章節 15: Chapter Fifteen
Later as you're packing a big cargo hauler full of stuff for your mission you find yourself having small talk with the Saiyan boy.
"Seriously... what's with Saiyans and food? Why are you all so obsessed with eating?"
"It's not that we're obsessed. We just can't really cook. Hahaha!Our greatest culinary achievement is putting salt on meat!"
"That's sad... Anyway, how did become friends with a girl like that?"
"It's not that I became friends with her, she decided she's my friend at one point. You see we grew up together. She was always adventurous and visited to hang out with us lower class kids often. There she realized she enjoys using me as a punching bag and the rest is history."
Once you packed the last of the supplies you needed you are approached by King Sadala himself who hands you a case. "Here you go young man. Our scientists prepared these just for you. Inside you'll find one of the Tuffle scouters which we modified so it's safe to handle, a top of the line rebreather as well as a protective outfit. I hope you won't need it."
"T-Thank you your majesty. You honor me with your gift."
"Now before you take off I must warn you. No matter what you see down on that foul planet, do not let it dissuade you. The Tuffles are a deceptive and vile race of pure evil. They'll try their best to hide this from you. Be ever vigilant!"
You then see King Sadala motion towards some of the workers who then bring something you have no clue about onboard.
Cabba seems to be REALLY freaked out just by looking at it. "M-My liege! Is that a-"
"A bomb. If detonated within a planets atmosphere it will wipe it clean of life."
"I-Is this our plan A or plan B?" You ask him.
"It's just insurance."
Cabba then bumps his elbow into your side and quietly starts asking you about this, stating he isn't sure about nuking planet Plant.
You swallow nervously. "I don't like it either but... let's just keep it around. Maybe after the mission we can toss it into a star or something."
Letting the other Saiyans load the weapon of mass destruction onto the ship you bid adieu to the king and took off. Giving the bomb a nervous glance roughly every five second you start going over the mission with Cabba.
"Soooo... here. This is your backstory.
Make sure to memorize it."
"Uh-huh cool.... Oooooh I like this! I get to be the cool and collected enforcer!"
"But you're always cool Eric."
"Cabba, you're a tool but I like you!" As you carefully read your new "background" you also go over your new gear and put on the pieces one by one. "Nobody cared who I was 'till I put on the mask!"
"I get the feeling you're referencing something but I don't get it." He takes a moment to pause and look at you. "Oh cool! Black armor mesh! It's not as strong as our bodyarmor but it's more flexible."
"Skintight bodysuit, check. Weird pointy boots, check. Gloves, check. Scouter, check check.
So you sure they can't tap into this thing?"
"Absolutely. I mean... they probably can tell when you are using it but they won't be able to listen in on you. So we can talk freely. Basically while you do the ground work down there I'll be your operator up here. Oh and... just so you know you might bump into some resistance due to looking like a Saiyan."
"Honestly I'm used to that by now.
But seriously, what's your beef with these guys? I get that they're evil but I'm sensing a mutual hate boner here. You previously mentioned how you wanted to blow them up and now your king gave us a bomb saying: By the way if you fuck up feel free to go all kamikaze on this bitch. That's a bit more than being cautious..."
"Y-You don't understand." Cabba pauses for dramatic effect. "Back when the Tuffles began their conquest of the universe the Saiyans were the first ones they subjugated due to our warrior heritage. They collared our ancestors like animals and shocked them whenever they didn't behave. Luckily the Tuffles were a bit too fond of torturing us so soon enough my people grew too strong thanks to our adaptive biology and managed to overthrew their masters. Since then the Saiyans and Tuffles were natural enemies of each other."
After a few hours of traveling however you arrive at your destination. "Here we are. Planet Plant."
You walk up to the screen and your eyes open wide as you see the pitch black planet before you. "What the-"
"The planet has long since been unable to sustain life. Natural life that is. Seriously, don't take off that rebreather."
"Way ahead of you! You say as you superglue the thing to your face.
"Oh and... here." Cabba hands you a blaster.
"You'll need this for your act. Just... don't let them figure out your powerlevel, okay?
