Capítulo 9: Chapter 9: Cousins
[Treatment Completing In: 10:00]
[09:59]
[09:58]
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Acala sighed weakly, letting her head float in the chamber's viscous liquid.
"About time,"
She thought with relief, her eyes flutter closed again, her consciousness sinking into the ocean her mind conjured with a little help from the stimulants being pumped into her veins.
---
Elsewhere in the Outpost
Nion wandered through the dimly lit corridors of the storage unit, her sharp black eyes scanning every corner of anything that might've been left behind. But as it turned out, the sterile, metallic scent of the abandoned outpost wasn't just for show. The place had been stripped clean!
"So..."
Tato began, the annoying one of the twin brothers.
"Why are we even sticking around? That Albino freak isn't exactly rolling out the welcome carpet for us. What if she's a little stronger? We outnumber her-"
Nion stopped, glancing over her shoulder. Her eyes were merciless and cold... cold enough to silence him mid-sentence.
"She's not our concern,"
She replied evenly, her tone didn't betray the hint of disdain she held for the oaf following her about.
"But this outpost is the only safe place on the planet, and she's interesting. Until I figure out what's so interesting about her, we're staying."
Mato snorted, the more absentminded of the twins kicked at loose pieces of debris on the floor, either crushing them or sending them flying in the distance.
"She's lucky. If we hadn't heard all that commotion, she would be scavenger chow by now."
Nion lips pressed into an imperceptible grin, though she said nothing about what was so amusing to her.
The Albino's father was one of the four strongest SSaiyansever born under the rule of King Vegeta the II. King Vegeta the III, the current king of the Saiyans, was a wimp and a disgrace to his race, or so the propaganda says. It didn't-help much when the King's executioner, Bardock., looped his head off
It was a dishonor like no other, for an Elite-Class Warrior to be killed by a mesely Low-Class Warrior.
Still, the Albino Saiyan was a well-known figure in the close circle of the 'Traitor.' His daughter, a child born with one of the highest recorded Power Levels in the history of Vegeta. She was probably strong enough to kill all three of them... probably.
---
Back in the Medbay
The rejuvenation chamber hissed, releasing a plume of vapor as the healing agent drained away, leaving Acala momentarily suspended in midair before the glass slid open.
She stepped out, her alabaster skin glistening from the remnants of the fluid. Her skin was unmarred and her physical strength had been restored to peek. She flexed her fingers experimentally and twisted her neck, releasing a satisfying pop. Her tail flicked once, before shaking vigorously to dry off the wetness.
Grabbing a towel from a nearby dispenser, she wrapped it around herself and immediately darted to the adjacent chamber. The little Saiyan was floating peacefully, and her face looked less in pain than before.
However, for some reason, the chamber's timer was still displaying another seven to eight hours before the treatment was complete. Acala glared at the interface as it highlighted the reason why Spina had to stay in the pod for almost a third of a day more.
'Malnutrition?'
Malnutrition? Just how starved was the seven-year-old girl for her body to need continuous nutrition treatment for over ten hours?
"Well... at least you're stable,
She mumbled under her breath. Her tail flicked behind her, a bit too visible sign that she was still very much anxious.
Before she could contemplate further on the question, the med bay doors slid open, and Nion strolled inside, holding two pairs of neatly folded uniforms in her hands.
"Feeling better, Albino?"
She asked, dumping the clothes on top of a counter meant for 'Tentacle Examination.' Which wasn't quite as unusual as it sounded, statistically, roughly 21% of the known sentient races in the galaxy had some form of tentacles.
Acala scowled at her, glaring but not responding immediately. Instead, she turned back to Spina's chamber, tapping on the controls to administer a fresh dosage of nutrition solution... and to monitor the little one's vitals.
Nion took a step closer to the chamber, her curiosity outweighing her caution,
"You didn't tell us you had a passenger."
"Take one more step and I'll rip out your spine."
Acala growled, her eyes narrowing and her tail wrapping itself tightly around her waist.
Nion raised an eyebrow, eyeing her curiously with a grin on her face,
"That's rude, cousin."
The tension between them stretched across the medbay, but Nion didn't stop smirking, not even after the Albino gave her a bloodthirsty. Her relaxed posture was completely different from Acala's tenseness.
"I've known since the marshed."
Acala finally said, answering the unasked question,
"You're hard to miss."
"Guess I don't blend in as much as I thought,"
Nion replied, though her eyes didn't lose their sharpness.
"You've gotten smarter cousin, quick eye for spotting trouble."
