It took the rest of the day to move Gero's necessary and vital equipment from his main lab to the auxiliary lab he had near Central City. It was an annoying, tedious task, thankfully made easier with the help of Androids Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen. With his Androids doing most of the heavy lifting, Gero himself did not have to do too much work: his job mainly consisted of transferring his Supercomputer's AI to his computer system at the other lab.
It was irritating he had to do this in the first place, but it was ultimately a better move than bringing Vomi to his main laboratory. He didn't want to risk her stumbling upon the stasis pods for Androids Seventeen and Eighteen, after all. Perhaps it'd be better to destroy them altogether, and thus eliminate the chance of Vomi ever discovering them…but, Gero was still uncertain about that idea.
Frankly, he should have gotten rid of those rebellious Androids by now. With what he knew from his meta-knowledge, keeping them around would only prove hazardous to his future health. And yet, he hesitated all the same, his cold logic at war with his conflicted emotions. The newly created aspect of his personality, born from his memories of another life—the same memories that had given him so many welcome advantages—was ill at ease with the idea of just killing Seventeen and Eighteen. A part of him now felt guilty on turning them into guinea pigs for his experiments: Lapis and Lazuli had never asked to be turned into all powerful, ruthless cyborgs, after all. And Gero was now certain that a degree of their ruthlessness came from their anger at being experimented on in the first place. Much like in the anime, they'd undoubtedly try to kill him the moment they came online again, but Gero couldn't even blame them for that.
So here he was, keeping them in hibernation and making them a problem for his future self. It was the coward's way out, but it at least bought him more time to consider how to deal with them. Perhaps if he got his own space program running, he could dump them both off in the deep darkness of the void, and make them someone else's problem...
Either way, doing nothing was a risky decision: perhaps even one that would bite him in the ass when he least expected it. Still, his safeguards over the Androids were near absolute. They remained in a deactivated state, and would stay that way unless awoken by himself or his Supercomputer. So there wasn't any inherent danger in keeping them in their current situation. His Supercomputer would also continue to monitor and control the lab in his absence, and would thus alert him the moment anything abnormal occurred with the twins.
It was far from the ideal solution, but it was the one he'd stick to all the same. Besides, until he figured out what he was going to do with Cell, it was best to keep Seventeen and Eighteen lying around in reserve. And if worst came to worst, he could always wake them up and try to send them to fight Vegeta, if both his loyal Androids and Goku failed to defeat the Saiyan Prince.
Though if things truly became that desperate, perhaps he'd be better off stuffing himself and his family onto a spaceship, and getting the hell out of dodge.
At any rate, Gero had set up shop in his auxiliary lab by the end of the day: and the moment everything was settled, Gero swiftly retired to bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
He spent the following morning doing various tasks throughout his lab, passing the time as he waited to hear back from Vomi. He did not have to putter around all that long, thankfully: he received a call from his ex-wife around noon, saying she was ready. Gero hopped into his hover car right away, and flew the short distance to Ponshu's house.
The entire family was waiting for him when he arrived. Laofeng and Ponshu were standing side by side on the front porch, while a fussy Hedo was carried in Laofeng's arms. Meanwhile Vomi stood apart from them, standing on the lawn with two suitcases on either side of her.
He spared his son a brief glance before looking right back at Vomi. He got out of the car, murmuring a greeting to her as he reached to take one of her suitcases.
Her hand moved to seize his own, latching tightly onto his wrist.
Gero paused, his brows furrowed as he looked back at Vomi. She stared at him for a few moments, before wordlessly gesturing over to their son.
"I can take care of the bags. Ponshu wants a word with you before we go," she said.
Gero grimaced, glancing again toward his estranged son. He gave a jerky nod and left Vomi as he walked toward the front porch.
Ponshu moved to meet him, climbing down the steps and marching until they were face-to-face. He stared at Gero with a steely, hardened gaze, not a hint of warmth present in his blue eyes.
"If you hurt her," his son stated, venom clear in his tone. "I will kill you."
Gero barely resisted the urge to flinch, Ponshu's words hitting him as if his son had actually slapped him. He likewise managed to smother any reaction from showing on his face, a faint twitch of his brow being the only sign of how his son's words affected him.
"I'd expect nothing less," he finally murmured, trying to keep his voice steady.
He felt tempted to add something more, to add some words of reassurance, but he dismissed that impulse just as quickly as it came. Ponshu wouldn't trust him, after all. And why should he? Gero had never given his second son a chance to believe that there was any hint of goodness in him.
Yet another regret he could truly only appreciate now, with the influence of his other life. And perhaps for the first time since he'd Awakened to his old memories, Gero cursed himself for getting them so late in life.
