very quickly.'

'And what do those beans do exactly?' asked Gine.

'They restore our strength instantly,' explained Bulma. 'Only a bean is enough to recover from almost anything. A mortal wound? No problem, a bean and the wound heals in a flash.'

'Why, if I had had those beans in my last mission…' muttered Raditz, astonished. 'But why are you telling us this, Bulma? You don't like me.'

'Of course not, you're a despicable man!' she spat, making both Gine and Goku laugh, while Raditz clenched his fists, but he could do nothing, lest he get killed by both his mother and his brother. 'But I'm sure you're trying to avenge the death of your planet no matter the cost, doing a favour to the universe at the same time by the way, and if you have to ally with us earthlings to do so, so be it. Am I right?'

'Yes, you're right,' grunted Raditz, after a deep sigh of resignation. 'Father opened my eyes even after his death, dammit. He knew Freezer was up to no good for my planet, but I joined his army voluntarily anyway.'

'And now you regret that decision, as I said you would,' added Gine, and Raditz nodded, sighing again. 'Well, you've been remarkably easy to convince that Freezer must be eliminated, more than I expected in fact, but I doubt your teammates would be so open-minded. I expect a fight to break up their resistance, so we need those beans, Bulma-chan, to surpass them so we can convince them to join us by force, because there's no other way with them for sure. Together we'll avenge our people and save the universe of Freezer's tyranny. Now I can see some light in the darkness.'

'I guess I have no choice in the matter,' said Bulma, sighing. 'All right, but I have a condition.'

'Which is…?'

'We'll train together, an alliance of earthlings and saiyans,' declared Bulma. 'That is, no aggression to any inhabitant of this planet, and it goes especially for you, Raditz. I know you're a saiyan, so you love killing, destroying and so on, but if you feel you can't control those instincts, you must go to a dead planet, go overboard if you have to and, when you're satisfied, come back. I won't allow killing any life form but the ones who attempt to destroy us, that is, Freezer and his crew, so save your killing instincts for them. Have I made myself clear?'

'I think the offer is generous,' pondered Gine. 'I gladly accept.'

'You're soft, Mother,' grunted Raditz. 'Strong, but soft, like Kakarotto.'

'Like mother, like son, I guess,' she shrugged. 'Well, your answer, Raditz?'

'Yeah, why not,' he muttered, but he was clearly reluctant and they knew it. 'I've become stronger spending some hours here than in my years of service to Freezer. Now I see my vengeance a little closer than before. Let's see…'

He touched his visor, which immediately reacted with some beeps, and Gine gasped in horror.

'Wait, your scouter…'

'What?' barked Raditz.

'You didn't switch it off, you dork?' roared Gine suddenly, furious, destroying Raditz's visor with a beam of energy that emerged from a fingertip. 'Are you nuts? We've been overheard for sure, baka!'

'What do you mean?' asked Goku.

'You don't know about the scouters, Kakarotto? You didn't test yours?' asked Gine, calmer, and Goku shook his head, puzzled. 'Good, you're by far cleverer than your brother. Should you have tested any of your scouters, Kakarotto, it would've shown you're alive and you would've been hunted by Freezer's men when you were still a defenceless kid.'

'Why?' asked Bulma.

'Because those scouters have several functions, among them sending radio waves to communicate ourselves. Anyone who wears a switched-on scouter…' she emphasised the words "switch-on" while she glared at Raditz, part of his ear bleeding because of the beam of energy, '…receives this signal and overhears any conversation. You've put us in extreme danger, dickhead!' she boomed again, looking daggers at Raditz, who was pale.

'I-I—'

'You what?' she roared.

'Easy, Gine-san,' said Bulma, trying to calm her. 'This isn't the end of the world.'

'It is, Bulma-chan, that's precisely why I'm so angry, dammit!' yelled Gine.

'Why?' asked Goku.

'Now I get it,' mused Raditz, crestfallen. 'They're likely sending now a soldier or two to hunt us down.'

'Exactly!' boomed Gine. 'And considering I'm here and they know about my strength when I was alive, don't be surprised if they send us Dodoria or Zarbon, or maybe both, to make sure we're annihilated!'

'Who're those?' asked Goku.

'They're Freezer's generals,' explained Gine, trying to calm herself. She was on the verge of tears, her fury degrading into angst. 'They're extremely strong, far stronger than I am. In my opinion, Dodoria's five times stronger than me, or even more. I have no chance of defeating him, and he's weaker than Zarbon. They can't kill me now, I'm already dead, but if they destroy my soul, I won't be here any longer and I want to visit this beautiful planet more often. Alas, that's right now a very difficult possibility due to the actions of my stupid son. Dammit!'

