There was a shutter.
A disturbance in the cold, black, bitter, wind of the northern icy climate that made the earth tremble even as the rattle of mechanical equipment rumbled the hard soil. Dr. Tira Misu could feel it, as subtle as it was, while she watched the tower crane lift what seemed to be an impossibly large block of rock and ice away from their goal. Her reflection in the glass of the control panel didn't justify the true worry and stress that she felt was actually in her eyes, and with her arms propped on the control pane, and chin resting in her fingers, she sighed. It went unheard as the rest of her colleagues cheered and celebrated a minor victory, seeing as that block of ice was the final roadblock in the way of their long-awaited journey. She couldn't find it in herself to celebrate though. Operating under the radar was risky enough, but what was buried in that ice was almost as terrifying as what stood behind her.
He was just as old, with long white hair, and a few more android pieces thrown into the mix to counteract damage done in the past. She glanced over her shoulder, catching the sight of that one red, glowing eye that stared straight ahead from the shadow of the doorway. Unmoving. Emotionless. Almost lifelessly standing there in a long, white coat. She felt her stomach flip and redirected her attention back outside the glass, just in time to see a crew of workers be lifted up from the chasm with what looked like a huge metal casket and be lowered onto a loading truck. She leaned back and crossed her arms, her hazel eyes staring straight ahead at nothing as her heart and brain ran around in circles. Caught between two factors of destruction, she couldn't help but feel as if stomach cataclysmic was soon to happen.
It was a mistake being there. Doing this.
It was a mistake bringing back the dead. Don't they know nothing good ever happens when humans try playing God?
Two men. Two absolute units of power strong enough to destroy everything, and there she was. Caught in the mix between.
"Hey, come on! Loosen up," A man whom she'd come to know as Dr. Snow, an American scientist, chimed as he slapped her shoulder.
Dr. Tira scrunched her nose and shrugged his hand off of her, "Stop."
Snow laughed, "You need to chill out. Everything's fine. Guys on the ground say this thing is out cold and his vital signs are nearly zilch. He isn't come to get us any time soon."
"That doesn't mean anything," Tira retorted, refusing to look at her colleague. Shaking her head, she stated. "I have a bad feeling about all this."
Snow rolled his eyes, "You've said that ever since they counsel passed that ruling over your daughter," he sneered.
Dr. Tira snapped her head, her face immediately flushing red and fury in her eyes that was so hot that Snow immediately regretted his statement, "You leave her out of this," she stammered between gritted teeth. "If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be here, WE wouldn't be here."
Snow threw his hands up defensively, "I'm sorry. I know."
Nothing was said after that. She redirected her attention back to the outside world and he backed off to join the others that were taking a much-needed break to watch them bring in this monstrosity of a creature for examination. She wasn't alone though, the glow of a singular red eye could be seen reflecting in the glass of the still, dark, hallway. Her skin crawled with chill bumps. Something was different about the air since they brought him back to life. Even more-so, this night in particular. Gripping her forearms, she glanced down at her watch that read 0235 AM. They'd been up almost 48 hours since they found the dig site, yet she couldn't bring herself to even feign sleep. The electricity in the air was so static, but it appeared as if she were the only one to feel it. Glancing back up into the hallway, she saw he was gone from the doorway but that didn't even give her the slightest air of comfort. She couldn't help but wonder what the next 24 hours would hold for them all.
A trove of white-coats were gathered around the viewing glass, ooing, awing, and giggling amongst themselves even. Dr. Tira Misu pushed her way to the front to watch them work, and what she saw was in her mind, very perplexing. He was humanoid, tall, and the most muscular being she'd ever seen in her life. His black hair was caked in blood and ice, and his naked body covered with a thin white cloth for modesty. The vital signs appeared as close to death as one could possibly get without actually being dead, and his cyanotic skin carried on the appearance. The team that worked around him seemed apprehensive at best while they did whatever it was that those medical types did. They'd all heard stories about this saiyan creatures, but this was the first one any of them in that building had actually seen one.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are getting ready to lower the newest piece of equipment bestowed to us by Red Pharmaceuticals, and we call this little baby "The Dreamcatcher"." A staticky man's voice announced over the intercom before a machine appeared from the ceiling, full of appendages that delicately held onto what looked like a disco-ball that someone intricately made into a helmet and secured it all over his head. "What this does, is captures the memories of the host and allows us to sort through what information stays, and what information, personality traits, memories, etc goes. This, in turn, allows us to create perfect super soldiers from pre-existing organisms and will cut time in half compared to creating androids and clones."
