Inner Workings of My Mind

Chapter 3

It had been two weeks since Gohan had moved into Capsule Corporation. His mother had been ecstatic to hear that Bulma was offering him an opportunity for an internship. She was, however, put off by the fact that her eldest son would be living at Capsule Corporation for the duration of his internship. But, after several nights of promising to keep up with his studies and visiting every weekends, she had sent him off.

Everyday, Gohan met up with Piccolo for a session of meditation and intense sparring. The constant exercise was doing wonders for the young hybrid's temper and aggression, and he was now able to concentrate much better.

Gohan, however, avoided Vegeta like the plague. The young Saiyan didn't need a high-strung Saiyan Prince constantly challenging him to fights in the Gravity Room; Piccolo's demanding workouts were more than enough.

"Trunks! Don't put that in your mouth! It's not food!"

In a flash Gohan was beside the 18-month old baby and pulled the T.V. remote out of his mouth. Bulma was locked up in her lab completing a major project and Gohan was watching Trunks for her.

Gohan picked him up and headed towards the kitchen, determined to find some food for himself and Trunks. After all, Saiyans need to eat.

Gohan grabbed some baby food and some sandwiches from the fridge and began to feed purple haired baby with one hand while ravenously eating with the other.

Gohan entered the lab. The boy had just put Trunks down for a nap and was now free to help out Bulma with her projects.

Gohan certainly loved the application of science and technology a lot more than the theoretical side that his mother constantly had him studying. He picked up a lab coat and slid it over his regular clothing. The hybrid entered Bulma's private lab to see the blue haired heiress unrolling a huge set of blueprints and attempting to pin them on the wall.

"Need help, Bulma?" Gohan asked.

Bulma turned around and set down the blueprints before looking up and smiling at Gohan.

"Sure, kiddo. Could you pin these up on the wall for me?"

Gohan held his hand out for the blueprints and thumbtacks and hovered a few inches above the floor so he could easily pin up the them to the wall.

"What are you doing with these blueprints, Bulma?" Gohan asked. It was the current project the genius was working on: Ki cuffs.

With a lot of attempted persuasion and much insisting, Bulma had managed to acquire the blueprints for much more advanced technology from Vegeta. The feisty human had persuaded her Saiyan mate to take a trip out to space and obtain the blueprints for some of Frieza's technology that he had acquired from several of the races that were under his rule.

With the fall of the Cold Empire the leftover henchmen had fallen into disarray and had divided into several factions attempting to take control of the universe. While the Cold family had been lost, its technology had not been. Vegeta had dutifully attacked many important bases and stolen the blueprints for Bulma.

The ki cuffs had been one of the more simple designs that Vegeta had taken. Bulma had decided to start with that and hopefully work her way up in complexity of the technology.

"I am just double checking the design before testing them. I had to make a lot of adjustments because we don't have the same materials on Earth. Want to take a look?"

Gohan nodded and stepped forward. The young Saiyan was able to quickly memorize the key components of the design before he turned to the table with the ki cuffs. The boy picked up one of the tools so he could carefully push wires aside to view the internal structure of the cuffs.

"You used copper for the main wiring?" he asked.

"Yeah. It has the same level of conductivity of whatever metal they used out in space. Some of the components in the circuits are made of gold. Turns out that they have a metal almost exactly the same that they use." Bulma explained. "It is not as rare as gold, and it has the same level of conductivity, but it is slightly denser and an electric blue color. It is called Xealic, I believe."

"Is there a way to obtain some Xealic? It might be better to use instead of gold," Gohan observed.

The blue eyed genius snorted. "Try telling that to Vegeta, Gohan. He refused to go out and get some. Said that he would not be treated like 'some errand boy.'"

Gohan smiled faintly and continued shifting through the wires within the cuffs. "Everything looks fine to me," he commented. "How are you going to test it?"

"Well, I was hoping to get one of the Z-warriors to test it out for me, since they are some of the few that can control ki," the heiress said. "Vegeta, however, refused to be a lab rat," she continued with a roll of her eyes.

"You can test it out on me." Gohan offered.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, kiddo. If something were to happen..."