'But you're not certain that Freezer will send Dodoria and Zarbon, Mother,' said Raditz. 'In fact, it's more likely he sends Nappa and Vegeta instead, to make sure they're still loyal to him.'

'Ok, let's consider that possibility,' said Gine, depressed but still lucid enough. 'What's this, Bulma-chan?' she asked, puzzled.

'This is chocolate,' said Bulma, handing her some as she bit hers. 'It's food, try it, you'll feel better.'

She shared her chocolate with Goku and Raditz as well, but the reactions were different. Goku slurped happily and started eating it eagerly, while Raditz looked at it in puzzlement before tasting it carefully at first and as eagerly as his brother later.

'So good!' praised Gine cheerfully. 'Its flavour is strangely sweet, but I love it!'

'I know I can't sleep today, so I think this is as good a moment as any to get to know each other, and chocolate has antidepressant properties. You can get fat if you eat too much, but…'

'Excellent, I feel better now,' said Raditz, astonished yet amused.

'Good, now I can beat you to pulp because of your mistake,' added Gine conversationally, despite her words. 'Maybe if I beat you half the way to death you get strong enough to defeat at least Nappa, so I don't have to deal with him. It'd be suicide fighting Nappa and Vegeta at the same time.'

'Who're Nappa and Vegeta, mum?' asked Goku, talking and eating at the same time.

'Your manners, Goku,' grunted Bulma, poking him, but she took a peek at the gravity machine and paled.

'Ow, what's that for?' complained Goku at first, but when he saw her, he worried. 'Are you okay?'

'T-the gravity… it's ten times stronger… and I've just gone to the kitchen to get the chocolate without realising it…' she babbled, astounded. 'I felt heavy, but that's that.'

'And?' asked Raditz.

'Well, I've never been under such pressure!' she exclaimed, perplexed. 'We've been training at half this gravity before and I thought I was about to die, but now I'm walking as if ten times Earth were only five! What's happening?'

'It happens that you're strong, honey,' said Goku matter-of-factly. 'I knew you could resist this pressure. If you can fight at the intensity you fought weighing five times more, you can just walk with some difficulty weighing ten times more,' he shrugged. 'Now, mum, back to business. Who're Nappa and Vegeta?'

'Nappa and Vegeta are my teammates,' said Raditz. 'Nappa has a power level of 4000, while Vegeta has about 18000.'

'Yes, and taking into account that you had 1200 this morning, Raditz, we're doomed,' grunted Gine. 'I have approximately the same power level as Nappa right now and…' she gasped in horror. 'Wait, Vegeta has 18000? He's almost as strong as Dodoria! I can't believe it! How come he got that strong? His strength is exaggerated, even him being Prince Vegeta! We're in terrible danger!'

'Why?' asked Goku. 'We're now far stronger than this morning. I reckon Raditz has now about 2000 and I'm a little stronger due to my weighted clothes.'

'What? Nonsense!' spat Raditz.

'Think about it,' insisted Goku. 'We started training under a gravity ten times stronger than Earth's and we finished with twice the initial gravity without noticing it. And considering how wounded we are, if we eat a senzu bean, we'll be even stronger due to the zenkai.'

'I see,' added Bulma. 'If we train like you did tonight, with an hour per day we'd be as strong as Vegeta in about four months or so, I think. Well, not us earthlings because we don't have zenkai, but anyway…'

'You know,' took part Gine, 'if your theory is right, Bulma-chan, we might face Freezer in around a year, maybe two, without dying too quickly. I don't know how strong he is, but if we can keep this pace of improvement, we'd be able to defeat him.'

'And after defeating him, we could rule the universe!' completed Raditz, exultant. 'Great!'

'Nope, that doesn't fit in my plan,' said Gine. 'I won't change a tyrant for another, even if he's a son of mine. No way. There have been too many innocents who have died because of Freezer. I won't be part of that. If we kill Freezer, it'll be to save the universe from his tyranny.'

'But this isn't the goal of a saiyan, Mother!'

'But it's my goal, Raditz. Perhaps it's true I'm not a common saiyan, perhaps I'm soft as they said, but I want to live calmly and happily, fighting from time to time for fun, but without killing anyone. I don't want to die on a strange planet, fighting for a cause that doesn't concern me.'

'This is treason!'

'Maybe this was treason on Vegeta, but we're on Earth and this is the way I want to live here!'

'But you're already dead!'

'And your point is…?'

'If you're already dead, you can't live here or anywhere!'