"Everything is a go," A woman stated before a hiss of wind signaled proper attachment.
"Alright, everyone clear," the same man sad before touching a few buttons that threw into motion a series of lights and machines that sounded like a glorified washing machine with a bad bracket. This probably went on for close to thirty seconds before the man threw up his hand, which Tira could only assume meant that the process was complete. Leaning against the glass, she peaked at the alien's face, almost certain she'd seen a twinge of activity that made her skin crawl. "And we're done," she heard the doctor say, breaking her concentration long enough to watch the disco-ball helmet disappear into the sky again with a long hiss.
"Now," another male doctor who was hidden in the opposing corner of the room started as he walked up to address the group, "With this specimen we left all motor skills intact, both fine and those highly advanced due to his species and fighting prowess. Along with that, he will remember his name and approximate age, but not much more in the way of personal details." He stated as he peeled away thick black gloves, his mask, then safety goggles. "Unfortunately, memories and the like are all cellular energy and as we all know, energy cannot be destroyed. Only contained or released. So," he then called down a large screen that displayed a real time stream display of all that cellular energy draining into what looked like a computer chip. "What we extracted will be stored here, in this chip. The only way for him to access these memories and what not, will be if we inserted this chip into a very specific area at the base of his brain stem. But trust me, folks," he said again, this time taking a long dramatic pause to stare into everyone's eyes individually, "nobody here wants us to do that. This specimen is an Omega level threat if not detained."
That was all Dr. Tira could handle anymore. Chills and nausea shot through her body even as she pushed her way past the crowd of eager scientists and out the double doors. The hallway was cold, lonely, and echoing her footsteps but nothing could compare to the turmoil that was scrambling her innards. The creeping feeling of not being alone and impending doom enveloped her even as she power walked away from everyone. Wrapping her arms around herself didin't even help stave off what she could only describe as a deathly chill. Everything was off about this situation. They should have just left what was dead stay dead. Both this saiyan and the long dead Dr. Gero. Ever since they resurrected him, something had been incredibly off, she thought to herself as she used her identification card to access the room. 'Like in that pet cemetery movie,' she thought again as the doors slid close behind her.
Before her there was a cryopod closed and sealed tightly as it had been for almost three years now. Around it, she'd adorned it with flowers and an assortment of old childhood pictures and memorabilia - the final pieces of her daughter that she could hold in her hands. Pulling up a chair, she leaned over the pod and cleaned off the condensation so she could peer in. A pang of sorrow hit her as she gazed onto her sleeping face. Her black hair was delicately strewn along her face, the charcoal eyes she'd use to get her way growing up were still softly closed, and the beauty mark and the lower left corner of her lips had yet to move at all in three years. The pod displayed a series of vital signs that expressed her body was still living, but it didn't stave off the feeling that she was just dead. It'd been three years now since the incident. Three years since she'd heard her voice and held her hand. Three years since she'd held her in her arms and comforted her after a devastating outburst. A tear crept to her eye that she didn't bother wiping away.
"You just wanted to see the world," she whispered to her, wishing so deeply that she could hear her. Waking her, however, would be a violation of the contract she'd made with Red Pharmaceuticals, and in turn, that would mean actual death for them both. Placing her head on the pod, as close to her's as she could possibly get, she ran her fingers over the name plate that read 'Cauli.' It was the name that she came with, not the name she would have given her if she'd given birth to her. She was only a few days old when she found her, though, laid on her back sprawled out with one tiny fist in her mouth in her back yard. No idea where she'd come from nor how she'd gotten there. A classic case of a helpless babe abandoned on a doorstep, or porch swing in this case. Naked save for a thin blanket and a note with that name. Sighing, she buried her head into her elbow, feeling the need for sleep finally taking hold. Letting it take her, she hoped for the same thing she'd hoped for for the past three years: That they'd wake up in their old house, in their old beds, and these days gone by were nothing but a putrid dream.
One hour slipped by, but it only felt like a coupe minutes before Dr. Tira Misu was startled awake by a small quake. Jarring herself up, she felt it again, followed by nothing but eerie silence and an even deeper feeling that something was very much amiss. Her shallow breathing activated by her fight or flight response was almost uncontrollable as she stumbled into the nearly pitch black corridor. The emergency lights had activated, signaling a disturbance in the power grid, but she knew something greater was wrong. Even at three am there was usually one or two more wandering souls going about their business around, but now there was none. Sleep drunk, she kept stumbling a bit father along, gripping the wall dimly lit with her left hand to keep up with where she was going. That was until she slipped on something cloth, narrowly catching herself before she hit the ground. Angrily, she snatched it up and held it up to the flood light, and quickly her anger was replaced by utter dismay. It was a lab coat, held together by singed fibers with the dark, scorched outline of what looked like a human torso on the inside. Trembling, she reached inside the pocket and pulled out the name badge associated with the it: Dr Failen Snow.
