PART TWELVE: THE TASTE OF REVENGE

Chapter 59

Translated by Davidstarlingm

The first time universe 12 Trunks ever saw 16 was in the past – in the past and in another universe, when he traveled back to fight the terrible cyborgs 17 and 18 with Son Goku and the others. Unlike what had happened in his own world, the twins had disregarded Gero’s instructions to leave #16 in his box.

In his own world, Gero had activated the twins without witnesses, and so they had doubtless left the lab without poking around through the evil genius’s other experiments.

Contrary to Gero’s warnings, and unlike the twins, 16 was calm. He spoke very little, and didn’t enjoy fighting alongside his fellow machines against the Z Fighters. He preferred to enjoy nature. Despite his great strength, animals naturally seemed to approach him comfortably.

The second time Trunks met the tall cyborg, he watched as 16 protected the female cyborg from Cell. From then on, he was considered an ally, but Trunks was still loath to trust him – something he mentioned to Kulilin when the little fighter took the damaged cyborg to Bulma to be repaired. Trunks later learned that 16 had also fought against Imperfect Cell after Piccolo was defeated, all to keep him from absorbing 17. But Trunks still hadn’t been sure whether the giant could be trusted. Even when 16 showed up at the Cell Games as a contestant to oppose Perfect Cell, it didn’t give the time traveler any confidence.

But then something changed. 16’s sacrifice, though fruitless, was revealing. Trunks began to wonder if perhaps he had been wrong – if the others who trusted this cyborg, even his mother, were right. And ultimately it was thanks to 16 that Gohan went beyond his limits to become a Super Saiyan 2.

Back in the future, after the Cell games, Vegeta’s son told his mother everything, down to the last detail. Future Bulma had never been aware that the third cyborg existed.

In the first few months after Trunks destroyed the murderous twins of his timeline, he worked tirelessly to provide much-needed strength for the rebuilding of the world. But Bulma had a new idea.

“Do you remember the cyborg 16 that you said so much about?” asked Bulma one morning while they ate breakfast.

Trunks didn’t respond immediately, but just watched her for a few moments, wondering what she was thinking. “Sure. Why?”

“It could still be in Gero’s lab in the mountains.”

It was true – Trunks hadn’t thought of that. In this world, things were different; Gero could have destroyed it before activating 17 and 18. But it was equally possible that the giant was still in its box on standby. “It’s possible. I guess I should go and make sure it can never harm anyone.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” his mother clarified quickly. “It could be useful.”

“You want to study the body?”

“No, I meant it could be useful with reconstruction. I mean, as a person. If we woke it up.”

“That’s impossible! We can’t trust any cyborg. You know that as well as I do!” Trunks was surprised that his mother would even suggest such a thing.

“But from what you’ve told me, it is different than the others, no?” Bulma smiled warmly. “You said that 16 loved nature and did no harm to humans.”

Trunks shook his head. “It’s different. When I went back into the past to kill Frieza, I changed the future! Everything is different now. There’s no way to be sure that 16 is the same.”

“Trunks, you need help to rebuild our world and make a brighter future. This is a great opportunity! There’s a chance you could have an ally – a friend – with strength like you who could reconstruct buildings. He could even work night and day if need be! Wouldn’t it be great?”

“The cyborgs are only good for destroying things, mom – not for building them!”

“Look, if my counterpart in the past repaired 16, he MUST have been really different from the twins we know of. Could you at least bring him to me so that I could check him out?”

“Yeah, and risk that he kills you when we activate him? Never! I’ve lost so many loved ones – you’re all I have left. I won’t risk your life.”

“Don’t be silly, Trunks. You can protect me – as long as you’re close enough, you can stop the cyborg if he becomes dangerous.”

“I won’t do it.”

“Trunks…I know you’re angry because they killed your father, your mentor, your friends…but…maybe we can forgive. If 16 can help us rebuild, is that not a good thing?” Bulma spoke gently, calmly trying to reason with her son.

Trunks hesitated. She was right about one thing – help would be quite welcome. But why 16? A creation of Doctor Gero…there was nothing he hated more. He could not bring himself to turn the work of his greatest enemy into a friend!

“It’s out of the question!” shouted Trunks, slamming his fists against the table – though lightly, to avoid smashing it to splinters. “I have fought. I know what I’m talking about!”

“I know!” shouted Bulma in return, trying to understand her son’s point of view. She calmed herself and continued. “I will not stay here while I could be helping humanity by providing something like this. If you won’t go and bring him back, then I’ll go alone!”

Trunks said nothing, but remained standing. He wouldn’t let his mother leave…but she was clearly resolved. She had made up her mind, and nothing would change it now. She added:

“You’ve become very strong now; you would have no difficulty stopping it.”

