Day after day, month after month, he searched. Using the maps to the best of his ability, he explored every single construction site, outpost, base, manufactory, supply depot, and office in the tropical regions.
Unsurprisingly, most of the places he visited were abandoned, left to crumble as the wilderness slowly assimilated each back into itself. As for the few that weren't, they were always small, housing no more than a dozen old scruffy guards too stubborn to leave their posts when they heard the army was no more.
But as time went on, and he cleared more and more of the bases with nothing to show for, he began to believe he wouldn't gain anything from these maps. A belief that soon became fact as he had explored the last base in the region and sadly, found nothing of value.
He had been thinking about this moment for a while, he thought he'd feel some enormous sense of helplessness. An acceptance of defeat and of the task that had been laid before him being too large to handle. But he didn't. In spite of everything he'd been through, he felt hope.
To him, it didn't matter if he needed to search through thousands of kilometers of jungle or spend hours staring at the map he had sprawled across his cabin's dinner table. He'd do it because he knew that Gero could be saved. He knew that all it would take to bring him into the light was the memory of one person, his son; and no matter what, no matter how long it took, Gohan was going to bring him back. He needed to bring him back.
He needed to redeem Gero not only to help him but to prove to himself that, despite how similar the two were, in terms of their prolonged suffering and loneliness, he was different. That he could take his pain and regret and use it to help Gero rather than let it define and destroy him like it did the old man.
And over the next two years, he maintained that belief. He started in the west, clearing out the mountainous jungle south of Korin and the Red Ribbon base, gradually making his way east, to flatter land.
Diligently, he covered his map in grey, marking every inch of land he covered as cleared and eating away at the remaining white, even working well into the night to squeeze a little more progress out of the day. Most of the time he actually had to force himself to stop searching, despite how much he didn't want to. He knew he could only go so long without sleep before collapsing and it was better to do that at the cabin than out in the wilderness.
When he slept, his dreams were usually comprised of the same nightmares that had been plaguing him for the past four years, and somehow they never got any easier. He'd see his father and everyone he loved die again and again and again. Always with those figures hiding just out of sight, watching him.
It was good he never was asleep too long. He never really had enough time to think about them, or Goku, before getting to work for the day.
That was, until the first day of the Twenty Third World Martial Arts Tournament.
He tried to start off the day like he would have any other: By sliding off his mat, getting dressed, and finding something to eat. But almost immediately, the significance of the date became too much to ignore. He sensed his father's presence hundreds of miles away. He was happy to reunite with Krillin, Master Roshi, Tien, Bulma, and all the others after his three years of training with Kami; but, Gohan could feel his deep inner longing to see his old friend Jack above all else.
Pacing along his cabin's creaky floor, Gohan watched over his father's ki during the morning hours, sensing it become uneasy and focused when he met the new Piccolo for the first time. He even felt a little excitement come from him as he watched Piccolo fight in the preliminaries and gauged his capabilities.
But soon it became too hard for him to watch. He couldn't stand thinking about Goku without feeling the urge to fly over, get on his knees, and beg for forgiveness. He actually needed to stop himself from doing it a few times by envisioning the heartbreak his father felt at the lookout. He could never do that again. He refused to ever do that again.
What he needed was a distraction. Something else to focus on. So he slung his satchel over his shoulder and flew out to his latest patch of land he'd been clearing and, by happenstance, it was to be some of the last.
Over the past three years, he had meticulously searched all of the world's jungles, swamps, mountains, marshes, and valleys that surrounded the equator. Now all that was left were these last few kilometers of jungle, located on the furthest portion of the eastern hemisphere.
He surveyed above the land with relative ease, and spotted nothing out of the ordinary, although he knew that didn't mean much. The forests were so thick he could hardly see through the treetops. He really only ever did these flyovers because if there were any features of Gero's base sticking through, it would save him the trouble of doing the ground search.
Flying back to his starting point, he put away his larger map of the globe in favor of a smaller map specific to this region. He did this so that while he walked through the land, he could color in the one-kilometer squares as he cleared them.
Dropping into the forest below he entered a world of ancient trees covered with thick green vines, accompanied by an array of different ferns and bushes. In one hand he held his map and with the other, he pointed to his left.