If only he'd gotten them sooner, when he could have changed things with his family. Gevo would undoubtedly be alive. And—
Well. There was no use fixating on what could have been, was there?
Ponshu glared at him in response, his eyes narrowing slightly. Then, without another word, he turned around and marched back over to his wife.
Gero let out the smallest of sighs, giving his son one last stare before turning around himself. Vomi was already waiting in the passenger seat of his hover car, her bags stowed away in the vehicle's trunk.
He strode back over to his car, getting into the driver's seat moments later. He glanced over at Vomi a moment later, observing how she pressed herself as far away from him as she could manage.
"Not going to say goodbye?" Gero questioned.
Vomi raised an eyebrow and craned her head to look at him. Crossing her arms, she gave a small scoff. "I already said my goodbyes before you arrived, Gero. Now, let's not waste any more time."
Gero felt his brow twitch again, her cold tone eating away at him. Nevertheless he did as she said, turning the car back on a moment later. He brought it back up into the sky before racing across the skyline, soon leaving the Central City suburbs behind.
It was a mercifully short trip to his new lab. They arrived not twenty minutes later, parking in the garage of his lair. Vomi's eyes lingered over the Attack Ball he'd move there, though she said nothing about it. She also, not unsurprisingly, dismissed his offer of help with her bags, and he instead led her to the garage elevator, bringing them to the first floor of the lab.
He began to give her a tour of the laboratory thereafter, figuring that would be the best way to start things.
"There's the garage, of course, which you just saw. Fairly empty outside of my personal hover car and the Attack Ball I found. I'll...tell you about that later. There's also a sub-basement located between the main floor of the laboratory and the garage. I largely use it for storage and secondary experiments. The frames for Androids Twenty, Nineteen, and Sixteen are currently stored down there, as they are all incomplete. Ah, and down there is the centralized processing unit for my Supercomputer as well. It is, of course, networked into a wider array of units across the world, so damage to one physical server will not outright destroy the wider network." he said.
Vomi gave a small scoff, bringing him up short. "I know how your Supercomputer works, Gero. I helped you build your very first one, after all."
"Ah. Right," Gero replied awkwardly, giving a grimace. He'd expanded on the concept so much during his solo years, it was hard to remember that his wife had been at his side when he'd first pioneered the project.
He cleared his throat a moment later, resuming his tour and ushering her deeper into the lab. "The main floor of the laboratory is divided up into several different areas. The main access terminal for my Supercomputer is located near the center of the lab. Then there's the operating bay, where I make most of my Mechanoid creations. Adjacent to the operating bay are the stasis pods for my active Androids. Currently Androids Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen are all in hibernation mode whilst undergoing a new update. I also have a section of the lab devoted toward biological examinations and experiments. And, of course, there are the living quarters. A little rustic, perhaps, but nevertheless adequate. There's the kitchen, the shower, the dining room, and the bedroom; if you require any other separate areas there, do let me know—"
"Gero," Vomi interrupted him again, a hint of tension to her tone. "You said 'bedroom', singular. Yes?"
"...Correct?" Gero affirmed, glancing back at her to shoot her a puzzled look.
When it became clear he didn't catch what she was hinting at, Vomi sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay then, let me make this simple for you: where am I staying?"
Gero blinked rapidly, fully turning around to face her. Vomi stared back at him with an unamused glare on her face.
"Pardon?" he asked, flummoxed.
"Bedroom, singular, Gero," she repeated again, placing a hand on her hip.
It took him an extra moment, but Gero nevertheless caught her point. His eyes widened and he gave an immediate grimace. "Oh, find me in the alps."
Gero had been working by himself for well over a decade, and thus when constructing his labs, he only ever needed to construct a single bedroom in his living quarters. Now, however, he was to have a partner: and one he doubted would tolerate sharing a room with him. In fact, Gero knew Vomi would try to throttle him if he so much as suggested the possibility.
It would be awkward enough, sharing a workspace with his ex-wife. To make her stomach the indignity of anything more would no doubt break their already fragile partnership.
Well, now. Wasn't this endlessly embarrassing. How had he not foreseen an issue like this? The most brilliant mind in the world, and yet mastery of any social interactivity constantly eluded him.
"My apologies," he stiffly replied a moment later, his right eye twitching with faint irritation. "I will...build a second bedroom posthaste. In the meantime, I'll just...move a mattress into the operating bay, I suppose, and sleep there."
"Is that so?" Vomi questioned, surprise flashing over her face. "I half expected you to fight me on who'd get the bed."