I'll try to keep in touch and help you as much as I can."
You swallow nervously as you step into the smaller ship docked within this one and prepare to make planetfall. Cabba was not exaggerating when he said the planet is inhospitable. The pitch blackness caused by an ever present layer of pollution is only barely illuminated by the planet wide city as it seemingly has no street lights to speak of, with the mechanically aided vision of the Tuffles rendering it useless.
Slowly and carefully flying through a hole in the blockade you follow the coordinates given to the Saiyans by the criminals and land on what seems to be a landing pad of sorts. Looking out the window you see a long line of "people" marching and lining up in front of your ship.
"Well... here goes." You take a step for the ramp and as the thing opens up you think over your lines but realize you forgot them.
In a fit of panic you attempt to recall how it was but come up with nothing. "Oh shit! Oh shit!"
You raise your fists to roughly the height of your chest and grab onto your new bodysuit, trying to channel as much big dick energy as possible without revealing how much you're compensating for your lack of balls right now.
As the ramp hits the ground you walk down as the Tuffles aim their mechanical arms at you.
"You made a big mistake in coming here Saiyan." One of them speaks up in a heavily modulated, mechanical voice. You slowly and cautiously look over them and see their bodies from neck to toe covered in metal and their scouters welded into their skulls.
"Not as big as yours. I fear." You respond as you slowly walk up to him.
He activates his scouter and as the numbers start flashing on it his tone slightly changes from hostile to curious. "Who are you?"
"I... am the seller. I came... as per our agreement."
"You're late."
"There's been a... change in management."
You walk up so close to the mechanically augmented freakshows that you can see where the flesh ends and the machine begins. And vice versa. "Our company went over a bit of reconstruction and as such our transactions had to be postponed. But now I am here... and we can do business." You point at the ship. "My boss... like things clean. Since the deal has been struck already he'll honor it and so he brings you the agreed amount of raw materials. In exchange he'll take what you offered to his predecessor. However... if you want to do further trading... you'll need to convince me."
The alien then places a "hand" on your shoulder and you almost visibly recoil as the stench of rusty metal mixed with dried blood hits your nose. This guy must've been put together with spare parts. "How about I give you a better offer? We kill you... use you for biomass and take your ship. Does that sound like a good deal to you?" You start reaching for your blaster and the mechanical monster notices this. "Go ahead. Do it. And you'll find every unit on this planet hunting you for the rest of your life."
"Oh I don't think so." You raise the blaster to your own head and the Tuffle stops. "Do you feel in charge? Well... Once I pull this trigger I'll be crashing this plane... with no survivors.
Anything happens to me, anything at all and you... and your entire miserable species will wither away and die. If not from the bomb then from a lack of resources. Now... let us trade."
"Who... are you?" The machine hybrids ask.
"I am the one who'll judge if you are worth our time or not... And I hope for your sake I'll be impressed."
Lights begin to flash in the eyes of the cyborg and several units appear with crates in hand and begin to exchange them with the ones you brought. After a brief scan the one proxy you communicate with responds to you.
"You've brought everything as per our agreement. With this the exchange has been concluded." The rest of the Tuffles march back where they came from, leaving you with this borg reject. "What would you be interested in? Weapons? Medicine? Bionics?"
"Everything..."
After sufficiently reminding the Tuffles that they used to be human you hear a faint little "beep" coming from your scouter, signaling you about an incoming transmission.
"Holy shit..."
You try your best to ignore Cabba and focus intently on the Tuffle in front of you. "Let's not stand on ceremony here Mr Tuffle..."
Taking a few steps forward you allow the mechanical monster to lead you further into the city.
"Wondrous little things, aren't they?" It asks.
"Instantaneous communication across galaxies, the ability to gauge someones power at the press of a button. And it all fits over one eye..."
"Yes... Most impressive." You proceed to turn on the scanner function of the scouter while trying your best to not ridicule the terminator over there for believing these things are a reliable way to gauge someones power.
"I especially like the feature which shows the snipers trained on me."
"Can't have too many precautions. By the way, who are you in contact with?"