"East is...that way." He stopped and swung his hand to his right once he got a better look at his map. "No...that way."
So, just like he had hundreds of times before, he started methodically checking the jungle floor. Like a printer, he went line by line until he was sure one square was empty before systematically taking ten steps to his right and beginning again.
In total, there were four hundred square kilometers to go through but over that first day, and the beginning of the next, he began to notice something strange. He'd been hearing the coo of a bird consistently and despite his best efforts, he just couldn't find it anywhere.
Taking one more half-hearted glance around for it and finding nothing, he decided that maybe it was time to put the map away and scare it off so he could focus. Closing his eyes, he felt out for the bird's energy, but he couldn't sense it. Though that wasn't much of a surprise, birds can often slip off the radar due to their incredibly low power levels, especially when they aren't flying.
Perking up his ears, he drowned the ambient sounds of the jungle out and focused primarily on that coo. He followed it until it sounded like it was hanging somewhere close in front of him, on some branch of a nearby tree.
He stood still, gazing up into the long arms of the trees hoping to spot the little thing when he felt a few painful bites on his ankle. Quickly grabbing his foot, he flew away from the ground and swiped ten or so army ants off of it.
Still floating, he looked down at the long line of ants. They were marching, probably off to some source of food they'd found near the colony. Getting a little closer, he watched them, utterly fascinated by their collective agreement to move forward and towards their next hunt. He followed their line with his eyes, watching them march onwards until, impossibly, they began to disappear.
He neared their point of disappearance and watched the ants move forward. They were on solid, mossy ground with no cracks or crevices, and yet, when they moved forward, they completely disappeared.
Suddenly, he felt some excitement, curiosity, and unease all at once. Why was it at this spot in particular the ants suddenly go invisible? What was it about that point that made them vanish?
He lifted his hand near the ants and moved it towards the moss. He watched his fingers disappear and the forest that was behind them come into view. Slowly, he floated through this strange invisible barrier and saw a black speaker hanging up above. It was emitting various cooing sounds, the same cooing sounds he'd been hearing for hours. It looked to be a part of an alarm system of some kind.
A smile spread across his face as he realized what this meant. He had finally found it! He had finally found Gero's base! Who else could have such an advanced cloaking technology?
He floated through and set foot on the ground a fair bit away from the army ant line. In front of him, through the trees, he could see solar panels sitting on top of a white steel roof. Was this real? He could hardly believe he'd finally found it! After all this time, and all of his efforts he actually found it!
He shook his head, refocusing himself. "C'mon, get it together. Gero could be close, and who knows what he's got with him."
Crouching down, he approached the base slowly and hid in the bushes. Out in front of him, there was a clear glass door with a small white platform leading to it. From the looks of things, there weren't any defenses in place or even a code lock on the door. Either Gero was really confident in his ability to keep the base hidden, or this was just an overlooked side entrance. Nonetheless, it was an oversight on his part and allowed Gohan to step out from the foliage and approach the door freely.
Courteously, it opened and he felt a rush of refreshing cold air hit him. Taking one foot inside, he stopped the door from closing while peaking around. The facility appeared to be empty, or at least this portion did. Both of the rooms to his left and right housed machinery, but they seemed to be running autonomously. He walked further inside and started down the corridor. Ahead of him, he could see it split into four ways and at the divergence point, only one of the paths looked to lead to a larger room.
Quietly, he entered the room which opened up significantly. Inside there were a few tables with notes neatly labeled and stacked in piles, as well as three darkened display cases. As he neared them, he noticed that the first two were empty, but the final one did have something stored inside.
He pressed his hand against the dark glass and pushed in gently, unlocking and opening the door. He nearly jumped back when he saw Gero's body standing inside, supported by metal bars that held his knees and chest in place.
Hesitantly he poked the doctor's shoulder which moved only as he touched it. Was he asleep? Was he dead, or rather, out of battery? Not wanting to risk doing anything stupid and waking him up, Gohan swiftly closed the dark glass door and stepped out of the room to think.
