Chapter 60

It all comes together

Disclaimer: I don't make any profit from this work of fiction.

The morning had been a very long one for Assistant Director Piccolo. It had started with the feedback report from the psychics that a small section of his Force 3 team had failed the first screening tests. It was mostly agents that had been in contact or under the command of Special Agent Tao. Agent Viola had also failed but it was possible she had a false negatives. They had identified a large sense of guilt when Agents Bulma's name was mentioned. There was no room for forgiveness or exceptions from the Chief Director. There would need to be further testing to truly find the real traitors. For now however it wasn't his main concern. He picked up the urgent paper placed on his desk moments ago.

It was from Special Agent Yamcha, who had sent an update from Tao's cabin. Beri had found a psychic trace of Agents Tao and Violet. There was no further trace of Tao at the cabin but Violet had definitely died there according to her psychic scan. There was no conclusive proof however as Special Star Agent Beri was not considered as an actual witness. They would need to find clear evidence, a dead body, blood or something just as grim but physical rather than a spirit or a ghost of a psychic image. He would forward commands to the investigation team at the scene. It also highlighted the growing fear that Vegeta had broken the serum that had taken his power. He didn't understand the science behind it but the only person that did was now dead. Dr Briefs was a casualty in the ongoing war at the space station. The Kold army had retreated for now and a group of first class agents were pursuing the stragglers. He needed Bulma to join the science Division. She was the only one who could decipher the notes left by the eccentric old man.

There was a chance to revive him but that was tied up with his father and negotiation with his home planet of Namek. A planet he had never visited or even heard of until recently. His father was the god of Earth but it was his evil side that the elders and himself had issues with. It was a long dispute that seemed to have no end. A continuous spiral of back and forth, to prove to the Elders that his motives were good but there never was enough proof if he was truly doing things for good or not. His father's true motives were an enigma even to Piccolo, he could only watch as his father muttered things under his breath and had psychics conversations with beings beyond his knowledge. Kami didn't ever let him know, all Agents were in the dark. There was a form of hierarchy and secrecy in the Bureau that differed from Forces and Teams and Kami controlled all the information. The universe was vast and the powers in charge of keeping the balance were a mystery and they liked to keep it that way. He had to follow his orders, protect the Earth and lead the forces on Earth. To maintain peace a form of ignorance among the masses was needed, Earth was not ready for accepting the idea that they weren't alone and the most powerful in the Universe. It was very debatable the moral implications of such actions but the mass panic that was caused by the Saiyan attack all those years ago showed that there was validity in the method.

If Vegeta had regained his powers, it was his responsibility to get him recaptured. The fact that the world was not on fire and exploding gave him some assurance that he wasn't at full power. Perhaps he had limited control and could only let loose for a short time. Either that or he was lying low on purpose. Both options were not good. He agreed with the request from Special Agent Yamcha, that they needed a Force 1 member here and soon. The Earth didn't need another Saiyan purge.

He sent the message to the space station as soon as he could and waited. The one thing he hated to do was wait when he could charge ahead and take down the issue directly.

He felt responsible for Bulma, putting her in this situation after he had promised her father that she would be safe. He clenched his teeth and tried to meditate to calm himself. His own pride as a warrior needed to be upheld, his own sense of morals as well and they were all being tested.

He could guess who had captured Bulma, it was all pointing to Dr Gero. The targeted kidnapping of her, the traitors in the agents, it was all his doing. However, it was still circumstantial evidence, but it would be enough for a search warrant.

'We'll get your daughter back.' He vowed to himself and the late doctor.

000

In the factory deep inside the mountain factory, Bulma was slowly working on an inventory check. She had been doing those types of mundane tasks for a few days and she was struggling to stay awake. It didn't help that she was stuck both mentally and physically between a rock and a hard place. Her sleep was a constant struggle to keep the black mist that was Vegeta's consciousness from breaking through and in her daytime duties she had to work as an assistant to a scientist while being a prisoner. She was a useful hostage for them to give all these menial tasks.

