Disclaimer: No DBZ is owned by me. *Tra-lala*

Hey!

The inspiration for this came suddenly and was quite unexpected. I'm already juggling at least four other fics, but this idea just popped up and I felt I needed to get it out. So here I am. I might end up taking this down, I'm really not sure. This first installment sort of introduces the characters and backdrop. Oh well, enough of my babbling.

Ciao!

Summary: Slight A/U: Cell is on the hunt for the androids, his Perfection looming on the horizon. But his plans are detoured slightly when he meets a human woman, a respected nurse, who seems to have even less soul than he...

Synthetic

Installment 1

"Miss Iakes!"

The woman to whom was being addressed paused abruptly. She was rather simple looking, for a woman of that day and era. Her hair was cropped short, idly curling in to frame her rather angular face. A simple braid was plait down the back of her cinnamon brown hair. To one observing this woman, they would no doubt take in her dark, forest-green eyes that often held a faraway glaze within their depths. Her skin was neither pale nor tan, but hovering idly along the line of light and dark. Her shoulders were slightly broad though her figure was slim, absently curving out to form hips attired in a white nurse's skirt. She looked to be in her twenties, though it would be difficult to tell her exact age. She was clothed in doctor's dress with a simple blue ribbon tied on her collar and a name tag pinned to her chest, which read "Miss Urami Iakes" in bold print.

"What?" the woman responded, her voice low and stoic. It was as if she was just exiting another series of boring events throughout the day, only to look forward to a boring evening at home.

The man whom had addressed her stumbled to her side. He was also clad in doctor's attire, with a simple white coat that reached beyond his knees. Black-rimmed glasses framed his broad, lined face as faint white hairs streaked his head of otherwise black hair.

"I need to know-" the man breathed hastily, "-If you finished those papers-"

"Yes," the woman replied, a little snippily. A little more softly, she continued: "I placed them on your desk."

The aged man chuckled in slight embarrassment, the name-tag pinned to his chest flashing the name "Dr. Morte Juran" in bold print. "Well, I was all worked up over nothing..."

The woman said nothing at first, idly glancing around the sitting area of the hospital she worked at- and admiring the lovely flush maroon carpet and hunter green seating furniture- before asking, "May I go, Doctor?"

Dr. Juran scratched his head, grinning sheepishly as the lines along his face crinkled. "Err--yes, sorry for keeping you, Miss Iakes."

"Urami."

"Oh, right," the man corrected himself. "Miss Urami."

The woman nodded mechanically, before the clicking of her high-heels against the exiting marbled floor, and the sound of the door opening and closing with a slight click, signaled she had gone.

-_-_-_-

The sky was growing dark, the clouds were signaling it was going to be an overcast night. The stars were just beginning to brim along the vast stretched of darkening sky. But the lights of the busy city made it very hard to see them, unless you looked very hard.

But Urami was not paying attention to the stars, nor the lights, nor even the people bustling by her. Cars zipped past the streets and people were hurrying along the sidewalk, leaving work and heading home for the night. The smell of coffee from a local cafe wafted past Urami's nose. For a moment she pondered stopping and just relaxing with a mug of coffee herself, but she decided against it. Clenching her simple black purse to her side, she ducked her head and continued to hurry down the sidewalk herself. It was predicted to rain tonight, and she didn't want to get caught out in that.

For the seventh time that week, Urami cursed the dress code she had to abide by. Her high-heels were making her feet sore, her clothing was all white and caught stains so easily...her skirt was itchy, it caused too much attention to be drawn to her by the male population...

So caught up was she in her own thoughts, that it took a split second before she realized a very tall, broad and brute-looking man had come to a halt right in front of her. She looked up just in time and came to a dead stop, quickly taking in his leather pants, black shirt with a skull etched across it, and torn leather jacket. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, a beard beginning to grow along the sides of his face.

Trouble.

"...Excuse me."

The man, obviously unaware of Urami's request for him to move, continued to stand there.

Growing agitated, the young woman breathed a hefty sigh. Loosening her wrist, she idly blew a few hairs out of her face with a puff of air and looked up to meet the stranger's eyes. "You're going to take my purse now, aren't you?"

This statement caught the burly man off guard, his muscles tensing in reaction. "...Maybe." His voice was coarse, ill-mannered.

Urami sighed out of her nose and held up her simple black purse, her lips puckered in slight annoyance. "Then take it."

This gesture left the thief perplexed, and with his slanted obsidian eyes he scanned the area around them. People were walking by on all sides, some were even glancing at he and this woman--and this very woman was offering him her purse! He had every reason to be suspicious.

"What's in it?"

Urami frowned slightly, arching an eyebrow.

"What you usually find in a purse. Cosmetics, a few miscellaneous items."

The man gave himself a few more seconds to process that information through his mind. Then, at a spur of the moment decision, he snatched the purse right out of the woman's hand and bolted.

Urami blandly watched the man go, and was still watching his illumination of a shadow disappear down the alley to her right. A few raindrops were falling; that was obvious by the slight 'tnk, tnk' sound of the water falling off the roof of the abandoned office building beside her as it hit a dumpster below.

