Doctor Gero finds himself mightily inconvenienced when he collapses in his lab one day, and wakes up with a set of memories from an old life. Now he has to deal with all these new impulses and desires from a life far less grand and younger than his own, and the annoyances that brings him. Still, with the new knowledge that old life has given him, perhaps the headache from dealing with petty things like 'morality' and 'ethics' will be worth it. Perhaps, with the help of these new/old memories, he can create machines that will become the very Pinnacle of Humanity, and surpass anything these pesky alien invaders have to offer.

Gero jolted into consciousness with a startled gasp, which quickly transformed into a hacking cough. He brought a hand to his mouth, covering his coughs up as best as he could, and was faintly relieved to see that no blood stained his palms in the aftermath. After the last of his coughs subsided, he did his best to calm his rapid breathing, and slowly took in his familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar, surroundings.

He was lying on the floor of his laboratory, just in front of one of his work benches. A vast array of scientific equipment and engineering tools were dotted all over the lab, each machine designed to complete a wide variety of purposes. On the floor scattered around him were a set of lab equipment, tools he had been working with not too long ago.

Had he fallen? That seemed to be the only logical explanation here. But how had that happened? Had he slipped on something? Was he having some sort of medical episode? How long had he been prone like this? Not long, if the throbbing pain in his head and back were any indication.

Gero winced as he fully registered the waves of pain crashing over his frail body, most of it centered over his protesting back. Not for the first time, he cursed his advanced age. This inefficient, fragile shell of a body couldn't tolerate pain near as much as it had in his prime…

Wait. Wasn't he only thirty?

Gero blinked rapidly, caught off guard by that sudden incongruence. He…hadn't been thirty in a long time. He was sixty-four years old now, heading into the twilight of his biological age. So why had he thought he was far younger than that?

With a grunt, Gero sat up from his prone position, and quickly checked his head for any signs of outer injury. There was some tenderness, sure, but he felt no blood pressing against his palm or any wet substance sticking to his long mane of hair. So he didn't have an external head injury, at least.

Gero gingerly got to his feet, huffing with effort as he put his old bones to use. Once he was up, he scanned his laboratory, making sure nothing was amiss. "Computer, how long have I been unconscious?"

There was a moment's silence in the wake of that question, and Gero felt a hint of confusion creep through him. Why did he say that, as though expecting an answer? This wasn't Star Trek, he didn't have a computer that would—

Wait. What was Star Trek?

"You have been unconscious for approximately two point five hours, Doctor Gero," the feminine voice of his Supercomputer answered, dragging his attention away from his confused musings.

Gero grimaced at that fact, and quickly took stock of his body once again. No external injuries that he had seen, but it was the ones he could not see that would be of real concern. He had to make sure he didn't have a concussion, or any internal bleeding.

"Computer, prepare the bio-scanner," Gero commanded in an authoritative tone.

His Supercomputer gave an affirmative chirp in response, and the lab around Gero started humming to life. With his advanced age and lack of proper assistants, much of the lab was automated and keyed into his Supercomputer. The flooring in front of him shifted into an elevated platform, and Gero stepped onto it with practiced ease. A holographic panel projected itself in front of his eyes moments later, displaying a variety of information related to his biology. Meanwhile, an automated drone flew over toward him and started taking minute scans of his body, with those findings sent to the projected screen in front of him.

Gero hummed idly to himself as he took in the results. Overall, nothing too bad. A bit of bruising on his back and legs, but he could recover from that with time. No internal bleeding, no concussion, no other head trauma or injury that his scans could pick up. Still, it was very concerning that he'd lost consciousness in the first place. This wasn't some cartoon or movie where someone could be bonked over the head and wake up fine hours later, very bad things happened if people suddenly just lost consciousness—

Wait. Wait. What was this? Why would he think something like that? Sure, taking a hit to the head wasn't good, but if the right amount of force was used, one could be rendered unconscious without lasting harm. That was a plain, common biological fact of this universe. At least, as it pertained to the human body. So why would he think something to the contrary?

Gero frowned to himself, and took another look at the results. Something wasn't right here. He must have had some sort of head trauma. Why else would he be having these errant, disparate thoughts?

And then he remembered.

A flood of memories from another life assailed his mind all at once. Gero's eyes widened and he let out a strangled gasp, almost losing his footing as he struggled to reconcile the new life that flashed before his eyes. He staggered forward, hastily grabbing onto a chair in order to keep himself upright. At the same time, he grit his teeth, groaning as his head throbbed in pure agony: it felt as if his brain was on fire!

How long this sensation lasted, Gero couldn't say. It felt like an eternity, however, and the pain grew to be so much that Gero almost blacked out again. But he managed to soldier through the agony, and came out the other side. Eventually, the mental pain started to fade, and Gero felt himself coming into his own again. He took long, desperate gulps of air, and shakily sat down on his chair. He brought a wrinkled hand to his throbbing temples, massaging them as best as he could.

"This isn't my first life," Gero whispered to himself, all at once finding the sound of his own voice strangely foreign and unfamiliar.

