Claire sat against a wall, asleep, with her head on Vegeta's shoulder.
Vegeta had his arm wrapped around Claire and was leaning his head against
the wall behind him, lost in thought. It had been many years ago that
Claire found out from their mom that she didn't have the king as her
father. Shortly after then, Claire went on her mission and disappeared. Of
course he was angry and upset, and of course mournful, but he never showed
it. He loved her the most at the time, and when she left, he didn't care
about anything anymore. He also cared greatly about his father, but it was
his father.
He wasn't there at the time, but he had heard from other reliable sources that when she heard that she was an illegitimate child, she had broke down onto tears on the floor and nobody moved to help her. The servants couldn't, and their mother just watched with compassionless eyes. He guessed that now, whenever Claire saw somebody crying alone with everyone watching but not moving to comfort them that she had to help them. Call it a mental scarring of sorts.
Vegeta suddenly realized why his mother had been so calm when she told him of his sister's disappearance. To his mother, it had just been the disappearance of the last proof of her affair.
He felt Claire shift and unconsciously held her a little tighter. How many times had she held him like this when he couldn't fall asleep? Countless times.
Claire then sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, did I fall asleep?"
Vegeta put his arm back to his side and stood up. "Yea." He offered a hand to Claire and she took it. He helped her up and asked, "Hungry?"
Claire stretched her arms up and yawned. "Am I ever!"
Vegeta stood up and walked out of the lab, saying, "The woman and her mom probably made something."
Claire followed him out, wondering why he insisted upon calling Bulma "woman" all the time.
After clearing out most of the food, Vegeta stood up and cracked his neck. Claire stood up, too, and grabbed the jar of cookies off the top of the refrigerator just as Goten came into the room. Claire smiled. "Late today, aren't we?"
Goten grinned and took the jar. "Thanks, Aunty C!" He ran back to wherever Trunks was.
Claire put her hands on her hips and said, "They are so precious. Don't you think so, Vegeta?" She looked over her shoulder and saw Vegeta walking out of the room. Claire shook her head and whispered, "That's my little brother."
She walked out of the kitchen and, not knowing what to do, decided to check on Desdomina. When she walked into the lab, she saw Dr. Brief typing furiously at a computer, not noticing her entrance. Desdomina was lying on a metal table with cords connected to her, eyes closed, and lying very, very straight.
Then there was one cord that connected to the side of her head around the temple and it connected to the same spot on #16's head, who was lying on a table near her.
Claire grabbed a chair and pulled it up to another computer and turned it on. A small window popped up on Dr. Brief's computer and he turned around. "Oh, hello Claire. Didn't hear you come in."
Claire smiled. "Yeah, I thought so. I was just wondering if you needed help with anything. Last thing I heard was that your files were a mess."
Dr. Brief nodded and said, "Heh, that's only the tip of the iceberg. If you could work on some of my older notes, that'd be good."
Claire nodded and turned to the now booted up the computer and stared in disbelief. You couldn't see anything except for layers and layers of applications. "Man, this is one hell of an iceberg," she said.
Dr. Brief smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's just the desktop. There's also more in the hard drive. Uh, if you can find it."
Claire created a folder and put everything in there, looking for the hard drive's icon. "So, can I search for it?" Claire asked as she kept moving icons into the folder.
Dr. Brief, not turning from his work, replied, "I don't know what it's called. Bulma went through a phase when she was younger and she renamed all of the hard drives so we could tell them apart on the server. For example, I think the one on this computer is called 'Dolphin.'"
Claire shook her head, not even thinking of messing with the server, and kept moving icon after icon after icon into the folder.
A small, beeping alarm went off and a window popped up on Dr. Brief's computer that read, in big, red, flashing, capital letters, "GO TO DINNER!" He saved his work and said, "Looks like Bulma must've cooked something really good today." He looked over to Claire, who was staring at the screen, confused by the message. "She left a timed message on the server," he added. "I usually skip meals." He got up and pushed in his chair, and saw Claire still staring at the screen. "Oh! I forgot! You can't read our language. It says, 'go to dinner.'"
Claire smiled and nodded her head and closed the window. "I just want to thank you for loading up the translator so I can read everything. Well, except for that."
"No problem! Bulma loaded up a Namekian one also. She uses it to brush up on the language." Dr. Brief said and turned to go, walking towards the door. "Now lets go before Bulma comes."
Claire spun around in her spinney chair and saw #16. "Uhm," she pointed to #16, "So, can I unhook him from Desdomina?"
Dr. Brief nodded. "Just don't touch Desdomina."
Claire nodded as she went over to #16. She heard the door close as she leaned over behind #16's head and tapped his forehead, smiling. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"Hi! You want to join us for dinner? I know that you can't eat, but I bet they'd enjoy your company as much as I would."
