Chapter 3
When I ran I didn't feel like a runaway
When I escaped it didn't feel like I'd got away
There's more to living than only surviving
Maybe I'm not there but I'm still trying
Simmons held the dragon ball in one hand and an ancient book in the other. He kept looking at the orange sphere and then at the faded text. It described the exact same legend his great grandfather had told him 30 years ago. At first, Simmons hadn't believed the ball was genuine. It may have been some kind of trinket like those fortune dolls you saw in gift shops. To test it, he'd held it above his head and let it drop to the hard metal floor. Instead of shattering into pieces, as he'd expected it to, it had just landed with a small 'dink'. The legend had indeed said that these balls were unbreakable. And if the rest of the legend was true, there was no telling the possibilities…
He stood up and headed out the door of his quarters. Walking at a fast pace, he soon came to Coronal Jesper's office. He knocked smartly and waited. There was no answer. He tried knocking again, but still nothing. He opened the door a crack and peered inside. The office was empty.
He closed the door, a look of puzzlement on his face. The coronal rarely left his office and, even when he did, he always let Simmons know where he was in case of emergencies. Where could he be?
Down in the lower floors of the fortress, 17 and 18 climbed out of the small hole 18 had made in the floor and took a look at their surroundings.
"A place this big has got to have some kind of mainframe running it." Said 18. "If we can just gain access to it, we can find out where they've got Chiara." She looked at 17. "What are you grinning about?"
"This." Replied 17. "Kinda exciting isn't it? Reminds me of the old days."
18 rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Your girlfriend should get kidnapped more often." She muttered sarcastically and started off down the hallway. 17 followed quickly after.
"She's not my-!"
The sudden sound of footsteps caused them to stop in their tracks. 18 motioned for them to duck inside a door to their right. It turned out to be a broom closet. Two soldiers, with guns slung over their shoulders, walked past, talking about some baseball game they'd seen in the barracks. 18 indicated with her hand for 17 to stay put. She waited until the sound of the soldiers' voices had gone further down the hall then opened the door. Once she was sure they were gone, she turned back to 17.
"Coast is clear. Let's go."
The two of them started off down the hallway again.
"Why are we sneaking around?" 17 suddenly asked. "Why didn't you just snap those guys' necks?"
"Because they're not the bad guys here." 18 replied, giving him a frosty stare.
"What are you talking about?! They attacked Chiara and me for no reason!"
"People have developed a strong dislike for androids." 18 turned to face ahead again. "And I, for one, don't blame them."
"Oh, don't start the guilt trip again!" 17 exclaimed. "You live with humans for a few months, and I find you've turned into one of them! All whining and crying over something that happened years ago!"
"We wiped out half the Earth's population!" 18 tried to keep her voice low, but her temper was flaring.
"Only half? I was sure we did better than that!" 17 said with a smirk on his face. "And come on, even you can't deny you miss the thrill."
"Thrill!?" 18 was now in 17's face. "That is it! I take back all the things I said about you when I still thought you were dead! I told Marron that you weren't an evil person, that you were just a victim of circumstance! But you honestly enjoy hurting people don't you?! And if it weren't for that collar of yours, you'd be out there doing it right now! You're really nothing but a-"
"Bad guy." Said 17.
"More like homicidal psychopath!"
"No, I mean coming this way!" 17 pointed over her shoulder. There was indeed the sound of footsteps and a shadow peering round the corner ahead of them. 18 quickly looked around for a hiding place.
"Come on!" She grabbed 17's shirt just as the guard stepped into the hallway.
Simmons looked around. He could've sworn he heard voices coming from this way. But the hall was completely empty. Maybe it had been some of the troops having one of their sporting debates instead of patrolling.
The technician double checked the schematics on the screen. He was pleased with what he saw. The samples taken from the android had been integrated into the existing prototype and everything was running smoothly. He wondered what the coronal would have them do with the android now. Would he want it destroyed? Or did he wish to perform future experiments? Personally, he'd feel a lot safer if they just scrapped the thing now. But that wasn't his decision to make. Anyway, he had to go tell the coronal the good news.
He turned off the computer screen and left his office, making sure to lock the door behind him. Up in a corner off the office, a grating was pushed away from the wall and 18 swung her legs out.
"A computer. Finally, we're getting somewhere." She jumped nimbly to the floor and headed over to the technician's desk. Behind her, the top half of 17's body appeared from the wall.
"An air vent? That was your brilliant plan?!"
"What? It worked, didn't it?" 18 turned on the computer screen.
"Well yeah, but jeez, talk about cliché!" 17 slid out of the duct, landed with his hands on the floor and flipped himself onto his feet. He then joined 18 at the computer screen, peering over her shoulder. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
"17, if you can plan and construct a hundred replicas of yourself, all fully functioning and independently programmed, I think I can bring up the blueprints of this place on a computer!"
"Okay, touchy!" 17 crossed his arms and waited.
"Here we are." The plans for the floating fortress appeared on the screen. All of the rooms and compartments were marked clearly. The androids' eyes immediately went to the area marked 'laboratory'.