'Gine-san, may I speak with you, please?' cut Bulma suddenly, indeed cutting the argument, because she grabbed her hand to drag her out of the room, but not out of that gravity force; it would have been extremely dangerous due to the difference in pressure. 'In private,' she added when she saw Raditz following them. A glare from Gine was enough to make him obey. 'Gine-san, do you want to live again?' she asked the female saiyan, whispering just in case, despite being out of reach. 'I mean for real, not a borrowed life like now.'

'What? You mean come back to life?' whispered back Gine, puzzled. 'Of course, but…'

'It's a wild chance, I don't know if it can be done after so many years, but I can try to resurrect you, only if you want, that is.'

'You mean it?' asked Gine, astonished, still with a low voice. 'Can you do that?'

'I can't by myself, but I might talk with some contacts,' said Bulma. 'You're not like the other saiyans, you're a good person and you deserve a second chance, I think. You lived miserably and your death was unfair, if you ask me. So…' she sighed. 'What do you think?'

Gine was speechless, so she could not help but nod in agreement, even when she saw the fact of coming back to life a long shot at best. Because, first of all, how would Bulma manage to do such a thing? Besides, what kind of contacts did she have to do so? Was Earth so advanced technologically speaking that they could resuscitate people out of the blue? They went back to training, but Bulma kept walking.

'Ok, keep training if you want, I'll be back in a short while,' said Bulma, leaving the gravity room, but without taking the precaution of letting her body be accustomed to Earth's gravity beforehand.

My, I feel like floating, she thought, grabbing herself to a wall to prevent herself from hitting the ceiling, or at least that was her first impression. She even felt sick for a while due to the sudden change of pressure. Now I know how astronauts feel when they go to space. I'm not leaving the gravity room without decompressing again.

But she got used to the gravity soon enough, against all odds, and left the house with a clear destination: Kami's lookout.

'Hello? Anybody at home?' she shouted when she landed on Kami's dominions. 'Sorry for intruding so late at night… or soon in the morning, depending on the point of view, but I have something important to ask for!'

She saw Kami and Mr Popo heading towards her, the god in front, as if he knew that would happen sooner or later, or so Bulma thought. Kami had a serene demeanour in his face and Mr Popo's face was completely stoic, as always.

'I know what you are looking for, Son Bulma,' said Kami calmly, 'and for the moment the answer is no.'

'Wha— Why?'

'Your alien friend still needs to do something in the realm of the dead,' said Kami, 'as well as the rest of you, so you can fulfil that suicidal mission of Son Goku's.'

'And that is…' replied Bulma.

'Going to the realm of the dead,' completed Kami.

'Y-you mean…' stuttered Bulma, now frightened. 'You mean dying?'

'Not necessarily,' said Kami, smiling. 'I can bring you there, but not before you pass a test of pureness of heart, as well as skill and resourcefulness. And take for granted that your friend Gine will not pass that test whatsoever, let alone that Raditz folk, of course, but she does not need to pass it anyway. In fact, only three people among your group might pass it, I reckon.'

'And they are…'

'Goku, Krillin and you.'

'My apologies if I offend your judgement, Kami-sama, but I think Chichi might pass it, as well as Yamcha,' said Bulma politely. 'He's skilled enough and he got much better at resourcefulness. And I've never seen a kinder person than Chichi, aside from Goku, of course.'

'But Yamcha is not as pure-hearted as he should, as well as Chichi is not as skilled as she needs to be,' replied Kami. 'You barely make the cut, in fact, possibly thanks to the residual effects of my willing possession three years ago. That test is difficult to pass, even in this moment of crisis.'

'Crisis?' asked Bulma, puzzled. 'You mean it's true that Raditz's companions have overheard our conversation in the gravity room?'

'As always, your instinct is accurate,' said Kami, and to Bulma that was a categorical yes, coming from him. 'They will be accompanied by other soldiers though, and those soldiers worry me even more than the saiyans. Earth is in danger.'

'Other soldiers? You mean those generals Gine-san was talking about? The ones stronger than her?'

'That I do not know,' said Kami, and he seemed sincere enough. 'Not even Uranai Baba could assure that, as she could not assure Earth's survival.'

'And about Gine-san…'

'She will remain dead for the moment; I can only say that.'

'But?'

'Very good,' praised Kami, smiling warmly. 'Yes, there is a "but", and it is that she might get her own resurrection if she keeps her current path of pureness. In some hours, she will return to the realm of the dead, and Goku, Krillin and you will accompany her, alive of course, as an exception, should you pass the test.'