"None of your business. Just know that if I disappear people will know. Can't have too many precautions..."
The semi dead muscles which went unused for probably decades curl into a smile on the Tuffles face. The worst part is that you don't know if it's a genuine reaction or if it's a show it's putting on for you. And you don't know which would be worse. As he leads you through the various corridors you start pondering the "how"s and the "why"s of the scouter. The idea seems to be solid: Measure an individuals ki to gauge their power and formulate your strategy based on it. Intel is power after all.
But it seems to lack the... finesse of flesh and blood. This is a machine and as such it sees the world in numbers. Unfortunately battle is compromised of many other factors, much of which can't be quantified. The human element, the bane of all calculators.
As you wonder just how telling the scouters design is of its creator however you find yourself startled as a body crashes in front of you. Looking down you see that it's the mangled body of a child, still twitching. It's impossible to tell which parts of her are intentionally put there and which were the result of her rough landing.
"Another one..." Your guide speaks up.
"Are these common?" You ask it and the machine man points up. Looking upwards to the towering skyscrapers whose tops are buried in black smoke clouds you see the reason for why this would be a regular thing.
"There are no railings?!"
"No... It's pointless. If a unit steps off its designated path its a sign of a malfunction and as such wasting resources on their safekeeping is meaningless."
"Where is it going?" You ask him as what remains of the little girls body begins to crawl with what little strength is left in her.
"Reprocessing..."
"Flesh into biomass, mechanics into spare parts..."
"Correct. You seem to understand us well."
"I just have good imagination." You respond. "And you are quite predictable." You then follow up with a whisper.
For a moment your eyes linger on the scene as the little girl extends one arm and pulls herself forward, leaking various fluids as she does so. Finally you manage to avert your attention and resume your walk, your guide more than happy to keep on leading you.
You continue your journey through the bowels of the city and really get to take in the scenery... or the lack of it. Walking through uncomfortably designed hallways barely large enough to fit a person you are lead into what the Tuffle calls their research and manufacturing complex.
Inside you are greeted to a series of conveyor belts which are performing their tasks endlessly. But to your surprise they aren't making just one thing, seemingly the automated factory is capable of adjusting itself on the spot and creates whatever is the next most necessary thing on its long list.
"Here we can produce whatever is necessary for our continued existence as well as our future expansion, once we manage to break out of the Saiyans blockade. Tell me, what would most interest your employer?"
You start thinking things through and try to recall your mission. The ultimate goal is to sabotage the Tuffles as much as possible to counteract whatever advantage they may have gotten from their deal with planet Smog. And to do that you must focus on what's most crucial for them.
"My boss... had an unfortunate run-in with the Saiyans. They raided one of our warehouses and now he's looking into ways of combating them. I assume you have such things. Weapons, capable of standing up to the Sadala Defense Force."
"Yeeeees." The mechanical voicebox of the Tuffle cracks as he eagerly responds.
He begins leading you into a more secluded area of the facility where they are doing stress tests and quality control on the weapons they produce. "We are delighted to see that our new client is more... open minded than the last one. We offered our weapons in exchange for more materials but he refused... Too risky they said. Thought the Saiyans would quickly find out about them. Fool. If he had our weapons he'd not need to fear those monkeys!"
Inside the room you find large cube like constructs upon which the freshly minted armaments are laid out, ready for testing.
Beyond them is a long hallway at the end of which you see the outlines of Saiyans painted onto thick walls. No target dummies to speak of. Stepping up to one of them the Tuffle slips an arm cannon on saying something about it not being fit for your hands. Taking aim he presses the button on the blaster and it shoots out a glob of plasma at its intended target, kicking up a bit of dust as it lands.
"Impressive isn't it? It has both a rapid fire and high impact modes as well as an inexhaustible power supply."
"How "high impact" are we talking about?"
You ask him as you realize you could chuck a similar if not outright stronger ki blast right now.
Grinning the Tuffle switches the firing mode with a button and then begins charging up his next attack. This time it comes out as a beam and it creates little to no upheaval to speak of. It's just a laser beam which neatly penetrated the concrete wall.
