02-06-2018, 06:51 AM
Streets thick with humans appeared before Cell as the kaleidoscope of colours cleared from his eyes – a side effect of using the portal into this new dimension. Looming buildings surrounded him on all sizes, their burnished windows glinting with light. Cars without wheels descended from the streams up high, floated to a stop at the curb, and zipped down the needless bitumen of the streets. Cell’s keen eye spotted the white armoured soldiers that mingled with the crowds and stood flagrantly on street corners, gripping sleek ebony rifles and scanning the area at all times.
A police state with impeccable sanitation and the technology to back it all up. Cell thought a human with a sword was going to be a thorn in his side. He had to stay low and stay out of sight until he could ascertain whether Android 17 or 18 were here. At least this massive metropolis felt more like the cities of the Earth he knew.
Cell’s first instinct was to scamper to a shadowed crook but he saw plenty of humanoid creatures that were not human and the larger population of humans didn’t seem to react at all. In his world, the very sight of a green skinned bug-man would send them screaming in the opposite direction. Here it appeared Cell was just part of the scenery.
At least he felt like he was, until a boggle-eyed man staggered up to him, his red hair messy and unkempt.
“It ... it can’t be ... Cell?“ he mumbled, stopping right before the bio-android, his back crooked but his head craned up at Cell’s. He laughed in an empty, mocking tone. “W-what are the odds of me running into you?”
Cell gazed at the human with intrigue. “Odd. You know my name and yet you don’t seem terrified of me. Explain yourself.”
“Where did all your ads go?” the human said, his eyes scanning Cell’s flesh. “Did Gero let you off the hook or something?”
Cell’s eyes widened.
He grabbed the human by the cuff of his shirt and lifted him so his feet were dangling. “You’re using an awful lot of words that you shouldn’t know.” Cell’s tail hovered above his shoulder, the barbed tip angled at the red head. “You’re going to stop talking and tell me how you know my name and how you know about Gero ... or else I’m going to absorb you. And if you know as much as I’m betting you do, you already know what ‘absorbing’ means.”
“No! Wait!” the human pleaded, gripping Cell’s wrist. His eyes flicked away. “Those soldiers – they’re stormtroopers. If you do anything to me, they’ll turn you into swiss cheese with their laser rifles. The Empire isn't a fan of acts of random violence, even if it's committed on a nobody.”
Cell’s cat eyes followed the human’s gaze. Indeed, a number of white-plated guards turned their attention from the streets and watched Cell intently, as if deciding whether to move on him or not.
“Talk!” Cell rasped, releasing his hold on the human’s shirt roughly.
“OK, OK,” the human said. “Look, can we go somewhere that isn’t on the street? There’s really no reason to be so angry about-“
“I’ll decide how to feel,” Cell said, leaning in. He spotted a stormtrooper walking closer to them, stopping on the other side of the road. “Fine. If it will cease this useless time-wasting, then lead me somewhere.”
They darted through the crowds. Cell kept a sense of the stormtroopers, being aware that they still watched and tracked their movements, though they didn’t move to attack or apprehend them. The human shrugged his shoulders, sinking his head down, occasionally shifting his gaze as if he was expecting to be assaulted.
Eventually the human brought the bio-android to a bustling coffee shop where they sat outside at a table beneath a parasol. The waiter took the human’s order and nonchalantly turned to Cell, who blew him off. He left as if Cell was a human himself; no fear, no disgust, no outrage. This was all very alien to him. He felt so exposed and yet seemed completely safe.
“You got your way,” Cell said, leaning forward on the table. “Now tell me everything.”
“Just one question – what happened to all the advertisements?”
“What are you blabbering on about?”
The red haired human pointed to Cell’s skin. “The ads. Dr. Gero had you covered in them ... huh.”
Cell frowned. “What?!”
“You don’t remember the advertisements, do you?”
“Of course not! I’ve never been a walking billboard for anything but terror! Nor have I ever met Gero.”
“I think I understand,” the human said as his coffee arrived. He blew on the steaming beverage and took a sip. “Let’s start from the beginning.”
“Yes. It would be nice to start from somewhere.” Cell felt his eye twitch.
“A previous incarnation of you must have encountered Gero,” the human said. “It’s not widely documented so it’s not proven, but there’s been a theory that some people who arrive in the Omniverse don’t always stay here. At least, not the same version of that person. One returns with their memories wiped, or their powers severely altered.”