'And what about Raditz?' she asked, worried. 'He's a despicable man, I don't reckon he would stay still while his mother is elsewhere, let alone with Goku and me. Gine-san's the only person who can control him. What if he takes the chance to destroy the planet while we're out?'

'I had not thought of that possibility,' muttered Kami, turning thoughtful. 'I need to think about it carefully. You will have my answer before Gine has to go back to the realm of the dead.'

'Thank you so much, Kami-sama,' she said, bowing at him. 'Shall I leave now? I'm starting to feel sick due to the lack of oxygen.'

'Of course, and not to worry,' said Kami. 'Tomorrow I shall have a solution, I promise. Go in peace.'

Bulma nodded and, after another bow, she left Kami's property with more questions than answers, but with hope.

The next day was crucial for Earth's salvation, and Bulma knew it. While Goku, Raditz and Gine were training severely in the gravity room, she was at the university, but with her mind elsewhere, so she finally had to take the day off. But she was not at her leisure. She used the day to look for her friends to warn them of the danger, and in an hour or so they were all gathered at Capsule Corp.

'Ok, guys, this is the situation,' said Bulma, after some explanations to the people who were not there when Gine and Raditz arrived. 'I've visited Kami-sama for some business with him and he told me that we're in danger, and by "we" he meant Earth. Well, the rest of the universe might have some hazards too, but first things first.

'There are some aliens coming to the planet in order to conquer or destroy it,' she continued, now that everyone paid her attention. 'Apart from the ones known by Gine-san, that is,' she added, and Gine gasped in horror. 'Apparently, our little conversation has been heard out there and some soldiers have been sent to punish you. I've been thinking about it and I don't think those soldiers are Nappa and Vegeta though, so we must be cautious and train the harder the better.'

'What makes you think so?' asked Gine.

'Well, Kami-sama told me so, and I can't help but agree,' replied Bulma. 'Besides, I believe that, if Nappa and Vegeta overheard our conversation, they might as well take part of it too, considering they're slaves just like Raditz. They would want to take revenge too, right?'

'Don't take it for granted yet,' warned Raditz. 'Vegeta's a son of a bitch, in my opinion, and Nappa's simply a brainless brute.'

'Look who's talking,' mocked Gine. 'But let's be serious,' she added quickly. 'The situation is grim. I can't stay here much longer, I have some things to do elsewhere, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Meanwhile, you must train as hard as you can to prevent the invaders from destroying everything. Freezer wants to destroy our race once and for all, Raditz, so you must join forces with Kakarotto and the earthlings to prevent it.'

'Why me?' asked Raditz, annoyed.

'Because I know about your homicidal instincts, Raditz, and I can't be here to take care of you,' she insisted. 'Listen, this is our only chance to get free from Freezer's tyranny, so don't throw it away with your brutish attitude. Save that rage for something more important, such as destroying Freezer's army. If you feel like killing someone, go to a planet controlled by Freezer and kill his soldiers. Is that clear?'

'Gine-san, I don't think this is the best idea…' muttered Krillin, awkward.

'Ok, enlighten me then, Krillin-san,' said Gine, frowning. 'Come on, give me a better idea, if you can.'

'She's right, Krillin,' opined Tien. 'Killing that guy's soldiers won't make our situation worse because it's bad enough already. In fact, the more soldiers he kills, the less of them would invade us afterwards.'

'Yes,' added Raditz, grinning evilly. 'That's another way to train, now I get it. That's how Vegeta went that strong, this is the only explanation.'

'But if you get injured, you wouldn't recover in one of Freezer's planets like him,' warned Gine.

'Crap, it's true,' he grumbled, clenching his fists. 'But I can recover with those strange beans, right? I only have to bring some of them with me when I feel like killing someone and it'll be fine. I wanna get stronger than Nappa and Vegeta at least, so I can make them pay for their insults. I'll show them I'm not a weakling.'

'That's not the mean goal, but it will do for the moment,' said Gine, sighing. 'We're progressing, I think,' she cleared her throat. 'Anyway… Raditz, trust your brother and train together or go elsewhere and train on your own, your choice, but don't kill any earthling or potential ally, got it?'

'Yeah, why not,' he mumbled. 'But I won't be soft with Kakarotto or anyone else, I'm warning you maggots. If someone challenges me, they will get hurt really bad.'

'I'll better get some senzu beans just in case,' muttered Bulma, sighing.

She was heading to one of the gardens when they heard the ring. The scientist sighed again and opened the door to receive the new visitor, but gasped when she saw who they were.