The factory was constantly making robot parts. The conveyor belt was filled with arms, legs and heads. All very basic looking android limbs that were less sophisticated than the other androids. They were being made for quantity rather than quality. An army of soldiers without emotions or needs. If they were to march they wouldn't need to rest or stop. What she was seeing was a clear message from Gero that she would be killed after all this concluded. She was being exposed on purpose to be shown the power and force she was up against.

It didn't intimate Bulma, it only made her angrier. These cheap looking scrap metal robots were an army? She knew they were all connected to an internal network to receive orders. It was a laughable system, none of them had much independent systems. They were all interlinked. It was a hackers dream. Each time she was told to input data, copy from the files and write it into the system she saw the network it was connected to. Dr Frappe was boasting about the system and how his devices would be the new world enforcement. She had to act dumb and not ask about the details. She could see the security flaws at the base level. The simple code she had to just copy as she wasn't a scientist. 'You won't understand the complexity of this code, my angel machines are the next world order.' He had told her.

She acted up the dumb girl mode perfectly. Bulma was able to convince him that she did similar work with her father, helping him with the small jobs. She never said a few of the Capsule Corporation high selling products were her own inventions. Dr Frappe was a Red Ribbon loyalist and had been hidden for years working together with Gero on their revenge. He knew nothing about anything else, his focus had completely blinded him. For him she was a data input clerk and gopher. She had used the time to acquire as much information about the factory as she could. Her excellent memory, despite being so tired, was taking mental notes of it all.

She finished the check-list but waited as if still working on it. Bulma was always watched by Android Eight. After his freedom was given he never really forced her to go or do anything. He had become the perfect gentleman and never said anything when she wasted time tapping her pen on the clipboard. She had other jobs to do but it was lunchtime soon. She had never worked lazily before and she found it boring but in her sleep deprived state it was a moment to rest.

After a short wait the bell rung and she put down the soon forgotten check-list. Eight gestured to the door and she walked across the busy factory floor. She put a few other tools into her pockets as she passed the work stations and hummed a little tune. Eight said he liked her singing so he ignored her bad skills as a thief. She now had enough for a nice tool box in her pocket. She sat down at her table. It was in a cubicle, walled off so she couldn't see the other diners. She could only talk with Eight and Dr Frappe.

Eight placed her meal down. It was another round of brown-grey meat goop and rice with a dry bread roll on the side. She sipped her water and closed her eyes. She was getting a headache. It was the familiar darkness.

'Why now? Leave me alone.' She thought.

'Look up, it's time.'

Her eyes shot open and a loud crashing sound above her shocked her very core. Her heart was thumping loudly as she could almost feel him.

Vegeta.

Vegeta was here!

He had crashed through the skylight. The whole factory was hidden underground but there were light tunnels leading up to small windows on the surface. They were surrounded by patrolling guards and surveillance, but it was a weak point as it gave direct access to the heart of the base.

Vegeta landed with a sickening crunch. A guard he had caught and used as a human battery had also been a shield on the way down. He had smashed him into the glass roof still breathing and screaming for help and he was finally silenced by the messy landing.

The Saiyan stood up, quickly scanning the area. For all onlookers he was like a blood covered beast hungry for the next fight. He had a basic idea of the layout thanks to his prying through Bulma's mind. He couldn't go through the front doors as the factory complex was so large and well guarded but the skylight that had been the best way for his surprise attack. The security team was now scrambling to get to his position, he had to move. The skylight area was a crossroads of corridors and access points. Some of the walls were made of glass to let the light in but Vegeta wanted the opposite. For now he needed the darkness. He slipped into the dark brick corridors with support pillars the dim emergency glow didn't give any illumination. There were so many hiding spots for him, he was forced to use guerrilla tactics. The flashy entrance was bringing too many people. The ki he had absorbed had been released and he could easily hide his presence. Bulma was nearby, she was alert and on guard. Her babysitter was an android of unknown strength, he couldn't go to her directly, she would have to come to him.