Acala scoffed, returning her attention to Spina's chamber.
"I don't like you. You fight dirty. Makes it harder to guess what you're up to."
Nion raised her head, standing on her heels to look over Acala's shoulders at what the computer was saying about the little girl's condition,
"Maybe. I did learn that from your father. Our parents weren't exactly the most straightforward warriors either, were they?"
At the mention of her father, Acala stiffened. Suddenly, memories of her father surged to the forefront of her mind. Memories of him dragging her by the hair to the conditioning pods, him 'training' her by beating the ever-loving snot out of her, him nearly killing her when she refused to kill one of the prisoners... A shudder ran through her spine and down her tail, perceptible even to Nion as she stood on her tiptoes, studying the computer's readings.
"They're dead."
Acala muttered, her tone was bitter. She was referring to the day of execution when nearly a fourth of the Saiyan population was slaughtered for defying King Vegeta and the space tyrant Frieza.
Nion sighed, ruffling up Spina's soft white hair.
"Yeah, that got us dumped on this rock. But you can't say they weren't brave. They fought for what they believed in."
Acala didn't speak, allowing Nion to comb through her hair with her fingers. After a while, she tapped the console again, adding another doze of nutrient solution into the chamber.
"You can leave now,"
She said curtly.
But instead of leaving, Nion went off and sat down on one of the dusty chairs still intact in the room.
"I don't feel like it."
Acala's tail uncoiled slightly, rearing its tip as though to greet Nion whose tail did the same.
"Then stop acting like you're always three steps ahead of everyone else. It makes people nervous."
Nion laughed at her words, it was a genuine laugh that caught Acala off guard. She knew her cousin could fake expressions very well, almost to a frighteningly deceptive degree... so it stands to reason that hearing a genuine laugh from her was a strange surprise.
"Fair enough. But it's hard to turn it off when you're the only one around, and nearly impossible with those two muscle brains. Honestly, you won't believe how we met-"
With that, she launched into a detailed account of her first meeting with the Mid-Class Warrior twins.
Acala said nothing, her crimson eyes were fixed on Spina and the countdown displayed by the system...
[Next Simulation Battle In 02:10:01]
[02:10:00]
[02:09:59]
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---
Elsewhere on the base:
Tato and Mato were making full use of the deserted training area, there were no drones to spar against, so they decided to let off some steam by bashing each other instead. Their movements were wild, uncoordinated, and savage even. Tato's frustration grew with each misstep, while Mato shouted out points each time after he punched his brother's face.
"She's going to kill us one day,"
Tato grumbled, dodging another punch to the face.
"Maybe,"
Mato replied, leaping backward and shooting off to punch his brother again.
"But not today. I think."
"It means,"
Mato said, landing a solid hit that sent Tato sprawling,
"That we've bigger problems for now. This miserable mud ball is Xarrack, the death world Xarrack. Even Frieza got fed up with this star system and decided to annihilate the other twenty-five or so planets..."
He trailed off, the unspoken fear of death hanging in the air. Freeza could destroy planets on a whim while they... forget about a planet, destroying a moon would be a difficult task for them.
Tato groaned, picking himself up.
"Fine. But if the Albino snaps and decides to rip our heads off, I'm blaming your dumbass."
---
Medbay
The timer on Spina's chamber suddenly stopped and a loud beeping cut through the silence in the room. Nion jumped to a main panel attached to the same chamber, leaving Acala fumbling with the valve controls.
"What the hell is happening?"
She asked, bewildered.
The countdown had suddenly stopped and after a period of beeping, the timer had reset for another 24 hours. The machine's diagnosis remained the same, severe malnutrition.
"What the is wrong with this brat!?"
Her gaze shifted to Acala who was releasing another dose of nutritional solution into the tank. Suddenly, she slapped her forehead.
'How idiotic!'
The little Saiyan was a stranger to her she had only recently found out her name was Spina. What class of warrior is she? Who were her parents? Which district did she belong to? All that information was easily accessible if she tried it with the base's main computer, but that would alert the nearest Frieza Force Garrison that one of their abandoned outposts was asking for access to classified information.
Another simpler way would be to find out the little girl's power level. Saiyans remember each other by their Power Level as much as they did with their names.
So, Nion slapped the scouter back on her face and turned to look at the little Saiyan drifting in the greenish, viscous liquid.
*Beep*
[Power Level: 1,509]
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*Beep*
[Power Level: 1,510]
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*Beep*[Power Level: 1,511]
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