Reaching for your scouter as you hear an audible "click" you listen for Cabbas instructions. "I-Is this a joke?" He asks.
"These look exactly like last generation blasters!"
Looking up from your communicator you speak to the Tuffle. "Are you holding out on me? I thought you're selling me top of the line products... not some second hand toys!"
The face of the Tuffle starts to get all wrinkly in his frustration. "You dare mock the glory of Tuffle engineering?"
"Mock? That blaster is a mockery in and of itself." You withdraw your blaster and take aim at the same target and pull the trigger on it. The beam shoots out and it does an almost exact copy of the hole the Tuffle just made.
"See? A handgun can match the performance of your rifle! Now... is that all you have?"
"Grrrrr... Fine!" His voice echoes with mechanical rage as he picks up a more traditional looking, black rifle. "This carbine is our latest model! Its firepower is unmatched!
And there is no defense against it safe for our own multicore, carapace shields!"
He then proceeds to fire the rifle, demonstrating its burst fire, semi auto and full auto modes. Once he's done he opens up the chamber and lets the weapon vent heat, stating that this is the only thing limiting its destructive capacity. "Even then, if the need arises the weapon is capable of reaching its maximum heat level with one focused bolt.
That alone is capable of taking out heavily armored vehicles, let alone a few monkeys!"
You reach for your scouter and ask for feedback. "W-Well... that certainly looks dangerous." Cabba says. "But it's not like most Saiyans couldn't just swat it away!"
Nodding but only to notify the Tuffle you return your attention to him and grin.
It looks like they are in a bad situation. Far worse than what Sadala expected. In fact those resources they got probably served more as relief than anything else.
"Hmmm. Very well, but in order to make sure what we pay is worth it, my boss will need more. Now tell me, how exactly do you create *motion to their cybernetics* this!"
The half machine creature looks at you and judging by his extended stare, he's most definitely scanning you right now.
His frustration though hard to make out through his artificial coldness is becoming quite apparent. He mulls over his options, realizing he failed to impress you with his little demonstration his shoulders fall in defeat. "As you wish... Come with me."
The man then leads you through more claustrophobic corridors and into a room which reminds you of the Matrix movies and not in a good way. Series of tubes run along the floor, walls and even the ceiling connecting to several glass pods filled with some sort of transparent fluid. Inside are the infant Tuffle fetuses floating around, their bodies already altered to some degree.
"Here's where we cultivate our next generations. The culture fluid you see here-"
"Is the liquefied remains of your dead fed intravenously to your young."
"Yeees... very observant. Our planets biosphere has long died out, what little life grows on it is manufactured by us.
Various types of insects for protein and vegetables for minerals and vitamins to feed our biological components." He steps over to one of the tubes where the Tuffle babies float peacefully. "Enhancements begin early in development which will serve as the foundation for future augmentation.
Small chips which regulate growth, neural amplifiers and basic implants which will link the nervous system with future upgrades."
"Is it possible to install one of these post birth? Or is the procedure deadly?"
"It is possible though more costly and has a higher risk of rejection."
"So the body can reject it..."
"In rare cases. The implants were originally purely mechanical but now there are biological components which aid the integration. Unfortunately I can tell you no more of the process as I don't have access to such information. However I requested a unit with high enough clearance."
Suddenly you hear the sound of steps echoing through the metal corridor and in comes a Tuffle which looks... different.
His skin is blue, suggesting a more thorough decomposition as he has many, MANY more subdermal implants than the common drone.
He also appears to be cleaner and wearing some sort of a lab coat. Probably due to his work demanding sterilizations to handle the "newborns".
"I am Unit #1239412. But for your convenience you can call me Lychee."
You hear a gasp coming from your scouter.
"Careful Eric! That Tuffle is a known war criminal from before the Tuffle War!"
"I've served my kind for generations now and oversaw the growth of our augmentation project. The creation of the Tuffle Superconsciousness is also one of my inventions."
"Superconsciousness?"
"Yes... The governing body of our species born when we connected our minds. A manifestation of every Tuffles subconscious fused into one."