"Something's not right here. This was way too easy." He said to himself. "Why would Gero leave himself so defenseless? And why would he need to rest or recharge? 17 and 18 never needed to recharge. There's gotta be more going on here."
Looking down the remaining two unexplored hallways from the center, Gohan headed straight and saw nothing more than a scarcely furnished bedroom and a clean, strangely quiet generator room. Seeing nothing of significance, he turned around and headed right, down the only path he hadn't checked.
At the end of the hallway, there were two more rooms: A storage room with only one empty cylinder meant to hold an android, and a room filled to the brim with monitors. It looked starkly similar to the emptied one he'd seen at Gero's old base. A large black computer tower sat beneath the table and the monitors, calling out to be powered on.
Obligingly, Gohan clicked the power button and the fans of the computer began to whirl and, without any input, the multitude of monitors flicked on and began loading different programs.
On a few screens, there were diagnostics written in some strange abbreviations that made the data look like hieroglyphics more than anything else. But most others loaded up a multi-monitor display of a deep forest, rich in fruits that hung low from the nearby trees.
Puzzled, Gohan leaned closer and watched the camera observing the landscape, moving like it was on a swivel. Then suddenly, it came to a stop, and Gero walked into frame. It was odd, something was different about him compared to the Gero in the display case. He looked the same age, but his wrinkled skin looked less like silicon and more like real, living skin.
Suddenly, a realization hit him; this was no camera, and this footage wasn't prerecorded. He was watching Gero right now from the perspective of an android! But the real question was: Where were they?
Gohan tracked Gero with his eyes as he motioned for the noticeably shorter android to follow him. The camera shifted up and down, and the android began to walk behind the old man. They were walking along an old beaten path that came up to a cliff and, not too far into the distance, there were skyscrapers. While squinting, he could just barely make out 'Welcome to Papaya Island' written on a billboard near the closest of the city's roads.
His eyes widened, and Gohan quickly summoned enough ki to blast a hole into the roof. He didn't know what Gero was about to do, but with his father and all the civilians at the World Martial Arts Tournament, it couldn't be good.
Flying through the hole and up above the jungle, Gohan searched for his father's ki and isolated it. Going Super Saiyan, he tore through the sky to get there as soon as possible. Around him, the landscape turned to a blur of colors as he picked up more speed. Green forests turned to red mounds of clay, golden deserts, and then, finally, to the deep blue of the ocean.
As he came upon Papaya Island, he slowed down and lowered his power level. He was close to them now, he could sense their two evil, malformed power levels, but they weren't on Papaya Island. They had moved a few dozen miles to the east, into the collection of unnamed and uninhabited islands.
Whatever this was, Gohan knew it was some kind of trap. From the easily accessed base, Gero's display case, the empty android cylinder, and using the tournament to draw him in, it was obvious. This was all too strange to be anything else. But what choice did he have other than to play into his hand? The only way to talk with him is to spring the trap.
He exhaled calmly, collecting his thoughts as he prepared himself to face Gero. He needed to be smart about this, be gentle but firm, honest but not abrasive, even the littlest misspoken word or thoughtless comment could ruin any hope he had at avoiding a fight.
Feeling prepared, Gohan flew towards the nameless island Gero and the Android were waiting for him on. As he dipped through the palm trees he could see Gero standing with his hands clasped together behind his back, he looked pleased.
"Son Gohan!" He said with a harsh enthusiasm as Gohan touched the ground. "I see my attempt at drawing you out worked perfectly."
"Guess it did." Gohan said.
"What do you think of the new body? Brilliant isn't it. Pure ociterite skeletal structure with beautifully woven reinforced synthetic muscles all perfectly set under skin so close to real flesh that on the molecular level, no scientist could tell the difference."
Gero laughed heartily. "Not to mention the power increase!" He looked at his powerful hands which, despite the lack of any visual indicator, still sported the ability to drain power. " It really is magnificent. But it isn't even my magnum opus..." He smiled with large, white teeth towards Gohan. "That's right, the best is yet to come. Now, would you like to see him?"
"If I said no, would you still bring it out?" Gohan said sarcastically.
Gero wagged his finger at him. "Now, now, don't be so quick to dismiss him. After all, you two know each other quite well."