“Gero is in this Corsucant?” Cell said. “I must see him! He will know how to track down the other androids, and then –“
“I’m afraid that’s not an option,” the human replied, taking another draught of his coffee.
“You will make it an option, or I’ll –“
“He has no interest in seeing you, Cell. Since he came to be in this place, he has much more ‘important’ projects to be working on. You were lucky you even got to see him last time. He’ll flat out refuse an audience with you now.”
“What?” Cell said in a high register. “I am his greatest creation! The distillation of perfection in living form! You will take me to him, and-“
The human shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. Even if I still had the same clearance as I did, which I don’t, all you’ll get for busting into his laboratory is an indefinite stint in prison. Maybe you’ll get experimented on if Gero gets bored, but trust me – you won’t be his pet project.”
“I ... I don’t believe this,” Cell muttered. “You must be lying!”
“No!” the human said, holding up his open hands. “I’m not! I’m telling you the truth! I risked so much for you!”
“I won’t believe your filthy lies any longer! Take me to Gero so he can help me find the androids, or-“
“Wait! Please, hear me out! I’ll tell you everything! How I know you and Gero, and why I even care to be seen with you!”
Cell restrained himself. This fiery headed human couldn’t have stumbled upon Gero’s name, or his own, by accident. If he was lying, he was mixing it with truth expertly; Cell couldn’t spot a tell.
“Speak, then.”
The human sipped nervously from his coffee cup. Although he may have been taking comfort in the warm brew, the caffeine would be doing the opposite to his nerves.
“My name is Davin. I work – I worked – for Dr. Gero. He is one of the most powerful and influential scientists in Coruscant, if not the whole Omniverse. He’s been working on top secret experiments the likes of which I could never have dreamed of in my world. He truly is a genius.”
“In any case, I learned of your arrival a few months back. When Gero told me about you, I found myself fascinated with you. While he may have moved on from you, I thought the idea of gene splicing multiple alien species together into a powerful, cohesive whole to be absolutely revolutionary. I had always dreamt of doing something like that myself but I was never successful. Yet here was Gero dismissing the goal of my life’s work as if it was an afternoon project he was bored with by the next day.”
The human ordered another drink. Knowledge of Cell’s creation was not common knowledge. Even if he had been from Cell’s reality, the only way he could’ve known about him was through the campaign of fear he waged when still in his imperfect state, absorbing cities of humans in order to absorb the androids. To know he was the result of the fusion of cells was proof he must have had some form of contact with Gero.
“Pop quiz,” Cell said. “What species comprise my being?”
“Ah ... from memory ... human, namekian, saiyan and something labelled ‘Frieza’s Race.’ The human and saiyan genome are surprisingly similar ... I doubt Gero had any trouble splicing the DNA of those two species. The other two were much more complex.”
“It seems you might not be the crackpot I took you for in the first place,” Cell said. “Go on with your story.”
“After this, I found myself consumed with the idea of an ultimate being. I had been working happily beneath Doctor Gero, but to know that the key to my greatest dream was inside that belligerent old man’s head was too much for me to bear. I ‘acquired’ a number of files about you from Gero’s data stores and started studying you. I went through his gene splicing techniques, his mental conditioning, the incubation process ... so much he did was jaw-dropping to me. Anyway, Gero found out about what I did. Even though you might not even be a blip on his radar anymore, he was absolutely incensed that I had stolen data from him. He attempted to apprehend me but I managed to escape.” He fished out a small data chip from his breast pocket. “Everything I pilfered from him I saved to this backup. Now he has the Empire looking out for me.”
“And I take it the Empire is enforced by these stormtroopers you warned me about earlier,” Cell said. “If that’s true, why are you still in the open with me right now? Why not flee this place for a quieter location?”
“Because that would draw undue attention,” Davin said. “After you grabbed me by the collar, they had us in their sights. If we did something too suspicious, my cover could have been easily blown.”
“Surely Gero would have circulated your photo.”
“I’m certain he has,” Davin said. “That’s why I’m disguised. This isn’t my real face.”
Cell examined the streets. The stormtroopers had largely left them alone, though one or two loitered around.
“So now you’ve met your hero,” Cell said. “What are you going to do about it? As far as I can tell, you’re useless to me. If you can’t help me find the androids, I have no reason to waste any more time on you. I’ve already tasted perfection and I can’t bear to be in this form any longer than I have to be.”
Davin stood up suddenly. “Wait. Are you saying that ... you’ve already become perfect before? In your reality?”
“Right until the moment I woke up here,” Cell said. “Why? What does it matter?”