He could remember it now. Living life on a more mundane world, with no threats of a Demon King or alien invaders. A world only inhabited by humans, with continents far different from his own, and a world still divided into numerous, competing nation states. A world where he'd had a loving family and hopes and dreams of a still distant future ahead of him.

But in comparison to his own life, the life he had lived here, it felt so less real and impactful to him. The life he had lived on this Earth was so much more vivid and real to him than anything in the memories that now plagued him. He had been through so much, and had so many more life experiences.

He had barely reached thirty years of age in that old life, but here? He was well into his sixties. He had been one of the most respected and famous scientists in his field, if not the world over; he'd had a wife and a son, and loved both of them very dearly until they'd been taken away from him. He had had a job he had loved, been part of a greater organization that could have changed the world for the better, only to have it all destroyed by a single, superhuman boy.

He had loved, and he had lost. And all of that pain towered over the losses of this other life.

"I'm still me," he whispered, as if to reassure himself of that fact. "I haven't changed. I've just had some new…data input. That is all."

Yes, yes. These new memories were certainly confusing, to say the least, but…not a cause of concern. He still felt every bit of himself as he did before: nothing had changed in the slightest. Sure, the knowledge that reincarnation was real did intrigue him, and made him wonder what new field of science he could create by studying that further. And sure, he had to now reconcile two very different lives and worldviews together…and wasn't that vexing.

But, he was still himself. He could take some assurance in that, if nothing else.

Gero settled back into his chair, taking a few moments to center himself. Any other day…any other day, such a revelation would be a scientific curiosity, to be sure. But, it would be something that he would ultimately put aside, in favor of his overarching goal: in favor of getting his revenge on that damnable Son Goku.

But memories of another life weren't the only thing he had. No, he had something far more valuable than that in his head, now.

He had memories of a future that was, and could still be. He now had intimate knowledge of his enemies, and the power they were capable of. And most important of all, he had detailed knowledge of his own failures, and how his grand plan for revenge had ultimately come undone. Which in turn, meant he had some changes to make here.

"Computer," he spoke aloud once more. "What is the date?"

"It is December 13th of 761, Doctor Gero."

Gero steepled his fingers together, and hummed some more as he mulled that matter over. So, 761, eh? If he had his calculations right…

"What is the current status of Son Goku?" he called out.

"Son Goku is currently deceased, Doctor Gero. According to the report of your tracking device, Son Goku died in battle against the alien invader self-identified as Raditz," the feminine voice of his Supercomputer dutifully reported.

Ah, just as he thought. This was a few months after Raditz's arrival and the death of Son Goku. The Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa would be due to arrive on Earth in almost a year's time. Right about now, Gohan would be training with Piccolo, while the rest of the Z Fighters would be undergoing their own training.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Now…what was he going to do with this handy bit of new knowledge?

Gero frowned again as he considered that vexing question. In theory, nothing had changed with the overall plan, but in practice…well. He had so much more information to work off of, now. A reassessment of the plan was all but inevitable, distasteful as the idea was.

"Computer, compile a comprehensive report as to the current status of the Android Project," he ordered, standing up from his chair. "I need to know what our current rate of progress is."

He already knew, of course, but at the same time, the memories felt…oddly fuzzy to him. Perhaps a side-effect of the introduction of these foreign memories? At any rate, a reminder of the current state of affairs would not be remiss.

His Supercomputer chirped positively in response, and Gero walked over to a nearby console to view the results.

Time to get back to work.

Author's Note:

Hello, and welcome to the start of a new project! My thanks to the wonderful fanfic Orochimama for giving me the inspiration for a villain SI in the first place. Go read this fic if you haven't already, it is absolutely spectacular.

So, I am once again taking another crack at the SI genre, this time in a most unconventional way with a Villain SI! Specifically Doctor Gero from Dragon Ball. First, for those familiar with my Kuroko SI fanfic, this is going to be a very different type of story, let's be clear about that. The SI here is merging with someone who was not a good person, and who still isn't quite a good guy in the aftermath. Though it's a little more complicated than that...but, more on that later. Second, Doctor Gero is a much older character, and someone with a greater life experience than the SI. GeroSI is able to handle the initial merge with more grace than Sadrai was herself, in large part due to his advanced age and (quite frankly) superior intellect as compared to the SI. But, that doesn't mean Gero is...the same as he was before, whatever he might say to the contrary. Again, more on that later.

So, overall, this is going to be a very different sort of project. With this story, I aim to explore how an older SI character would handle the new influx of foreign memories, and the changes that would bring about on an older, almost elderly character. And, of course, I wanted to try a different spin at a DBZ SI that wasn't just someone getting reborn as a Saiyan. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Saiyans, but I wanted to try something different with this project.

Much like with ASIMS, I don't have a real goal in mind for the story going forward as of yet, aside from some vague ideas and plots I want to explore. Hopefully I'll be able to manage that as well as I have with ASIMS. Suppose we'll see what happens, won't we?

Hope you guys like and enjoy. More to follow, hopefully.