Gero waved his hand. "Come out eighty-three. Don't be shy."
Slowly, Gohan watched the foot of an android come out from behind a tree, followed by the rest of it. What he saw was unbelievable. It was a carbon copy of himself, identical in every way except for their clothing. He was dressed in his father's blue gi while his android self wore the standard grey body armor he'd seen many of the androids wear back at the last world tournament.
Gero laid a hand upon its shoulder. "I planned on creating both you and your father, I thought it would be poetic in some sense, but sadly, I only had enough ociterite for me and eighty-three here. Rest assured though, he is my greatest creation and, truly, the pinnacle of technology. He is stronger, faster, and far smarter than Cell in any given scenario. He even has the ability to go Super Saiyan just as you do." Gero rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Now I know my presentation has been very long-winded, and you're probably falling asleep just standing there listening to me drone on so please, try to fight him. I've waited a long time for this and I want to enjoy every second of it."
He clenched his fists and looked towards his android counterpart. He could see the restlessness, the eagerness inside it to begin the fight. Its power had already begun to radiate, and it was enough to convince Gohan that he couldn't win.
"I won't fight, Gero." He said defiantly.
Gero crossed his arms. "Aw, too scared, are you?"
"I'm not afraid." Gohan said, allowing the silence after his words to pull the weight they carried toward Gero.
"Then fight!" He hissed, throwing his hands to his sides.
"No." Gohan said. Internally, he was praying this approach would work.
Gero grit his teeth and roared, "I will not be denied this victory! So if you will not fight I will kill you, everyone you love, and all the other useless wastes of space on this godforsaken planet right here, right now!"
Gohan rose his eyes to meet Gero's. "You once said that we were similar. That we were both victims of poor circumstances. I didn't believe you at first, but after searching for you for so long, I finally understand what you meant."
"I've heard enough of this ridiculousness." Gero said. He tilted his head forward. "Eighty-three. Kill him."
Gohan's heart beat rapidly as the android took one step towards him and paused before taking another. It wanted to watch the terror swell in his heart before attacking him.
Gohan looked away from it and back towards Gero. "We both lost someone. Someone who meant everything to us. And every day, no matter what, nothing feels the same without them." He reached into his satchel and retrieved the silvery metal box.
He could see the disbelief in Gero's eyes. Somewhere within them, Gohan could see the pain and emotion begin to spill out. He must have not seen those photos in decades.
Suddenly, he felt the hands of the android around his throat and it lifted him easily off the ground, smashing his back against a nearby tree. With one hand trying to free his neck from the android and the other holding out the box, Gohan looked towards Gero.
The old man stared silently at that box. He knew that within them were the memories of the past. A forgotten time from a forgotten life.
He looked at Gohan and his heart raged with a mixture of hatred and sadness. He was the enemy, he was the son of the man responsible for Gebo's death. It didn't matter that it was just some soldier that had taken him away. None of it would have happened if Goku had not attacked the Red Ribbon Base.
But yet, even though Gohan had every reason to hate him, and every reason to fight him, here he was, dying just to hold out a box of old forgotten memories.
Gero noticed the box began to droop as Gohan started to fall unconscious. The boy's hand was trembling as he fought to stay awake. Was there really no trick behind this sacrificial play? Was there no secret plan to catch him off-guard and attack when he was most vulnerable? He pursed his lips and closed his eyes as the indecision grew.
A thud broke his concentration, and he reopened his eyes to see the box resting on the grass.
"Release him!" Gero said while quickly walking towards the two. "Release him!"
The android reluctantly let go of Gohan, and he slid towards the ground.
Carefully, Gero sat Gohan up against the tree and patted the dirt off of him.
"Come on, wake up!" He said. "You've intrigued me enough, for now. So get up and speak."
Gohan coughed and held his throat with his hands, rubbing it gently. He couldn't believe he was alive right now, but at least that meant he had gotten through to the old man. He just needed to make sure he didn't miss a beat when he spoke next.
"How did you get this?" Gero said, lifting the box up from the ground.
"I-I found it when I visited Gebo's grave."