'It's time you started to use your brain.' His thoughts were sent out. 'Come find me.'

Bulma winced as she heard him whispering in her mind. The hissing sounds that haunted her at night were now in the stark light of day louder than usual. An alarm was screeching while red lights began to flash and the whole canteen was in a panic to evacuate.

"Eight, I don't think I can walk fast enough." She told her guard. She needed to get away. There was a cry out in the distance as the body was found from the fall.

"It appears a guard has fallen down the skylight." Eight informed her.

"It's not safe here!" Bulma pleaded.

"All guards alert! Intruder, capture of the intruder is alpha priority!" The announcement rang out and Eight froze in place. There was a pause as Bulma held her breath and she watched the electric data flash inside Eight's eyes.

"This is an all guards alert Ms Briefs, I must follow this order." He told her. "I know you changed my programming but I cannot ignore this command, your life and mine could be in danger."

"How did you know?" Bulma asked.

"My mind has been clear ever since you did something to the back of my neck. I swear to protect your secret. It's given me my feelings back, I'm eternally grateful."

"The intruder is Vegeta! He can destroy you, take me back to my cell. He can't reach us there!"

"Please stay in the canteen, I will return once he's captured. It will be unsafe to move from here."

Eight lumbered away his large body moving quicker than you would think possible. In his own way he was protecting her. Bulma inwardly cursed, the cameras were watching her, she couldn't leave. She hoped that they had no sound as she had let slip she knew who the intruder was. She could feel him, like a black viper worming in her mind, he was hunting. The constant pressure of his consciousness in the back of her mind had lessened as his focus had moved away from her. It did allow her to breath but the adrenaline was refusing to let her relax.

The metal doors for the canteen made a mechanical clicking sound and red lights flashed as the emergency lighting went on. The place was in lock down. Her chance to escape was gone.

Bulma glanced around the room ignoring the distant cries from the guards and sharp popping of gun fire. Vegeta was out there in the darkness. He had smashed into the electrical system and turned on the emergency lighting.

He was in his element again, blood was spattered on the walls as panicking guards shot randomly hitting the walls and comrades. Vegeta had evaded everything they had tried the maze like corridors were easy for Vegeta to navigate, especially with all the lights knocked out. The stark sunlight from the above skylight was the only source but it casted many shadows. His Saiyan vision was more capable in the dark so he had to hide like a rat. His pride was completely worn away and his survival instincts as well as his innate aggression gave him an edge. The one thing that could stop him was charging straight towards him. A tall android that was incapable of being manipulated by his mental warfare. The shadows didn't hide him either as it was walking directly to him.

He climbed up between two pillars as the giant robot ploughed into where he had been. He had the agility but not the speed and he swiped up a human battery letting him jump further away.

"Target lost..." Eight reported.

Vegeta looked down from where he had escaped to. The dried up corpse from the goon he had grabbed was slowly turning to dust. His capture was inevitable but he had more seeds to plant.

'I left you a little present my prey.' He called out to her. In his mind fortress he projected an image into her mind. 'Find it here and start to make your plans. Only you can do it, daughter of Dr Briefs '

The power from the corpse was almost spent he dropped down.

"You need me alive, don't shoot." He said holding his hands up as the dust of their dead colleague dropped down.

The surviving guards and soon the large android had circled around him. Most of them wanted to hit Vegeta straight through the taunting smug eyes of his but they couldn't. The consequences were not worth the momentary satisfaction. He was knocked down by the knee and held firm by Android Eight. All their attention was completely on him, nobody noticed the thin woman in overalls creeping past.

Bulma had already been moving out of the canteen floor and was trying to get to a safer spot. The door had been easier to pick than she thought. The message from Vegeta was still ringing in her mind combined with a dark image of a wall. The area was somewhere she had never been but she could follow the steps to the exact location. There was a hole punched in the wall with blood splatter and some strange ash powder. She gingerly pulled out the tool hidden inside.