"Please, I'm not that much of a petty tyrant," Gero snorted. Then he shot Vomi a wry look and added, "Besides, we both know who would win that fight."
A fleeting smile stretched over her lips in response. Then, Vomi's expression returned to a more taciturn look, and she gave a single nod. "Good. Now, you can save the rest of the tour, I already have a fair idea of where things are. You really haven't changed your laboratory layout designs at all, Gero. It's almost the exact same from when we worked together."
"Ah. Right," he noted, giving a small wince. Yet another thing he'd overlooked.
"So," she continued, giving him an imperious stare. "You wanted my assistance. And here I am. So how do you want me to help? You weren't all that clear on that."
Gero nodded, clearing his throat a moment later as he slipped back into a more clinical, professional demeanor. He felt a sense of relief as he did that: he'd always felt more comfortable and sure of himself when having a social mask like that on, so to speak. "I had some ideas, and I'm sure you'll have some of your own once I give you a full debriefing. First, I think it would be best to show you what I have managed to do so far."
With that declaration given, he led her over to the stasis units, stopping in front of the pods for his active mechanoids. He checked each of their display panels, ensuring that everything was in working order. Seeing that the updates had been installed without issue, Gero proceeded to activate his Androids one by one.
A hiss of steam echoed through the lab as the pods for Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen slowly slid open. Each of his creations stepped out of their stasis units seconds thereafter, their eyes naturally gravitating toward Vomi as they regarded the newcomer.
Well, Thirteen and Fourteen did so, at least. Fifteen seemed far too busy taking a swig from his flask. Which reminded Gero, where did he get that?! He'd thoroughly searched Fifteen before putting him in stasis, so how…
Ugh, what an infuriating creature.
"Vomi, may I introduce Androids Thirteen, Fourteen, and Fifteen," Gero announced, trying to push past his exasperation. His own natural arrogance and pride indeed returned to the forefront, as he gestured toward his creations with a haughty, superior smirk. "If all goes well, they shall be my frontline fighters against the Saiyan menace."
Unfortunately for Gero, his gravitas was utterly ruined when Fifteen opened his mouth to speak.
"Yo yo yo, what's crack-a-lackin'!" the short Mechanoid declared, before his attention shifted over to Vomi. A roguish smile spread over his artificial lips as he added, "And how you doin', good lookin'?"
Oh sweet Kami, no.
"Fifteen," Gero growled, staring daggers at his creation. "Control yourself! And do not hit on my ex-wife!"
"Oh ho! So that means you're single, then?" Fifteen followed up, giving an unrepentant grin.
Vomi blinked rapidly, looking down at the short mechanoid with a carefully blank look on her face. Slowly, she turned back to face Gero, remarking, "I was expecting many things today. Being flirted with by a three foot tall purple clown was not one of them."
"Psh, I ain't no clown, baby. 'Sides, that's all Nineteen's schtick anyway. Or it will be when he's finished," Fifteen retorted, before taking another swig from his flask.
"...He can process alcohol?" Vomi questioned, looking at him again.
"Please, let's not get started on that," Gero groaned, shaking his head. He gave Fifteen another dark glare, hoping beyond hope that Vegeta would soon rid him of this troublesome machine.
"Doctor Vomi, it is a pleasure to meet you," Fourteen interjected, giving her a nod and a polite, formal bow. "Doctor Gero has told us much about you, and what to expect from you. I look forward to having you work on my programming."
Vomi raised an eyebrow, though a pleased smile crossed her lips all the same. She returned Fourteen's nod and said, "Well, aren't you a polite one. I look forward to working with you as well, Fourteen."
"Kiss ass," Fifteen groused, muttering to himself.
"Yes, the good Doctor Gero has told us a great deal about your genius," Thirteen declared, grinning as he stepped forward.
He reached over, taking Vomi's hand before she could give a word of protest. He then bent down to gently press a kiss against the back of her hand, rising back up a moment later with a smile designed to charm her. "Though I must admit, he failed to educate us on just how beautiful you truly are."
Oh God damn it! Now there were two of them! Ugh, if he didn't need all of his active Androids to face the Saiyan menace, then he'd scrap Thirteen and Fifteen both in a heartbeat! Goddamn lousy, good-for-nothing ingrates!
"Christ alive Thirteen, keep it bloody professional!" Gero thundered, barely resisting the urge to throttle his creation. Not that it would do him any good, anyway.
"Of course, Doctor, of course," Thirteen demurred, shooting him a smug stare. "I'm just letting Doctor Vomi know how much we appreciate her presence. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"What's a 'christ'?" Fifteen asked aloud, to which Fourteen just shrugged.