"So not a true hivemind..."
"I see you are very knowledgeable for a mere grunt. Yes. That is correct. Each Tuffle retains their individuality, however we've come together as a species and accepted that our individual goals and desires are only secondary compared to the betterment of our species. The Superconsciousness helps us shed our individualism and surrender ourselves to the greater good!"
You turn to the tubemen and peer into the transparent liquid illuminated by green lights.
"And these infants? Are they plugged in as well?"
"Yes... The melded consciousness allows us to access the knowledge and memories of other Tuffles, enabling us to share information at an unprecedented pace. When they are released from the pods the newly born Tuffle children already possess all the necessary knowledge they need to perform their tasks. Or if not, they can access it any time."
The Tuffle scientist then smiles. "So... Is this sufficiently impressive?"
You look at the scientist for a moment. His high position amongst the Tuffles as an intellectual may allow him better augments but he's the same on the inside as these lowly drones. "How about physical capabilities?
How would the average Tuffle fare against a Saiyan in close quarters combat?"
"Thanks to our augments we've shed the shackles and limits of biology. Our subdermal armor coupled with the self repair systems allows us to withstand blows even from Elite Saiyan warriors. And with our linked minds we can share combat data amongst units.
So even with our inferior strength we can overcome any obstacle!"
You close your eyes and think things through. Finally after letting the Tuffles wait enough you make your response. "Most impressive.
It seems that dealing with you is not a waste of time after all. But... Talk is cheap. I want to see what you can do in action."
"Is that so? You wish to see a demonstration?"
He seems annoyed by the fact that you even DARE to doubt the quality of his work.
"Of course. But rest assured, even if you disappoint me I've seen enough to give you my recommendation. Our continued business is guaranteed. And if what you claim is true, we might extend our deal."
They nod and conclude that yours is fair so they take you in a much more spacious room where they can properly demonstrate the full capabilities of their mechanical bodies.
Some more grunts appear and they bring in... a body?
"What... is this?"
"An anatomically correct recreation of a Saiyan body." Lychee responds. "We use these dummies to practice! Now... Unit#2968-A!
Show our guest what you can do!"
The machine pounces on the saiyan forgery without hesitation and starts relentlessly beating the "life" out of it. You've never seen ferocity like the Tuffle exhibited when it smashed the Saiyan into the ground with its vice like grip and repeatedly pounded it until the fine paste its gray matter got reduced to decorated the floor. You almost felt a need to throw up as the Tuffles weren't kidding about the "anatomically accurate" part.
"Impressive isn't it? And after such exertion only some minor maintenance will be needed on the joints! Well? How is it? Did that satisfy your curiosity? ... Or would you like a more... intimate showcase?" The scientist taunts you as you wipe the saliva off of your mouth.
Trying to appear as lost in thought as possible you begin stroking your chin. In reality however the only thing you concluded is that "Yeap, these guys are messed up".
Truth be told you can't wait to get off this planet and get a shower. Or five. But these tools need to be convinced first and the real part of the job still has to be done.
Finally you formulate a proper response in your head and speak up. "And you'd be willing to share even this kind of tech?"
"Everything has a price or so they say."
Lychee responds coldly.
"Hmmm... I'll admit to being a bit worried, that those pesky monkey's may be a bother, but what you have exceeded my expectations. We will look forward to the future inventions you bring to us."
"Does that mean we have a deal?"
You step forward and extend a hand to him.
Hesitantly he shakes it as you give him a tight business smile. "We shall continue supplying you and more... if you share some of this with us."
"Of course!" Lychee smiles, his smile is just like the skin on his hand. Cold, dead and frightening.
"But if you'll excuse me I'll need to stay here a bit. I must relay what I've learned to my contractors. That could take a few hours."
"Hmmm is that so?"
"I like to give a thorough presentation to my employers."
"Understandable. You are free to remain of course, just make sure to submit your take off request when the time comes. And we'll be eagerly awaiting our future transactions!"
"Of course doctor."