What a strange girl, #16 thought. "Ok," he said. He closed his eyes again and felt her cold hands on the side of his head as she tried to take the plug out. It felt nice; he was burning up from working his hard drive so much without taking time to cool off.
Claire felt the plug dislodge and pulled it out. She closed the socket and said, "There! All done!"
#16 sat up and got off of the table. He walked over to the door and bowed slightly. Smiling as he opened the door, he said, "After you."
Claire smiled, too. So, she thought to herself as she walked through the door, androids have a sense of humor, too. As they walked into the kitchen, they saw Mama and Bulma hefting loads of food to the table, where Trunks, Goten (he was over so often no one really considered him a guest anymore), Vegeta, Dr. Brief, and, today's guests, Goku and his wife, Chi-Chi, sat eating.
Claire sharply clapped her hands a couple of times and said, "Trunks! Goten! What are you doing stuffing your faces? Help bring the food to the table!"
They looked up and smiled. "Aunty C!" They said in unison. They bolted up and flew at Claire, almost knocking her over. She looked up and saw Chi-Chi offering a chair to #16 while chatting pleasantly with him. Claire smiled and put the kids down. "Now, help us get the food over there!"
"Ok!" They zoomed around, picking up as many trays as they could carry and bringing them to the table. Claire helped, too, but calmer. She looked over and saw #16 taking the trays off of Trunks' and Goten's head, carrying the trays to the table himself. When Trunks and Goten felt the trays being lifted off their heads, they looked up and smiled. Claire smiled at #16 and received a smile in return.
Chi-Chi poked Goku and, once he looked up from his food, she said, "Claire and #16 would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?"
Vegeta stopped eating and glanced over at Goku and Chi-Chi.
Goku thought for a sec. "Yeah, they would."
BAM!
"OW! What was that?" Goku looked over and saw Vegeta eating. "You punched me!"
Vegeta stopped eating and looked over at Goku. "No, I didn't."
Goku looked all pouty. "Yes you did!"
Vegeta looked smug. "And what proof do you have?"
Goku pointed to his arm. "Who else could have made that bruise?"
Vegeta was about to answer when he felt a smack on the back of his head and turned to find angry looking Bulma. She said, "Eat!"
Vegeta grumbled and started eating again.
Goku pointed at Vegeta. "HAHA! OW!" He turned to see an angry looking Chi-Chi.
"Eat."
Goku started eating and glared over at Vegeta before forgetting what had happened as he gobbled down his food.
#16 had heard the earlier comment about the couple, while Claire only heard the aftermath because she had been chatting with Goten. #16 kept bringing the seemingly endless amount of food to the table. Trying to take his mind off of the incident, he wondered how these few people could eat all of this. When he looked over and saw multiple dishes surrounding Goku and Vegeta, and a few from Trunks and Goten before he arrived, #16 immediately understood. Sayins are amazing creatures, he thought to himself as he laid down all of the trays he had.
When he turned around, he saw that Trunks, Goten, and Claire had carried over the last of the trays. Then when he turned back again, Trunks and Goten had put one chair on Trunks' side and one chair on Goten's side, and Claire was waving him over from her seat next to Trunks. As #16 neared, Goten smiled and pointed to the seat next to him. "You get to sit next to me!"
#16 smiled back and took the seat. Once he sat down, Trunks and Goten began grabbing at all the food that they could hold and jamming it into their mouths, while Clair ate more in the fashion that Vegeta ate, slowly but still got it all down. He wondered if eating was really that much of a pleasure. But he would never get to know. Looking over, he noticed that Goku was slowing down a bit, as well as Vegeta. But, of course, Vegeta wasn't stuffing his face like Goku so it was hard to tell if he had really slowed down quite as much.
#16 sat, observing everyone for the whole dinner, learning and adding things to his data that weren't there before. Suddenly, it dawned upon him, where was Gohan?
Skimming through his data, he wondered whom he should ask. Goten would probably know. Looking over to Goten, then looking back to his spot on the table, he thought to himself, maybe I'll wait until he's finished eating.
Just then he heard an echoing voice say, "See you later, 16." He looked around and realized that no one else had heard it. Then it must've been Desdomina! He jumped off his chair and flew to the lab as quick as he could.
This blasted the table astray, and crashed it into the wall, splattering food on everyone. Trunks and Goten said in unison, "I didn't do it."
A scream was heard from Goku. He fell onto his hands and knees and began shoveling food off of the floor into his mouth until Chi-Chi kicked him. Goku looked puppy-eyed at Chi-Chi. "But the food! All of the food!"
Vegeta closed his eyes slowly and breathed in deeply, trying to control his anger as he wiped a hunk of butter off of his forehead. "Shut it, Kakarrot."