"Yes, but how did you find the grave?" He asked, pushing the box closer to Gohan.
"Gero...the past Gero went to the Red's Castle and updated Gebo's file." He reached within his satchel, pulling out the red ribbon copy. He held it out for the old man, who took it and opened it eagerly
"This...cannot be." He said, his eyes reading over the updated information. "I-I have no memory of ever doing this." He flipped through more of the documents. "But that's impossible. I-I am a perfect copy of Gero. I have every one of his memories..."
Gohan stood and placed a hand on the old man's arm. "He must have held it from you. So that you didn't think you were sentimental, or weak for going back."
"Weak?...Weak? I wouldn't have thought it weak that I had honored my son. He was a good man, and worth more than just an updated file in an old forgotten base."
Gero gently closed the file and handed it back to Gohan. He was finally turning his attention towards the box.
"He was worth so much more."
Lifting it open and reaching inside, Gero pulled out a photo of himself in his twenties, holding Gebo as a baby. He swallowed heavily as his eyes began to fill with tears.
"My father never took any photos of our family. He was cruel, dismissive, always ready to insult before he dared compliment. I wanted desperately to be better than him in any way possible so naturally, when Gebo was born, I swore to be a better father than him. I wanted to have my son know I valued him like my father never did."
He continued taking out more photos and looking deeply into them. "I only ever photographed the important things, but over time, I filled this little box with all my most valuable memories of Gebo. After he died, I knew my love for him would stop me from taking revenge against your father. I knew that's not what he would have wanted, but I didn't care. I wanted revenge so badly I was willing to bury him and his memory to get it."
He sighed. "In a way that makes me worse than my father. I was willing to forget my son but he wasn't, even up until the day he died, he tormented me."
"You're not alone. I've been doing the same thing." Gohan said, prompting Gero to look away from the photos. "I've been trying to forget how it felt to be with my father. Because I know I'll never have that feeling again."
"What do you mean?" Gero asked. "Your father is alive in this time."
"He is, but I can't see him. I've hurt him so many times. Too many...He doesn't deserve to be hurt like that. Ever again."
Gero sighed and began placing the photos back into their container. "I'm tired." he said. "I'm tired of this- this fighting. Of this endless research. Of hating you."
He stopped and gazed into a photo of him standing side by side with an adult Gebo who towered over him. "But most of all, I'm tired of forgetting my son."
Closing the lid, he relatched the box before stuffing it into his oversized pocket. "You win, Gohan. So what now?"
Gohan sat on that for a moment. To be honest, he hadn't thought much about what would come after because he didn't know if he'd ever get to this point. "I think...we go back to the present."
"And what then?" Gero asked. "I have no goal. No purpose to exist."
"Yes, you do." Gohan said reassuringly. "You can make the world a better place, just like your son would want you to."
"But how?" Gero asked, his old hoarse voice pleading for guidance.
Gohan smiled, hoping to cheer him up. "Well, you can sell your research. With all that you've learned, you could help make the lives of millions, maybe even more, so much better. People without legs could walk again. People without arms could finally touch and feel things again. People would love you for it."
Gero looked down at the boy, the genuine care from him was heartwarming but all this emotion, after so much time of feeling nothing but hatred and anger, was almost overwhelming.
"Do you really think that can happen? Even after all the things I've done?" Gero asked hesitantly, laying down his ego for the first time in decades.
Gohan spoke honestly, "Absolutely. I think that with you in the world, things could get much better."
"Then...I suppose it's worth at least one attempt." Gero said.
The doctor turned and walked away from Gohan, he was approaching his android to say something,
"All right eighty-three, power down. There will be no fighting today."
The android kept its eyes trained on Gohan. It seemed like it hadn't registered anything its creator had just said to it.
"Power down eighty-three." he repeated.
Still, the android stared at Gohan. His eyes were aflame with rage.
Gero grumbled a few words to himself before attempting to talk to it again. "Can you not hear me? I said pow-"
With a jerk, the android looked away from Gohan and punched the old man sending him flying back into the dirt. Stunned, Gero held his stomach as he struggled to pick himself off the ground.
"No." The android said. "I was built to kill him. So you will not stop me from killing him."