The human’s face lit up like a burning building. He seized Cell by the arm. “I have something very exciting I want to try out!”
“And that is?”
“You don’t need the androids, Cell. The power is still inside you. And if my prediction is correct, I can bring it back to the surface. Cell ... I can make you perfect again.”
A police state with impeccable sanitation and the technology to back it all up. Cell thought a human with a sword was going to be a thorn in his side. He had to stay low and stay out of sight until he could ascertain whether Android 17 or 18 were here. At least this massive metropolis felt more like the cities of the Earth he knew.
Cell’s first instinct was to scamper to a shadowed crook but he saw plenty of humanoid creatures that were not human and the larger population of humans didn’t seem to react at all. In his world, the very sight of a green skinned bug-man would send them screaming in the opposite direction. Here it appeared Cell was just part of the scenery.
At least he felt like he was, until a boggle-eyed man staggered up to him, his red hair messy and unkempt.
“It ... it can’t be ... Cell?“ he mumbled, stopping right before the bio-android, his back crooked but his head craned up at Cell’s. He laughed in an empty, mocking tone. “W-what are the odds of me running into you?”
Cell gazed at the human with intrigue. “Odd. You know my name and yet you don’t seem terrified of me. Explain yourself.”
“Where did all your ads go?” the human said, his eyes scanning Cell’s flesh. “Did Gero let you off the hook or something?”
Cell’s eyes widened.
He grabbed the human by the cuff of his shirt and lifted him so his feet were dangling. “You’re using an awful lot of words that you shouldn’t know.” Cell’s tail hovered above his shoulder, the barbed tip angled at the red head. “You’re going to stop talking and tell me how you know my name and how you know about Gero ... or else I’m going to absorb you. And if you know as much as I’m betting you do, you already know what ‘absorbing’ means.”
“No! Wait!” the human pleaded, gripping Cell’s wrist. His eyes flicked away. “Those soldiers – they’re stormtroopers. If you do anything to me, they’ll turn you into swiss cheese with their laser rifles. The Empire isn't a fan of acts of random violence, even if it's committed on a nobody.”
Cell’s cat eyes followed the human’s gaze. Indeed, a number of white-plated guards turned their attention from the streets and watched Cell intently, as if deciding whether to move on him or not.
“Talk!” Cell rasped, releasing his hold on the human’s shirt roughly.
“OK, OK,” the human said. “Look, can we go somewhere that isn’t on the street? There’s really no reason to be so angry about-“
“I’ll decide how to feel,” Cell said, leaning in. He spotted a stormtrooper walking closer to them, stopping on the other side of the road. “Fine. If it will cease this useless time-wasting, then lead me somewhere.”
They darted through the crowds. Cell kept a sense of the stormtroopers, being aware that they still watched and tracked their movements, though they didn’t move to attack or apprehend them. The human shrugged his shoulders, sinking his head down, occasionally shifting his gaze as if he was expecting to be assaulted.
Eventually the human brought the bio-android to a bustling coffee shop where they sat outside at a table beneath a parasol. The waiter took the human’s order and nonchalantly turned to Cell, who blew him off. He left as if Cell was a human himself; no fear, no disgust, no outrage. This was all very alien to him. He felt so exposed and yet seemed completely safe.
“You got your way,” Cell said, leaning forward on the table. “Now tell me everything.”
“Just one question – what happened to all the advertisements?”
“What are you blabbering on about?”
The red haired human pointed to Cell’s skin. “The ads. Dr. Gero had you covered in them ... huh.”
Cell frowned. “What?!”
“You don’t remember the advertisements, do you?”
“Of course not! I’ve never been a walking billboard for anything but terror! Nor have I ever met Gero.”
“I think I understand,” the human said as his coffee arrived. He blew on the steaming beverage and took a sip. “Let’s start from the beginning.”
“Yes. It would be nice to start from somewhere.” Cell felt his eye twitch.
“A previous incarnation of you must have encountered Gero,” the human said. “It’s not widely documented so it’s not proven, but there’s been a theory that some people who arrive in the Omniverse don’t always stay here. At least, not the same version of that person. One returns with their memories wiped, or their powers severely altered.”
“Gero is in this Corsucant?” Cell said. “I must see him! He will know how to track down the other androids, and then –“
“I’m afraid that’s not an option,” the human replied, taking another draught of his coffee.
“You will make it an option, or I’ll –“
“He has no interest in seeing you, Cell. Since he came to be in this place, he has much more ‘important’ projects to be working on. You were lucky you even got to see him last time. He’ll flat out refuse an audience with you now.”