Just then, #16 burst through the lab's door and looked around.
Desdomina was gone.
Author's Note: doom music Oh no! Desdomina has run away! What will they do? Eh, they'll figure it out. goes back to editing and typing up another chapter or two
He wasn't there at the time, but he had heard from other reliable sources that when she heard that she was an illegitimate child, she had broke down onto tears on the floor and nobody moved to help her. The servants couldn't, and their mother just watched with compassionless eyes. He guessed that now, whenever Claire saw somebody crying alone with everyone watching but not moving to comfort them that she had to help them. Call it a mental scarring of sorts.
Vegeta suddenly realized why his mother had been so calm when she told him of his sister's disappearance. To his mother, it had just been the disappearance of the last proof of her affair.
He felt Claire shift and unconsciously held her a little tighter. How many times had she held him like this when he couldn't fall asleep? Countless times.
Claire then sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, did I fall asleep?"
Vegeta put his arm back to his side and stood up. "Yea." He offered a hand to Claire and she took it. He helped her up and asked, "Hungry?"
Claire stretched her arms up and yawned. "Am I ever!"
Vegeta stood up and walked out of the lab, saying, "The woman and her mom probably made something."
Claire followed him out, wondering why he insisted upon calling Bulma "woman" all the time.
After clearing out most of the food, Vegeta stood up and cracked his neck. Claire stood up, too, and grabbed the jar of cookies off the top of the refrigerator just as Goten came into the room. Claire smiled. "Late today, aren't we?"
Goten grinned and took the jar. "Thanks, Aunty C!" He ran back to wherever Trunks was.
Claire put her hands on her hips and said, "They are so precious. Don't you think so, Vegeta?" She looked over her shoulder and saw Vegeta walking out of the room. Claire shook her head and whispered, "That's my little brother."
She walked out of the kitchen and, not knowing what to do, decided to check on Desdomina. When she walked into the lab, she saw Dr. Brief typing furiously at a computer, not noticing her entrance. Desdomina was lying on a metal table with cords connected to her, eyes closed, and lying very, very straight.
Then there was one cord that connected to the side of her head around the temple and it connected to the same spot on #16's head, who was lying on a table near her.
Claire grabbed a chair and pulled it up to another computer and turned it on. A small window popped up on Dr. Brief's computer and he turned around. "Oh, hello Claire. Didn't hear you come in."
Claire smiled. "Yeah, I thought so. I was just wondering if you needed help with anything. Last thing I heard was that your files were a mess."
Dr. Brief nodded and said, "Heh, that's only the tip of the iceberg. If you could work on some of my older notes, that'd be good."
Claire nodded and turned to the now booted up the computer and stared in disbelief. You couldn't see anything except for layers and layers of applications. "Man, this is one hell of an iceberg," she said.
Dr. Brief smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that's just the desktop. There's also more in the hard drive. Uh, if you can find it."
Claire created a folder and put everything in there, looking for the hard drive's icon. "So, can I search for it?" Claire asked as she kept moving icons into the folder.
Dr. Brief, not turning from his work, replied, "I don't know what it's called. Bulma went through a phase when she was younger and she renamed all of the hard drives so we could tell them apart on the server. For example, I think the one on this computer is called 'Dolphin.'"
Claire shook her head, not even thinking of messing with the server, and kept moving icon after icon after icon into the folder.
A small, beeping alarm went off and a window popped up on Dr. Brief's computer that read, in big, red, flashing, capital letters, "GO TO DINNER!" He saved his work and said, "Looks like Bulma must've cooked something really good today." He looked over to Claire, who was staring at the screen, confused by the message. "She left a timed message on the server," he added. "I usually skip meals." He got up and pushed in his chair, and saw Claire still staring at the screen. "Oh! I forgot! You can't read our language. It says, 'go to dinner.'"
Claire smiled and nodded her head and closed the window. "I just want to thank you for loading up the translator so I can read everything. Well, except for that."
"No problem! Bulma loaded up a Namekian one also. She uses it to brush up on the language." Dr. Brief said and turned to go, walking towards the door. "Now lets go before Bulma comes."
Claire spun around in her spinney chair and saw #16. "Uhm," she pointed to #16, "So, can I unhook him from Desdomina?"
Dr. Brief nodded. "Just don't touch Desdomina."
Claire nodded as she went over to #16. She heard the door close as she leaned over behind #16's head and tapped his forehead, smiling. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.
"Hi! You want to join us for dinner? I know that you can't eat, but I bet they'd enjoy your company as much as I would."
What a strange girl, #16 thought. "Ok," he said. He closed his eyes again and felt her cold hands on the side of his head as she tried to take the plug out. It felt nice; he was burning up from working his hard drive so much without taking time to cool off.