It was a high grade alien piece of technology. She slipped it into her pocket, this is what he wanted her to retrieve.

Something she would be able to use?

Something that only she could do?

No, he was only feeding her ego. Any good scientist would do. She didn't have to play this game that he had set up for her but it seemed like an opportunity to actually escape. She had to work it so she could escape both Gero and Vegeta at the same time. She had a vague idea what he wanted done with it but she needed to take it apart first. Though the device could be helpful just as it was.

Vegeta had been captured and the sirens were silenced. The broken lights continued to flicker and spark but the tension had been alleviated. The guards, or what were left of them, were returning to their posts. Bulma made her way to a doorway and under a camera. Eight was occupied with escorting Vegeta to a cell so she expected some unknown guards would come to take her out of the way. Her daily tasks and possibly her usefulness had come to an end. The only relief she had was that Dr Gero was the type of person who wanted to gloat. She had time but she was expendable. The old man would want to give her a final moment. To let Vegeta see her capture and possibly her death as well. Dr Gero's target was to torture Vegeta and have some kind of revenge against him. It was fruitless as far as she was concerned as the Saiyan only cared for himself. Vegeta would see her death as bonus entertainment or an insult to his right over his prey.

She looked up at the camera above her. They watched everything, even in her room. Bulma clasped onto the tool in her pocket. She had no original knowledge of what it was but that knowledge and how to use it was there. It must have been planted there by Vegeta through their link. She hated the feeling of this invasion of her mind. Her private sanctuary of her mind that she had been building for a while was gone. Her mental ice barriers that had been so easily broken that it made her unable to keep her usual façade. Her emotions were probably so clear to read. She looked tired and completely done with everything. The clock was ticking and her death flag had been raised. She was fully expendable and only living on borrowed time.

She rammed the device into the wall and pulled the trigger. An electric pulse exploded into the wall following the cable and shorted out the camera. There was luckily no electric feed back or kick back from the Taser. She knew how the device worked but she worried she had been given false information. She couldn't fully trust Vegeta but her life now hanged in the balance and she had to survive any way possible. She had no time to sit back and wait any more for her rescue. Her escape had to begin now. The camera network overcharge by the high voltage it would have shorted out the whole network of cameras. A fuse would need replacing and the system would need to be restarted. She had spent the last few days studying everything, the security systems, the guard patrols and even the rabbit hole layout.

Vegeta's capture was a big enough distraction for her not to be noticed missing. However she couldn't gauge how much time she had till they would notice. She was relying on her own intuition and intelligence but needed more luck than she liked. She sneaked into the next room and began to run. Bulma was out of time, she had to leave now.

000

Author's note: Well, my cheese ADHD brain deleted the original chapter I had written on my phone and almost finished, LAST JULY!. I was trying to delete an extra file off my phone app and clicked too many buttons not thinking, let me add that to my frustration list for my future therapist visit. No back up and I had to motivate myself to rewrite this from scratch and it's changed slightly but the plot elements remain. So many apologies and remember to always check the file when it asks you, "Are you sure you want to delete?" I didn't check, just clicky, clicky… wait… no… no… oooh no. Darth Vader voice: NOOOOOOO!

Oops, I made a big mistake and finally stopped sulking at myself and got it rewritten. It was an intense chapter as you can tell that this was a painful one to write again. So many things that have been set up have come together and finally will be coming to a head in the coming chapters. Bulma's making her escape and Vegeta was captured or was that his plan? I'm sure you will all have some interesting ideas and probably a few correct ones. I had to add a bit of Piccolo's thinking in this chapter as the FBI should be on top of Gero but they're being held back by a lot of red tape. As much as I'm complaining about it, the story is still fun to write and I will continue, wish me luck and all of your comments have kept me motivated which is something I really need to work on. Also some home life issues that has messed me up for the whole year. So this story is one of my distractions and now I've got over the hurdle of replacing the deleted chapter I can go back to continuing this story. Thanks for the reviews and feedback, I appreciate it and being patient with my slow progress.