"I would be the most likely to be able to handle it. We have both checked this, Bulma. It should be fine," Gohan cut in.

"Alright." the blue-haired scientist caved in. "Let me grab a scouter so I can monitor the change in your power level. Do you know what number you usually repress your power to?"

Gohan shrugged. "I've never measured it, but I would say I probably keep it at a couple of thousand."

Bulma walked back into the private lab a few minutes later, scouter hooked over the right side of her face. She faced Gohan and pressed the button on the side with carefully manicured nails. Lights flashed on the scouter before settling on a number.

"About 2550," she stated. The blue haired human frowned. "Did you know that your power level fluctuates slightly? Not that much, but it isn't steady."

The hybrid looked curious. "It must be small enough where I didn't notice it. Does Vegeta's power do that?"

Bulma shook her head. She moved over to the table where the cuffs were located and began closing the compartments and screwing them shut. When the Capsule Corporation heiress finished she picked it up and walked over to Gohan.

"Alright, Gohan. I am going to put them on your wrists and monitor your power level. Then we will test to see if you can raise your ki or form any ki blasts."

Gohan nodded and held out his wrists. Bulma carefully put the ki cuffs on his wrists and snapped them shut. Gohan winced at the sudden drain in his ki.

"Are you alright, Gohan?" Bulma asked, looking alarmed at the boy's wince.

"It's fine, Bulma," he reassured. "It's just uncomfortable, but I can still feel some of my ki. Check my power level."

Bulma once again pressed the button on the side of the scouter. It beeped and flashed before settling on a number.

"500," she read. "See if you can lower and raise your power level. Bulma watched as the number on the screen went up and down, but never exceeded 500. "Can you raise it any higher?" the scientist asked.

"No," Gohan responded.

"Can you create ki blasts?"

Gohan raised one of his hands and formed a small ball of ki and replied, "This is the largest I can make it."

The young half-breed then hovered slightly above the ground. "I can still fly too. But, it takes some effort."

Bulma nodded and grabbed a clipboard and began writing notes. "Okay, I've got it all. Let's take them off." Bulma snapped off the cuffs and Gohan rubbed his wrists and winced once again at the feeling of his ki being released.

"It is probably the difference in materials that we used that prevents it from completely blocking off my ki," Gohan hypothesized.

"Yeah. That is most likely it. I'll also have to try it on someone who naturally has a lower power level, to see if it makes a difference. I'll have to see if there are other materials that are more efficient," Bulma said. She set down the cuffs on the table. "Let's go take a break. I'll order takeout for lunch."

Gohan grinned. "Make sure you order enough for at least 10 people, Bulma."

Gohan ducked and weaved through the blasts as Piccolo shot them at him. The young warrior was in his base form because according to Piccolo, if he increased the strength in his base form then his strength when he transformed into a Super Saiyan would be even greater.

Suddenly, the size and speed of the blasts increased and Gohan sped up. The dark haired boy really wanted to transform to gain the speed boost, but if he did, Piccolo would be mad.

A blast clipped his side and another hit his front. Gohan was pushed back down towards the Earth and slammed through several trees. Gohan groaned. It didn't hurt too bad, but it was probably going to leave a bruise.

Piccolo landed before him, a smirk on his face. "You're going to have to work on dodging in your base form, kid."

"I was just caught off guard, Piccolo," Gohan said. The hybrid groaned again as he stood up from the wreckage of trees he had left behind.

The boy took a step forward and then cried out as pain flashed through his spine. He staggered and Piccolo shot forward and caught him before he could fall.

"Gohan! Are you alright?" Piccolo asked. Through his normally gruff demeanor, concern could be heard in the Namekian's voice.

Gohan groaned once again and grit his teeth. He cried out once again and pain shot through his spine.

Much sooner than Gohan expected, the pain cleared and he was able to stand up on his own. The half-breed pushed off of Piccolo, who still hovered close.

"I am fine, Piccolo," he reassured.

"Let me check your back, kid. if it is anything serious, we can go visit Dende," Piccolo commanded. Piccolo turned Gohan around to take a look at his back, and Gohan heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him.

"Piccolo?"

"Kid, your tail grew back."