Claire felt the plug dislodge and pulled it out. She closed the socket and said, "There! All done!"
#16 sat up and got off of the table. He walked over to the door and bowed slightly. Smiling as he opened the door, he said, "After you."
Claire smiled, too. So, she thought to herself as she walked through the door, androids have a sense of humor, too. As they walked into the kitchen, they saw Mama and Bulma hefting loads of food to the table, where Trunks, Goten (he was over so often no one really considered him a guest anymore), Vegeta, Dr. Brief, and, today's guests, Goku and his wife, Chi-Chi, sat eating.
Claire sharply clapped her hands a couple of times and said, "Trunks! Goten! What are you doing stuffing your faces? Help bring the food to the table!"
They looked up and smiled. "Aunty C!" They said in unison. They bolted up and flew at Claire, almost knocking her over. She looked up and saw Chi-Chi offering a chair to #16 while chatting pleasantly with him. Claire smiled and put the kids down. "Now, help us get the food over there!"
"Ok!" They zoomed around, picking up as many trays as they could carry and bringing them to the table. Claire helped, too, but calmer. She looked over and saw #16 taking the trays off of Trunks' and Goten's head, carrying the trays to the table himself. When Trunks and Goten felt the trays being lifted off their heads, they looked up and smiled. Claire smiled at #16 and received a smile in return.
Chi-Chi poked Goku and, once he looked up from his food, she said, "Claire and #16 would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?"
Vegeta stopped eating and glanced over at Goku and Chi-Chi.
Goku thought for a sec. "Yeah, they would."
BAM!
"OW! What was that?" Goku looked over and saw Vegeta eating. "You punched me!"
Vegeta stopped eating and looked over at Goku. "No, I didn't."
Goku looked all pouty. "Yes you did!"
Vegeta looked smug. "And what proof do you have?"
Goku pointed to his arm. "Who else could have made that bruise?"
Vegeta was about to answer when he felt a smack on the back of his head and turned to find angry looking Bulma. She said, "Eat!"
Vegeta grumbled and started eating again.
Goku pointed at Vegeta. "HAHA! OW!" He turned to see an angry looking Chi-Chi.
"Eat."
Goku started eating and glared over at Vegeta before forgetting what had happened as he gobbled down his food.
#16 had heard the earlier comment about the couple, while Claire only heard the aftermath because she had been chatting with Goten. #16 kept bringing the seemingly endless amount of food to the table. Trying to take his mind off of the incident, he wondered how these few people could eat all of this. When he looked over and saw multiple dishes surrounding Goku and Vegeta, and a few from Trunks and Goten before he arrived, #16 immediately understood. Sayins are amazing creatures, he thought to himself as he laid down all of the trays he had.
When he turned around, he saw that Trunks, Goten, and Claire had carried over the last of the trays. Then when he turned back again, Trunks and Goten had put one chair on Trunks' side and one chair on Goten's side, and Claire was waving him over from her seat next to Trunks. As #16 neared, Goten smiled and pointed to the seat next to him. "You get to sit next to me!"
#16 smiled back and took the seat. Once he sat down, Trunks and Goten began grabbing at all the food that they could hold and jamming it into their mouths, while Clair ate more in the fashion that Vegeta ate, slowly but still got it all down. He wondered if eating was really that much of a pleasure. But he would never get to know. Looking over, he noticed that Goku was slowing down a bit, as well as Vegeta. But, of course, Vegeta wasn't stuffing his face like Goku so it was hard to tell if he had really slowed down quite as much.
#16 sat, observing everyone for the whole dinner, learning and adding things to his data that weren't there before. Suddenly, it dawned upon him, where was Gohan?
Skimming through his data, he wondered whom he should ask. Goten would probably know. Looking over to Goten, then looking back to his spot on the table, he thought to himself, maybe I'll wait until he's finished eating.
Just then he heard an echoing voice say, "See you later, 16." He looked around and realized that no one else had heard it. Then it must've been Desdomina! He jumped off his chair and flew to the lab as quick as he could.
This blasted the table astray, and crashed it into the wall, splattering food on everyone. Trunks and Goten said in unison, "I didn't do it."
A scream was heard from Goku. He fell onto his hands and knees and began shoveling food off of the floor into his mouth until Chi-Chi kicked him. Goku looked puppy-eyed at Chi-Chi. "But the food! All of the food!"
Vegeta closed his eyes slowly and breathed in deeply, trying to control his anger as he wiped a hunk of butter off of his forehead. "Shut it, Kakarrot."
Just then, #16 burst through the lab's door and looked around.
Desdomina was gone.
Author's Note: doom music Oh no! Desdomina has run away! What will they do? Eh, they'll figure it out. goes back to editing and typing up another chapter or two