Vomi, meanwhile, stood frozen in place, her eyes wide as she stared at Android Thirteen. She hardly seemed to notice all the banter from the Mechanoids, her eyes blinking rapidly as she took in every detail of Thirteen's artificial face.
When she finally looked over at him, Gero was stunned to an expression of absolute disappointment: in fact, it felt as if an entire aura of profound despondency had shrouded his ex-wife.
"Gero," she intoned, her voice dripping with scorn, mixed with pity. "This is just sad."
"Wh-what?!" he sputtered, giving her a perplexed look.
She stared at him a moment longer before looking back at Thirteen. Then, she turned back to face him and said, "If you're seriously going to tell me you didn't base Thirteen off of some deluded version of your youthful self, then I'll just let you know now: I'm never going to believe you."
Gero reeled back, his face coloring with anger and embarrassment. His mouth stuttered and stammered over his words until he finally managed a solid response. "I, I don't, I would not put it like that! I mean, yes, obviously, I modeled Thirteen's facial structures off of my own from my youth. But that was the best model I had available when I was constructing him—!"
"Gero," Vomi cut him off, shaking her head. "I am not the same lovestruck, foolish young woman I once was. When I see your bullshit, I will not hesitate to call you out on it."
"Oh, what! What on earth is wrong with Thirteen's appearance?!" Gero finally thundered, crossing his arms as he glared daggers at her.
Vomi raised an eyebrow and simply stared at him.
Gero gave a frustrated growl, throwing up his hands as he declared, "Fine, fine! I'll admit it's narcissistic, but—!"
"And delusional as well, as I said," Vomi rebutted. "Or are you seriously going to tell me that you had half the musculature that Thirteen does, when you were that young? Gero, he has abs. You never had abs, not even once."
"Oh, so I'm a superior specimen to Doctor Gero in his prime? That is handy to know," Thirteen crowed with a smug grin.
"You stay out of this!" Gero hissed, before looking back at his ex-wife. "For the love of…can we just drop this? Thirteen's appearance doesn't have any bearing on our discussions whatsoever!"
"I beg to differ…but, yes, we are getting off track," she acknowledged, bowing her head.
Gero rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he muttered darkly under his breath. It was not nearly as bad as Vomi was making it out to be! It simply wasn't!
While he fumed and growled, Vomi took a moment to study his Androids again, assessing their worth with a more clinical eye. When she was done with her evaluations, she spoke up.
"Alright, then. So these are your frontline fighters, as you said. You're confident they can stand against these Saiyans that are coming?"
Gero jerked slightly as he was brought back to reality. He quickly pushed his smoldering anger aside, focusing instead on her question.
He opened his mouth to speak, but he hesitated, at the last second. He spent another moment mulling over his thoughts, stroking his chin before he said, "I admit, I am not entirely sure. Right now, I am confident their base power level output is superior to that of Raditz, the Saiyan that fought Goku and Piccolo. The battle data from that fight alone has boosted the power of my Androids tenfold. But the two Saiyans that are coming to the Earth now are far, far stronger than Raditz ever was."
Gero had to admit, this was quite the frustrating issue, and it'd been vexing him for some time. Without a proper Saiyan scouter, he wasn't able to measure the power level output of his Androids in a satisfactory way. Bulma had Raditz's scouter, if he recalled right, but getting it from her would be no easy task: not if he wanted to retain his anonymity.
He could always build his own variant of the power level detection technology, of course: in fact, Gero was confident he'd be able to do so. However, he had a million and one things to do these days, and building his own scouter would involve cracking into a scientific tech base he'd been previously unfamiliar with. It would take a great deal of time to properly do that project, not to mention double that amount of time to build a functional prototype—especially one that wasn't liable to blow up in his face during the first test.
Wait. His Mechanoids were, as the name suggested, wholly mechanical and nonbiological. The Z Warriors had been unable to detect ki from any of his Androids, including Seventeen and Eighteen, who were more cyborg than android. So that meant that conventional scouters probably wouldn't be able to detect any ki or power level signatures given off by his creations…
Oh, blast it! That meant he'd have to pioneer a distinctly new and separate form of ki detection devices, that could measure the power output of his Androids. Ugh, when would he ever have time to do that?!
Screw that nonsense. He was going to get his hands on a proper scouter the first chance he got, and then reverse engineer the technology. That would provide a much easier starting base for his own brand of Android-friendly ki detectors.
"Gero?" Vomi prompted him, raising an eyebrow.
Gero gave a small start, coming back to the present moments later. He cleared his throat, taking a moment to compose himself before he spoke again.