"I'll bet you anything, that's where they've got her." Said 17.
"Let's make sure." Said 18. She tapped some keys and another screen popped up. This one showed a camera's eye view of the interior of the lab. Sure enough, there was Chiara, tied down to a table in the centre of the room. There were men in white lab coats gathered around her. 18 could see that several of them were holding tools of some kind.
"There she is! Let's go!" 17 turned away from the computer.
"Hang on!" said 18. "They're not going to leave her unguarded. How do you intend to get in there?"
17 turned around to face her. There was a slight grin on his face.
"Your way."
Coronal Jesper sat in his hover chair, overlooking the final procedure on the android. He was in a viewing room on a floor above the lab, watching the scientists at work through a glass window. A soldier was standing beside him. The sound of the door sliding open came from behind him.
Simmons walked into the room, stopped and saluted, even though the coronal had his back to him.
"Coronal Jesper, sir!" He said. "I've recently discovered something that could be of great interest to you."
"Whatever it is, it will have to wait, Simmons." The coronal still didn't turn to face the man. "The final stage of our plan is about to commence."
Simmons looked at the dragon ball in his hand for a while and then pocketed it. He turned to leave the room, but then turned back and spoke again,
"Sir, permission to speak freely?"
Jesper remained silent for a moment, as if contemplating Simmons' request, but then nodded his head.
"Go ahead."
"Ever since you reunited the army, we've been working, non-stop, on a way to defeat these androids. Well sir, now we have a way. But instead of destroying them, you seem more interested in using them in this plan of yours. In all the years I've worked with you, you've never even told me this plan." Simmons voice took on a more authoritive tone. "I think I deserve to know."
Jesper sat in silence for a moment, and then his chair rotated so that he was facing Simmons.
"You're right." He said. "You do."
Jesper leaned forward in his chair. His hands crossed in front of him.
"Simons, do you know how long ago Gero invented the technology used to create these androids?" The look on Simmons' face implied a negative response so the coronal continued. "I've been doing some studying on the man, and it seems that he first produced this amazing technology some thirty years ago. However, due to the relative newness of this technology, and possibly the fact that he never told anyone about it, it took him a few more years before he was able to successfully complete his androids, and even then he was only able to build two of them." The coronal's eyes had a shine to them as he continued. "But, thirty years is a long time. Technology has advanced. I built this place to give us a sanctuary where we could develop our technology, safe from the androids' onslaught."
"Yes, and it paid off." Interrupted Simmons. "We now have the tools we need to defeat these androids!"
Jesper shook his head sadly.
"You don't yet understand, do you Simmons? Yes, we could destroy the androids, but it wouldn't stop there. You're still relatively young so you probably don't remember the saiyan attack."
"Saiyan?!" Simmons' eyes widened at this surprising bit of news.
"Yes. It was nearly six years before the android's arrived. Two aliens came from outer space. Saiyans. It only took one of them to completely wipe out the military unit sent to intercept them. The truth is that the whole Earth would've been wiped out, if not for a small band of warriors. Using powers, I didn't think could possibly exist, they defeated these aliens. I was so shocked by the emergence of these fighters and their incredible abilities that I did a little research into them. It turned out that one of those fighters was the same boy who had destroyed the Red Ribbon Army forty years ago. Three years later, he defeated King Piccolo, and then, three years after that, he vanquished Piccolo's son at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Do you get what I'm saying? Even if we do destroy the androids, they won't be the last threat to our planet. Something else will come sooner or later. That is why we must take steps now to be ready for whatever that may be."
Simmons just looked at his superior with puzzlement on his face. Suddenly his eyes widened in realization.
"You don't want to destroy the androids! You want to control them and use them in the army!"
Jesper chuckled slightly and shook his head.
"Gero himself couldn't control these androids, so what chance have I got? No, I just need the components that give them their incredible strength. Once they are successfully removed and duplicated," He nodded his head in the direction of the lab. "Then we can finally reintroduce the military to the Earth."
"With an army of robots?! Simmons couldn't keep the rage out of his voice. For ten years he had followed this man. Had obeyed his orders and went along with his every command without question. All in the hopes that one day they could defeat the androids and allow the people of Earth to live in peace once more. But now, he found that this madman wanted to create thousands of the blasted things!
"Now, Simmons." The coronal was talking in the tone you'd use with an angry child. "I was hoping you'd be able to see the bigger picture. With the technology these androids have inside of them, there'd be no telling what the human race could achieve." A smile came to the old man's face. "You could say these machines are a blessing in disguise."
"Blessing?!" Simmons nearly shrieked the word out. "These androids are demons from Hell! They cause nothing but death and destruction and no good can come from them, ever!"
Jesper looked Simmons in the eye. It was obvious the commander wasn't going to back down. He sighed sadly.
"Somehow I knew you'd feel that way." He nodded to the man next to him, who turned to face Simmons. And, before Simmons could react, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
Simmons fell to the floor without a sound. As he landed, the dragon ball slipped out of his pocket and rolled to the soldier's boot. He bent down and picked it up.