'Mr Popo? What are you doing here?' she asked, astonished, when she met no less than Kami's majordomo. 'I mean, it's not that I don't want you to come here, of course, it's just surprising…'

'Don't worry, no offence taken,' said Mr Popo, smiling. 'I have a message from Kami-sama to Gine-san.'

'I see,' said Bulma, still surprised. 'Come in, come in, make yourself at home. Feel free to ask for anything.'

'Thank you,' he accepted, crossing the door.

After closing, she took the lead and guided him to the living room. Then, and after ordering a robot assistant for some tea, she went looking for Gine.

'Gine-san, this is Mr Popo, the majordomo of the major ruler of this planet, so to speak,' she said, still a little nervous. 'Well, I'm leaving you alone.'

'You should hear about this too, Bulma-san,' said Mr Popo. 'The matter concerning that little crisis we're about to suffer has altered slightly. I mean, what Kami-sama thought there were some soldiers accompanying the saiyan invaders, it turned out to be… inaccurate.'

'Inaccurate? How so?' asked Bulma, puzzled, and Gine looked at them with the same expression, wondering what was going on.

'The saiyans who're coming here are being followed by other soldiers, but it seems they're not aware of that,' continued Mr Popo. 'That made Kami-sama think they're not on the same side, and that's why he changed his initial plan. Gine-san, your time in this world has come to an end, at least for the moment.'

'Yes, I know,' she said, with genuine sadness. 'I knew I would stay here only for a day, but it's been so short, and so focused on training instead of exploring…'

'Your self-imposed mission isn't over yet though,' continued Mr Popo. 'You must come with me to see Kami-sama. He will guide you to your next destination, once you leave the world of the living.'

'And that destination is…'

'I know not,' Mr Popo shrugged. 'I only know it's something concerning your future, but I'm not aware of the details, sorry.'

'My future?' she repeated, astonished. 'My, it's intriguing. But what about Raditz? I don't trust him and I fear for the planet's inhabitants. I'd like to visit it again, in better circumstances this time, so I can explore a little, and I'd hate to see it destroyed.'

'Your son has changed his attitude,' said Mr Popo. 'He won't destroy Earth any longer, as long as he's training and getting stronger. He has other goals now.'

'And I'm sure Goku will keep an eye on him just in case,' added Bulma.

'I hope you're right, Raditz is a psychopath and I fear for the earthlings' safety,' Gine sighed. 'Oh well… let's go, Mr Popo. I'm ready.'

Mr Popo nodded and unrolled a carpet gotten from out of nowhere, placing himself on it and urging the saiyan to do the same. Gine complied, puzzled, and both women gasped in surprise when the carpet suddenly hovered. After that, Mr Popo and Gine simply vanished from sight, before the astonishment of Bulma.

What was that?, she thought, dumbfounded.

And that's that for now. This way starts the part corresponding to the beginning of Dragon Ball Zed, with a lot of changes from the original one. I hope those massive changes don't affect the story, as well as the affluence of readers, too badly. Thinking in retrospective, a single change at the beginning of Dragon Ball has affected a great deal to the story, more than I had anticipated when I started writing, truth be told.

About moving the story to Dragon Ball instead of keeping it in Dragon Ball Z, I finally decided that I'll keep it where it is now. This part that starts now isn't different to the part I finished last year (28th December, to be precise), but it's more a continuation, so to speak. Thus, I think moving it would be for the worse.

So, about time travel (something that may or may not happen here on Filling Gaps, I still don't know), as long as you don't create a Time Ring, making it illegal to those super gods (e.g. the ol' chap Beerus), you can travel without any worries? Convenient, if I have an opinion about this. And interesting too, come to think of it. I have to study carefully the possible repercussions of time travel to my story, especially the exponential increase of its difficulty, so I'm unsure of including it, aside from Trunks's own travels, of course.

As for Chichi being with Yamcha... what to say? Yamcha can reform himself and stop being a playboy if he knows better. And the proof is at the top of the chapter. They even have a son, who could form a cute couple with Krillin and Bluette Lunch's daughter... perhaps. Oh, and Gohan having a twin sister... I have some interesting ideas for them later on.

Juu-hachi-go... aka #18... I have some ideas for Eighteen too, as well as for her brother, but we've got still a lot of time before they enter on scene. I can't even decide how to write their names yet, go figures...

Oh, and great idea, allying Capsule Corp with the Ox Kingdom. Maybe I'll consider it for the immediate future, especially concerning the new children and their education. And maybe there are more things to come from there. There are more children about the age of Gohan and Bura, right?

And technology, especially nanotechnology. I'll leave it there for the moment...