"As I was saying, while I am confident in my Androids' capabilities, I am unsure if they are at the required power level necessary to match, or best, the coming Saiyan incursion. I will continue to feed them any more battle data from the field, as it becomes relevant, though there are other ways to compensate for their potential weaknesses. Most importantly, I have an Infinite Energy Reactor that I've installed in them to increase their power, so that should further fortify their power against the Saiyans. Android Thirteen also has a unique transformation feature that I am perfecting, though that requires the destruction of Fourteen and Fifteen to accomplish, so it would be a last resort of sorts. Regardless, this is where I hope you will come in, Vomi."
She gave a light nod, her eyes drifting back over to the assembled Androids. "You said you had Androids Twenty, Nineteen, and Sixteen under construction as well. Are you hoping that they might be your trump card?"
"To a degree," Gero acknowledged with a nod. "Truth be told, I'm not confident I can get them done in time. Twenty and Nineteen both require extensive overhauls to their designs that I haven't truly even started with, yet. Sixteen, meanwhile, is closer to completion, but I am…hesitant to send him out until I am sure he can dominate the Saiyans. But, with your help, I am hopeful that we can get these other Androids finished in time."
"Hm, with the two of us working together, it's…possible, I'll grant you. I'll need to know what your intentions are with the remodelings for Twenty and Nineteen, though. And take a look for them myself, as well as with Android Sixteen," Vomi said, closing her eyes in thought. "Though I'll remind you, I was never fully comfortable working on your mechanical creations. Biology was always more my area of expertise."
"I am aware of that," Gero quickly assured her. "And had some thoughts on how you might contribute there. I've gotten hold of some research from Doctor Wheelo recently, that I'm still sorting through. It is my hope that we can repurpose what he learned for our own benefit, in creating potential Biomechanical warriors of our own. Perhaps they'll even end up surpassing my own Androids in terms of their final power output, though of course that remains to be seen."
"Doctor Wheelo? How…? Nevermind, I probably don't want to know," Vomi dismissed, shaking her head. "But…he was one of the foremost experts in biomechanical technologies. Studying from his work would be…intellectually stimulating, to say nothing else."
Though she tried to downplay her interest, Gero could spot the keen shine of excitement in Vomi's eyes. That sight brought back pleasant memories, and he couldn't help the fond smile that slipped over his features.
Just as quickly, however, that smile disappeared from his face. He didn't have time to reminisce over pleasant visions of the past. Besides, he doubted Vomi's good mood would last much longer. He was already dreading showing her the frame for Android Sixteen: there would be no mistaking who he was modeled on, and he didn't have a good read on how she would react to him.
And, of course, there was the issue of why he really wanted Vomi around. Having her help and second opinion with his Androids was a nice benefit, of course, but it was not why he had really brought her into the fold.
"Then, of course, there is the final project of mine that I am…hoping you can help me accomplish," he said, trying to muster a calm and cool demeanor.
However, his efforts were in vain. Vomi had been married to him for well over twenty three years, and knew all of his tells: including when he was holding back an uncomfortable truth from her.
Her eyes narrowed at him moments later, her arms folding over her chest as she focused her full attention onto him.
"And what project is that?" she icily asked.
Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. This, if nothing else, would determine if their partnership could truly stand.
"My project to create a biomechanical android. Well, that's not quite true. The project would really be about turning a human into a type of specialized cyborg," Gero finally said.
Vomi said nothing at first, though her eyes continued to lock onto him. After a long, tense moment, she motioned for him to continue. Gero paused a moment longer, doing his best to read his wife's feelings through her stony expression…
Alas, he'd never been able to fully analyze her emotions. Perhaps that was yet another reason as to why their marriage had failed.
"Now, before you say anything about who the test subject would be, well. I will not lie. I had…considered you, first and foremost, as I trusted you with the unbelievable power that would bestow upon you. However, I now realize you'd be heavily reluctant to undergo such a process now, in light of our…current relationship. No doubt you'd be suspicious of my intentions, to put it generously. So with that in mind…"
Gero took a deep, calming breath, doing his best to calm his racing heart. There would be no turning back after this.
"With that in mind, I would instead submit myself as the subject for this experiment. I want you to help me turn myself into a cyborg."
A deafening silence filled the room as Vomi stared at him with wide eyes, a mixture of astonishment and horror written clear across her face.
Author's Note:
Apologies for the long delay on this chapter. Finally managed to get this typed out, though! Vomi and Gero's partnership officially begins, though it's off to a rocky start. We're also nearing the end of the 'prologue' arc of the story, which is exciting as well. More, extended timeskips will follow in the next few chapters, and it hopefully won't take too long to get to Vegeta and Nappa's arrival.