With that you thanked him for his time and asked the other Tuffle to guide you back to your ship. Along the way you took in some more of the sights and prayed to dear god that the imagery won't stick with you. There is only so much cold, brutal efficiency your stomach can take.
After thanking the Tuffle for his assistance you go back in your ship and after a thorough scan with your scouter for any bugs you fall into the captains chair and start rubbing your eyes furiously. It's already been a long day and it's nowhere near done yet.
"A-Are you okay?" Cabba asks over the communicator.
*sigh* "Yes... Just... need a moment."
"I'm afraid we don't have that sort of luxury Eric. Take too long and the Tuffles might start getting suspicious. Sadly it's... now or never."
You nod to yourself. Of course you know that. Still doesn't make it any less easier. You are tired. Not physically but... emotionally. You feel like you've been loosing shards of your humanity from the moment you set foot on this fucking rock. You just want to be done with it and fuck off forever. But not yet...
You think about what you've learned from these freaks, how they function... and where to hit them so it hurts.
Standing up from the comfort of your chair you make your way to the door. "So... what's the plan Eric?"
You look out the window and peer into the city. "I'm gonna look for the root of all this."
"H-Huh?"
"Keep watch Cabba. Only call me if the whole planet lights up like a christmas tree. Got that?"
"Wait! What are you-" You turn down the volume on the scouter and take a deep breath.
One time-skip later you are outside and under the ship. Using the scouter as well as your natural senses you watch out for any activity before making your next move. You decide to abuse time-skip as much as possible and hop from corner to corner at astonishing speeds with nobody even noticing you.
It truly feels incredible to just walk past patrols and standing guards without having to worry about a damn thing. Your stealth operation turns into a leisurely stroll as you time-skip whenever you find yourself in a difficult situation which is rather common on a hostile planet. But as you are moving deeper into the city you start asking yourself the question. "If I was an evil combined intelligence where would I be? Probably the big, fuck off ominous building surrounded by every guard ever."
You look upward and see a large dome towering above every other building in the vicinity, maybe even the planet. You'd bet that your target is in there. Or at least something equally important.
The massive structure is just as well defended as you thought with fully equipped Tuffle patrolling the area constantly.
You even spot a few of the biomechanical freaks who underwent more... drastic body modifications in order to be much more formidable in close quarters combat. This must be the place.
Doing what you do best, you time-skip your way through the choke points until you reach some sort of an exhaust port. Moving your hand over it you feel the thing damping a considerable amount of heat into the air around you. "This will do."
Raising a barrier you carefully pry the grate off of the vent with your telekinesis and pop it back once you're inside. Making your way to the inside of the machine you go until you reach the very end of the place. With one focused beam of energy you cut yourself out of the pipe and into the building proper. Just as you expected the place lead into a server farm of sorts where gargantuan, building sized machines are processing uncountable amounts of data.
To your dismay however there are guards even in here so you must stick to the shadows as you go deeper in until you reach... something. In the dead center of the complex rests a massive container reinforced and shielded several times over. You've been feeling something stirring in your guts for a while now but the sensation is overwhelming now. Whatever is inside... it's alive. Partially at least.
Fumbling around with the consoles a bit, relying on your scouter to do the translations you manage to open up the shell, revealing a massive brain hooked onto and fused together with several machines. It's not alive... not really. It merely acts as the central processing unit of a very complicated system.
"So... this is their Superintelligence.
The work of fiction for my kind. A part of life for them. I wonder... do they control it... or does it control them?" You try to shake these thoughts of philosophy off for now. Now's really not the time for that.
You reach out and touch the glass separating you from the creature. "It's afraid."
You quip but in reality you too feel like you're about to shit yourself. Merging your mind with an evil, planet spanning hivemind synaptic creature might just be the dumbest idea you've ever had. But if you pull it off you might just become a hero in the eyes of the universe.
"Worth it!" You declare and extend your consciousness quickly into that... thing before you have a chance to change your mind.
At first you reel back from the pain. All that information, all those sensations, every single neuron firing off in a Tuffles body as their flesh cries out against the machines grafted onto them. You receive it all.