She all but threw the coat, grasping her mouth with both hands before looking around at all the singed clothes that littered the corridor she had just traversed. Even more sickening, the outlines of human remains in ash, yet no bodies to be found. Her rapid breathing was choking her with screams that couldn't come out, and yet even in the midst of panic, her instincts were overridden by the intense feeling of being watched. Her eyes locked with the red glow of death as it slowly and menacingly walked towards her. Metallic footsteps clattered around in the echos of the empty corridor, only accompanied by the soft patter of her bare feet as she blindly sprinted away. She collided with walls and litter from the slaughter, yet didn't even feel it. Adrenaline was clouding her senses, with the only forming thought that of saving her daughter. Reaching her room, she clambered around in her pockets for the passkey, and begged the doors to open up and close faster than what they did. There was an emergency override system in place that she had learned about not long after they placed Cauli into stasis, and activating It was the only shot she could give her at survival she felt. So as carefully as she could, she took their fate into her own hands, throwing any and call caution to the wind and overriding the only thing that had kept them apart for three whole years.
"System override complete," the feminine animatronic voice called out.
For the first time in what felt like years, joy and excitement bubbled inside of her. Tears birthed from an array of overwhelming emotions began flooding her eyes as the pod decompressed and metal plates began moving and shifting into an open position. Three years may as well have been three hundred to her, but all of them melted away in this moment. Clutching at her heart, her shallow breathing molded into breaths of excitement rather than terror. She'd gone as far as forget that just minutes ago she was running for her life.
That was, until the metal doors hissed open.
She'd not even had time to react before the cold feeling of a metal hand, covered with faux skin, gripped the back of her head and lifted her off of the ground effortlessly. There was no feeling, no terror, just the peace of existence as she gazed up her daughter's face as signs of life began to stir on what was once a living corpse. A smile crept to her lips and a hand reached out to touch her for what she knew would be the last time, but the distance was great, and the time in which it took to absorb her life essence completely was note. She felt no pain, no sadness, no fear as her life left her. Seemingly without even realizing that death had taken her, her soul departed as her mortal coil was absorbed or even disintegrated with the only thing left behind, a singular, minute drop of blood falling onto the assortment of white flowers.
She had died, before she'd even realized that she was dead, but at least she got to see her one final time.
Gero peered over at the young adult woman as she began to stir inside of what had been her tomb for three years. She was of medium height, and muscular build, dressed in black underwear with a small golden 'C' hung on a thin chain lying between her breasts. As her muscles began to twitch, and life once again began to really stir, he could feel the immense power radiating off her. It was raw, contained, and completely natural. He'd felt similar power before, and grimaced at the old memory. It'd be best to kill her now before she posed a threat, especially since his resurrection he had been exceptionally weak. Raising his hand, he aimed with full intent to absorb her essence just like he had everyone else, only this time something went horribly wrong for him. Her ki overloaded him, sending sharp, burning waves of pain searing through him as it violently threw him into the wall behind. Yelling out in fury and agony, he gripped his wrist to stop the pain, glaring upwards as he did so in a mix of perplexed anger and maybe even a hint of envy. Things were just as he'd feared. Death had weakened him to the point of being incapable of moving forward with his plan. He could absorb life to feed,nbut humans weren't giving him the boost he needed. They're power was to insignificant. If he was going to get anywhere anytime soon, he would have to learn how to slowly siphon away at greater power.
Right now, however, that was not an option. She'd inadvertently damaged his receptors beyond use for the time being. Thankfully the unnamed, underground organization of the Red Pharmaceuticals, the ones who sought to bring back the red ribbon army, had gifted him with self-healing properties alongside this new and improved vampire siphon. Standing, he could already hear the nano bots going to work repairing the damage, nevertheless, rest was the best option for him now.
The girl and the saiyan would have to wait.
Author note: And now, a word from our sponser.
Me. I'm the sponser.
Does anyone even read these, honestly? When I left years ago, they were still a thing but I don't know if that progressed. Either way, if you're reading this now WITH interest, thanks. Applaud yourself. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was pretty fun to write honestly and I'm already 1/4th of the way done with the second chapter. If there were issues , forgive me. I'm knocking the rust off so hopefully they wont progress.
So read, review, and let the love flow