"What's this?" He asked, looking towards Jesper.
"It is of no concern." The coronal answered dismissively. "Kindly take Simmons' body down to the infirmary morgue. We'll see to it that he gets a decent burial at a later date."
The soldier went to follow his orders, when suddenly an alarm sounded out. Jesper pressed a button on his chair and a small screen opened up before him. It showed 18 pulverizing some soldiers in the weapons hold. He quickly turned to the gunman.
"Get the troops down there! And take the binders with you."
The man saluted and dashed out the door, dropping the dragon ball on the floor.
Jesper looked at the screen again. The android had knocked out the last of the soldiers and now turned her attention to the weapons hold. Raising her hand she let loose an energy wave. A small one, but still enough to obliterate everything in the room. Jesper let loose a growl of frustration. That room had held their main cache of binders. There were still some intact. Those were the ones now being carried by the troops on their way to intercept the android and the one he kept beside him in his hover chair.
Suddenly, he realized something. The android Simmons had captured was female, but so was the one he was watching on screen right now. Simmons had been positive that the android that had been with the red-headed one was male. Every eye-witness account that Jesper had managed to find over the years had said the same thing. That there were two androids, a male with black hair and a female with blonde hair.
If the blonde female was the one he was watching now, and the male had gotten away… Jesper looked down into the lab at Chiara. Then who was that!?
17 smiled as he watched the guards outside the lab run off to obviously follow orders to get 18. And she said he never used his brain!
Once he was sure they were gone, he leapt out from his hiding place. The blueprints of the fortress had shown him an air duct that led right to the laboratory. He now landed in the centre of the laboratory and aimed his palm at the nearest group of scientists. Of course, it was just an empty gesture. He couldn't fire any energy waves, but they didn't know that!
"It's clear that you people have been doing your homework on 18 and myself. So you know it's pointless to try and fight me. I'm talking to you." A man who'd been standing behind 17, and reaching for a gun under the table he was leaning on, froze when the android's eyes were suddenly upon him. "Don't bother. You'd be dead before you could pull the trigger. Now get over here."
The terrified man reluctantly complied. Once he was close enough, 17's hand shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt. He pointed to the table where Chiara lay.
"You're going to deactivate those things you've put on her, then you're going to open those." 17 now motioned towards the locked laboratory doors. He decided it best not to give the man time to wonder why he needed the doors unlocked. "And if you do all that in the next 30 seconds, I won't punch a hole through your head."
The man quickly ran over to a control console and pressed some buttons. The glow disappeared from the binders on Chiara's arms and legs. As the man rushed past him to unlock the doors, 17 smirked. The human simpletons had bought his act hook, line and sinker.
'And the Oscar goes to …' He thought to himself as he walked up to Chiara. But, once he got a good look at her, the smirk disappeared.
Various parts of her body were bandaged up, but 17 could still see some blood seeping through. He looked at the small table that held the equipment the doctors had been using. There were some sample trays laid in a row and each of them had a label on it. 'Blood', 'muscle', 'skin', 'hair', 'bone'.
The men and women in that room were lucky that 17 was unable to fire energy waves anymore. Because, if he was, he would have blasted everyone in that room right there and then.
He pulled the binders off of Chiara and picked her up. He turned towards the door, but suddenly a voice came out of a speaker in the wall.
"Hold it right there!"
Jesper turned on the light in his observation room so that 17 could see him.
"I'm afraid I can't just let you walk away with that." He pointed to Chiara. "But this does however provide an opportunity."
He pressed a button on the panel in front of him and a hole opened up in the floor, in front of 17. Out of it, rose a tall metal cylinder. Part of it slid away to reveal a human-shaped figure inside. The being stepped out and stood to attention as the cylinder disappeared back into the floor.
It looked like a man, but its' skin was silver and shone like metal.
17 smirked and called up to the old man,
"An android? You think you're the first mad scientist to try that trick?!"
Jesper chuckled,
"Of course not. You should be flattered to know that this prototype has been integrated with samples taken from your friend there." He pointed again to Chiara. "He should have all her strength and speed. And, as it just so happens, I was thinking of how we could test his power."
All the scientists in the room had taken this opportunity to escape through the lab doors and lock them behind them. It looked like 17 wasn't getting out that way. He looked at the android, still smirking.
"Well then, I guess it's time to see how a copy does up against the real thing."
He put Chiara back on the table and stepped towards his opponent. The thing just stood, still as a statue, its' arms down by its' sides.
17 charged at his target, throwing a fist straight at its' head. The fist hit nothing but air. Before 17 even realized the android had moved, he felt a sharp pain in his back and was sent flying into the opposite wall. His face impacted with the hard surface and he stumbled back, just managing to stay on his feet.
He turned around to face the robot again. Its' expressionless face didn't give away any emotion, but 17 could see the old man up in the observation room. He returned 17's gaze with a smug, knowing smile.
'Okay. I now officially hate all scientists!'