As you are hit by this psychic backlash your eyes roll back into your skull for a moment and only through sheer determination do you manage to grit your teeth and push back with a scream. Every strand of hair on your body shoots up towards the sky and psychic bio electricity dances around on them as every small object in your vicinity and every stray particle begins swirling around you.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
With one final thrust you pierce through that wall and tap into the network. "Heh... let's see how you like this!"
Taking a deep breath and focusing your attention inward you manage to reach a part of yourself you're... not too familiar with. Inside the most hidden recesses of your being you rummage around for that little thing that makes you... human. And share it with this beast.
When you find it you return your attention to the massive brain in front of you and a black flame surrounded by a white outline appears in your palm. Pulling back your hand you grin.
"Hey Tuffles. In my home it's customary to give someone a gift when you visit them.
HERE'S MINE!"
You thrust your hand forward and shoot the little thing into the brain. A fragment of you is now gone. You are now just a bit less than what you were. And that little speck of murky blackness swirls inside that madness. One, tiny amount of gray in a black and white world. Like a disease you see it spread through every facet of the central intelligences circuitry, tainting it beyond repair.
But as the well's been poisoned so to say, the entire complex goes into high alert and you feel tensions rising... across the entire planet. Out of nowhere your scouter starts beeping.
"ERIC! WHAT HAVE YOU - KSSSSSSSH - DONE?!"
"Cabba? I can barely hear you. Too much interference!"
"THE ENTIRE - KSSSSSSSH - HAS LIT UP!
YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"
"Not yet..."
"What?"
"There is something else I gotta do first..."
"What do you mean?!" Cabba asks you as you delve deeper into the complex.
"I gave the Tuffles a little gift. And... well... they were such good sports that they gave me something as well."
"What? You're not making any -KSSSSSH - sense!"
"Then turn on the camera. 'Cause you're about to see some shit." Pressing a switch you activate a hidden door leading into a secret chamber under the most important structure on the planet. Well... second most important.
You can hear a faint whisper from the other side as Cabba picks up your recording.
"W-Wha?!"
"Hope." You answer him. "The last hope of the Tuffle race. This is why their entire world is in shambles. They poured everything they could spare into this project."
"W-What are they?"
"Androids. Well... that's the only word I know for them. The bastards did it. They managed to replicate life. They are just like us. But each cell in their bodies is a machine doing the job of their organic equivalent."
"A-Are they... robots?"
"No. Such bodies would be wasted on mere automatons. No... these are meant to be Tuffles. The best of what their kind can offer.
Two perfect specimen. But even the Tuffles have their limit. They couldn't program minds.
So they are allowed to develop like their children in those tubes. They are learning and soon they'll be ready. One brother and one sister. The messiahs of the Tuffle."
You hear Cabba let out an audible gulp on the other side. Funny thing is though... you doubt you heard it through the scouter. "So... what now?"
You reach forward and start unplugging their capsules. Meanwhile you hear Cabba protesting in your ear. "ERIC!"
"I'm saving them Cabba."
"WHY?!"
"If I leave them here to be raised by the Tuffles they will be just as doomed as the rest of their kind. Even with what I've done, that's more likely to cause chaos than have a meaningful impact. But if I take in and give them a life, the attention and care they need they might just become what they were intended to be!
Saviors!" One by one you lift the capsules with your mind and start walking out the front door.
"Maybe this way the Tuffle race has a chance."
"B-But-"
"Look Cabba. I know it's not my place.
I'm no god. I have no say in the matter.
But if I see a chance to make the universe a better place and don't take it then what does that make me?"
"I..." Cabba hesitates for a moment.
"I understand." You then hear him fiddling around with some buttons. "I brought up video feed of the planet surface. It's pretty hectic out there. You'll need to be careful if you want to take them out safely. I'll guide you."
"Cabba... Thanks."
Kicking down the door you step outside and get to enjoy the sight of what became of the guards. Each and every single one has dropped their weapons. Most of them are on their knees, grabbing their heads and screaming. Some of them are looking down at their hands in silent shock, unaware of their surroundings.
"God..."