“What?” Cell said in a high register. “I am his greatest creation! The distillation of perfection in living form! You will take me to him, and-“
The human shook his head. “It’s not going to happen. Even if I still had the same clearance as I did, which I don’t, all you’ll get for busting into his laboratory is an indefinite stint in prison. Maybe you’ll get experimented on if Gero gets bored, but trust me – you won’t be his pet project.”
“I ... I don’t believe this,” Cell muttered. “You must be lying!”
“No!” the human said, holding up his open hands. “I’m not! I’m telling you the truth! I risked so much for you!”
“I won’t believe your filthy lies any longer! Take me to Gero so he can help me find the androids, or-“
“Wait! Please, hear me out! I’ll tell you everything! How I know you and Gero, and why I even care to be seen with you!”
Cell restrained himself. This fiery headed human couldn’t have stumbled upon Gero’s name, or his own, by accident. If he was lying, he was mixing it with truth expertly; Cell couldn’t spot a tell.
“Speak, then.”
The human sipped nervously from his coffee cup. Although he may have been taking comfort in the warm brew, the caffeine would be doing the opposite to his nerves.
“My name is Davin. I work – I worked – for Dr. Gero. He is one of the most powerful and influential scientists in Coruscant, if not the whole Omniverse. He’s been working on top secret experiments the likes of which I could never have dreamed of in my world. He truly is a genius.”
“In any case, I learned of your arrival a few months back. When Gero told me about you, I found myself fascinated with you. While he may have moved on from you, I thought the idea of gene splicing multiple alien species together into a powerful, cohesive whole to be absolutely revolutionary. I had always dreamt of doing something like that myself but I was never successful. Yet here was Gero dismissing the goal of my life’s work as if it was an afternoon project he was bored with by the next day.”
The human ordered another drink. Knowledge of Cell’s creation was not common knowledge. Even if he had been from Cell’s reality, the only way he could’ve known about him was through the campaign of fear he waged when still in his imperfect state, absorbing cities of humans in order to absorb the androids. To know he was the result of the fusion of cells was proof he must have had some form of contact with Gero.
“Pop quiz,” Cell said. “What species comprise my being?”
“Ah ... from memory ... human, namekian, saiyan and something labelled ‘Frieza’s Race.’ The human and saiyan genome are surprisingly similar ... I doubt Gero had any trouble splicing the DNA of those two species. The other two were much more complex.”
“It seems you might not be the crackpot I took you for in the first place,” Cell said. “Go on with your story.”
“After this, I found myself consumed with the idea of an ultimate being. I had been working happily beneath Doctor Gero, but to know that the key to my greatest dream was inside that belligerent old man’s head was too much for me to bear. I ‘acquired’ a number of files about you from Gero’s data stores and started studying you. I went through his gene splicing techniques, his mental conditioning, the incubation process ... so much he did was jaw-dropping to me. Anyway, Gero found out about what I did. Even though you might not even be a blip on his radar anymore, he was absolutely incensed that I had stolen data from him. He attempted to apprehend me but I managed to escape.” He fished out a small data chip from his breast pocket. “Everything I pilfered from him I saved to this backup. Now he has the Empire looking out for me.”
“And I take it the Empire is enforced by these stormtroopers you warned me about earlier,” Cell said. “If that’s true, why are you still in the open with me right now? Why not flee this place for a quieter location?”
“Because that would draw undue attention,” Davin said. “After you grabbed me by the collar, they had us in their sights. If we did something too suspicious, my cover could have been easily blown.”
“Surely Gero would have circulated your photo.”
“I’m certain he has,” Davin said. “That’s why I’m disguised. This isn’t my real face.”
Cell examined the streets. The stormtroopers had largely left them alone, though one or two loitered around.
“So now you’ve met your hero,” Cell said. “What are you going to do about it? As far as I can tell, you’re useless to me. If you can’t help me find the androids, I have no reason to waste any more time on you. I’ve already tasted perfection and I can’t bear to be in this form any longer than I have to be.”
Davin stood up suddenly. “Wait. Are you saying that ... you’ve already become perfect before? In your reality?”
“Right until the moment I woke up here,” Cell said. “Why? What does it matter?”
The human’s face lit up like a burning building. He seized Cell by the arm. “I have something very exciting I want to try out!”
“And that is?”
“You don’t need the androids, Cell. The power is still inside you. And if my prediction is correct, I can bring it back to the surface. Cell ... I can make you perfect again.”