Urami was vaguely shaken from her almost zombie-like state by a young woman who had stopped beside her, dressed in comfortable clothing with a jeans and a simple blue blouse. "Miss, did that man just take your purse?!"

Urami glanced down at her slender hand, which was beginning to hurt slightly from the force of the purse being snatched from her fingers. "...Yes."

The other woman stood perplexed, then shook her head, a few stray raindrops falling onto her curly head of hair. "I'll call the police!"

Urami looked up to meet the woman's gaze, and shook her head. "No...no need. There was nothing important in it."

"But-"

Urami shifted a light smile onto her lips. "Don't worry about it."

The woman bit her lip, confused at Urami's odd behavior. "Oh...alright. Whatever you want."

Urami said nothing in reply, but did allow her hand to drop by her side.

"Well...I've got kids to go home to. I really must go...goodbye!" With that, the passing woman brought a newspaper over her head and raced down the sidewalk as the rain started to come down in a light haze.

Urami watched the woman go, before she, too, began to head home at a mediocre pace. The rain was coming to the earth now, she didn't have a newspaper to keep it off of her. Brushing her hair behind her ear with a hand, Urami took a deep breath and exhaled. Her white attire was going to be dotted with wet droplets, that was for sure...and her high-heels still hurt her feet. And she no longer had her purse. But that was okay, she hadn't had that much money inside of its pockets in the first place.

Some would think Urami's behavior strange. But Urami didn't think quite so--she lived by logic. And by logic, that man would have acted in aggression if she had decided not to give him her purse. And if you added that into the equation, then it would be interminable that she would have gotten hurt in the process. So why fight something, when you can find a much simpler way out?

Some people let their thoughts wander beyond the bonds of reality. Urami confided within reality's cage. She rather detested daydreamers, and with her attitude she had little friends at work. Urami was a respected nurse, working full-time and could be called at any moment to report back to her job. But she did her work well, and that was all that mattered. Waking, going to work, coming back and sleeping. That was her routine. Sometimes Doctor Juran attempted to talk with Urami--as he had tried today--but Urami simply did not like people. In fact, she rather despised people.

But oh well. That was not for people to know, right?

-_-_-_-

Lethe as shadow.

Quicksilver, fluid motion. Not even a sound.

He even impressed himself, sometimes.

Android #21, less formally known as 'Cell', crept silently along the tops of the buildings. The rain provided excellent camouflage from the pedestrians below, who were oblivious to him even being there. The sky was growing ever darker, casting shadows along the sidewalks and busy roads. Blinking lights of the city, from various signs and advertisements, were being turned on as night came. He had to be careful about his shadow, to make sure it never swept over the ground. So he stayed clear of all the lights that could possibly endanger his current position.

"Oblivious..."

Cell sat, hunched over the top of an old apartment. The darkness made his physical form difficult to see, except for his two slanted, cunning eyes that flashed a light ruby when they caught light. He currently inhabited his Imperfect Form...and would only be able to achieve his next form, and eventually his Perfect one, once he absorbed his two life-supporters...Androids 17 and 18.

He knew they were well alive, even at that current moment in time. And he knew the Z senshi...all of those blasted fighters, were looking for the Androids. To fight them, and destroy them.

But they didn't know about him. No, not yet. Well at least, they didn't know that much about him. Cell had already attacked two towns, leaving only empty, billowing clothing in his wake. No one knew what had caused the vast massacre of human life, as far as humans were concerned. Only speculation. And Cell knew the Z fighters were more than a little edgy right then with this new, looming unknown threat that Cell had introduced himself as when he had spoken with Piccolo some days before. But Cell would let them continue to guess, until the time was ripe to make his presence...his fighting potential known...which would be soon. But not yet.

Right now he was going to collect more energy from the unsuspecting humans. But first he would have to scout out this town. He fancied scouting out the town and surrounding areas, so when he did begin his first phase of attack--and if word spread quickly that the Monster of Nicky Town was there--some humans might manage to escape. And Cell couldn't allow that to happen. So he had decided to check all available exits that a human could possibly take, and get a good estimation of how large this town was and how much it was worth attacking.

It had turned out to be fairly large, which was good. Not a lot of places for humans to hide, so far. That was even better.

He began to slink along the rooftops again, his lengthened tail idly waving behind him, as if it possessed its own will. He checked his motion, to make sure his claws made no noise. The rain was coming harder now--he could fill it softly sprinkling on him, streaking down his armor and skin. He didn't particularly like the rain, and he would probably go off in search for somewhere drier after this was over. He's probably save his hunt for the morning, when it would be easier for him to see and get his task done. And it would be easier for the humans to see him. It was always better when they could see him as well...they had a tendency to scream. And the screaming was very exhilarating, for a hunter. Though after a while it did get redundant.

Ah yes, a hunter...

Cell liked that term.

A/N:

Good beginning? Bad beginning? Feel free to drop a line. Ja ne!