"No time to dawdle Eric!" Cabba calls you out as an explosion goes off nearby.
"Holy shit! O-Okay! Where to?"
With some help from your Saiyan friend you manage to avoid the vast majority of the upheaval that's going on. Rushing into the still somehow intact ship you take off with the twins sleeping safely in their pods and as you hastily fly through the lockdown you reconnect with Cabba who stormed for the hangar the second you arrived.
He opens up the door and starts questioning you immediately. "What the hell happened down there? It's anarchy down there!"
Your heart racing you sit down on the floor and rest your back against the ships wall.
"They are struggling with humanity forced upon them. No wonder... after they willingly got rid of it... must be surprised it's back.
It's probably gonna take them a while to figure it out. I can only hope when it settles down they'll be better for it."
"No kidding..."
Cabba slides down the wall and sits down next to you. For a solid couple minutes you just stare blankly in front of you without saying a word. Eventually however Cabba breaks under the tension and ends the silence. "How the FUCK am I gonna explain this to King Sadala?!" He asks. "How DO I explain this to him?"
"I have no fuckin' idea. I guess we'll figure something out when we get there." You then give the two pods laying dormant a passing glance. "But these two probably should remain a secret."
"A-Agreed."
"I'm definitely going to keep these kids safe..."
"Why are you so obsessed with them? For all we know they could be pure evil..."
"One more reason to keep them near Champa then... And I don't know why I care Cabba. I just do. My people... we always wondered about the creation of artificial life, wondering what would happen if we pulled it off.
You know what we concluded? That if humanity as a whole doesn't get its collective shit together our own creation will realize we are a menace and will wipe us out. I guess a part of me wants to prevent that from happening, show these two how life can be. And... It just doesn't sit well with me to turn children into living weapons."
After the two of you managed to get your collective shits together Cabba piloted you back to Planet Sadala while you made sure that the two pods are safely hidden from any prying eyes. Taking a well deserved and much needed shower you waited under the stream of water until you got back to the Saiyan home planet where the King already awaited your arrival.
Finally ridding yourself of the rebreather, scouter and everything else you had to wear you put yourself into a more presentable shape and made your way to King Sadala who was very eager to hear what you had to say in private.
Sitting on his throne he listened to every little detail you disclosed to him and finally he nodded.
"I see. So the blockade hit the Tuffles harder than we thought. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. But I'm worried about what you said regarding their enhancements.
Are they a threat?"
"Not to your Elite warriors sir."
"That's good." King Sadala sighed with relief.
"That means the Tuffles are still not a threat.
But enough chit chat... I'm interested in the details of your sabotage. How did it go?
What's the extent of the damage? Was it enough to offset this little lapse in our security?"
You crack your neck. "Basically your excellency... I went into the central command center of the Tuffles and gave them a little... logic bomb."
"A... logic... bomb?"
"I introduced their central processing unit to something new. Humanity."
"I... fail to see how that's useful in any way."
"I assure you my king! It was a sight to behold!
Panic on the streets, widespread destruction, mass hysteria. Most if not all of the Tuffles were paralyzed or had mental breakdowns after feeling emotions for the first time in generations."
"I see... Well can't argue with results I suppose. And you did provide us not only with results but ample amounts of data regarding the Tuffles and their current technological level. So for that I thank you. But... We will pay close attention to any changes that might occur in the Tuffles after this. We were going to do that anyway but now we have a much better reason." King Sadala then turn to Cabba. "As always you've done an excellent job Cabba. I can't really complain."
"Thank you ser!"
"And you... offworlder named Eric. You've done us a great service. Please... tell me what would you like for compensation? I can't very well let you leave without a reward, now can I?"
You rub your nose uncontrollably as you let out a chuckle. "Heheh... You... humble me lord Sadala. But there's really no need for that.
Let's just say it was a favor from me and... you'll later return it. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me!" The king then stands up from his throne and walks down to your level before extending his hand. Seeing his hand like that you take it with a smile and give it a firm shake. "You are a friend to the Saiyans Eric Asulf. Good fights and greater peace!"
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