Trunks was still conflicted. His anger and sadness still made it difficult for him to imagine treating a creation of Doctor Gero peacefully. Angry, he started to leave, but stopped after opening the door. He stood silently for a few moments, then turned back to his mother. “Okay. I’ll get him, if you really want to see. But I will not hesitate to destroy him at the slightest movement!”

He ran out and blasted into his Super Saiyan state, taking off at full speed. Taking to the air helped him to calm down, a little. He still didn’t understand why, or how, his mother could want to use a cyborg…after all they had lived through, it seemed incredibly foolish.

Trunks took his time in finding Gero’s lab in the mountains, making a wide detour. When he finally arrived at his destination, he relaxed out of his Super Saiyan transformation. Hesitantly, he looked for a way in. The main door was long gone, destroyed by the cyborgs two decades earlier. But after a while, he found a passage to crawl through.

The interior was a real mess. You would have thought that hundreds of bombs had exploded inside, destroying everything. There was no electricity and no light – Trunks charged a tiny ball of energy in the palm of his hand and used it to see.

He really hated this place. It was the birthplace of his worst enemies, horrific murderers. This was the third time he had been inside. The first was to stop Gero and destroy the cyborgs before they awoke…but he had been too late. The second time was when he entered with Kulilin, still in the past, hoping to find the cyborgs’ weakness in Gero’s plans. Now, in his own timeline, he was coming with the opposite goal: to activate one of the machines! In a way, he hoped not to find anything…

But the box was there…overturned and spoiled, but there. Trunks lifted it with his right hand. The glass was broken, revealing the body of “number 16”. Bulma’s son broke the rest of the glass and examined the artificial human closely.

He was in terribly poor condition. 16 lacked his right forearm and left hand, and his right leg was crushed. His entire right foot was completely twisted. The breastplate had collapsed and sunk several inches. Fortunately, the head was still intact. Trunks stood silently in front of the cyborg, wondering if he should bring it back…or simply destroy it and lie to his mother, telling her there was nothing there. He mulled it over…and finally decided to bring it back. After all, nothing was compelling him to be friendly to it!

Trunks searched through the rubble for any parts or plans he was able to find, then brought the cyborg back to the ruins of Capsule Corporation. Bulma immediately began work to analyze what the genius Gero had created. She spent all her time on it, sleeping only a few hours each day for more than a week. With the plans Trunks had brought, she slowly began to understand the principles of how the cyborg worked.

“It’s not really a cyborg after all,” she said to her son. Trunks stared blankly at the giant being as he brought his mother yet another cup of coffee. “In fact, it’s an android. A robot.”

“And what does that change?” he asked.

“It changes everything,” she announced, smiling. “It explains everything. This is why 16 was not violent. There are two types of robots: those who have a basic artificial programming and do nothing but what they are told, and those who have a true AI system. Such a decision engine is closer to a human brain, and that’s what 16 has. It doesn’t surprise me; no basic robot will be able to think fast enough to follow and do battle with great warriors like you.”

“So what? He has a broom for a brain?” (Translator’s note: the French word for “broom” sounds like the French acronym for “artificial intelligence”.)

“AI, not a broom, silly. This system gives him free will. A robot equipped with intelligence like this should be considered a citizen, not a machine. With free will, an android can choose not to obey its master, and this is exactly what 16 did. You said he repeatedly threatened to kill Goku, but never did.”

“He set his priorities on Cell.”

“And this is free will.”

Trunks shrugged. “All I remember is that he never followed through with what he said.”

“He is an independent mind, like you, like anyone. And never safer. No true AI has ever been violent – statistics prove it. They are always super nice. I bet that’s why Gero abandoned his design for 16 – the AI resisted the directive to kill Goku. Yet at the same time he had far more power than Gero could handle. So he deactived 16, kidnapped the twins, and created true cyborgs, half machine and half human, because the human brain is actually easier to control than a real AI intellect.”

“Super…nice?”

“You’d be surprised,” smiled Bulma. “He has nothing in common with 17 and 18. Absolutely nothing.”

“Then why did he follow them all the time?” demanded Trunks.

“He must have felt bound to them, perhaps responsible for what they did. And never mind those details. In the end, he was nothing but good.”

Trunks grunted and left, carrying Bulma’s empty cups of coffee.

The next day, after having verified that most of the systems were intact, she tried to start it up to test it. “He might open his eyes and speak.”

Trunks was there, of course. He had to demonstrate his superiority just in case the cyborg – or android, whatever – tried something.

Bulma tapped a few keys on her console. A few rattles were heard, then silence…and 16 opened his eyes as if waking from a coma. He glanced around, then saw Trunks.

Trunks addressed him. “Sixteen?”

The android heard him perfectly. “Yes.”

“Son Goku died, many years ago,” said the half-Saiyan, hoping that hearing this news would make the android law there calmly.

“Ok.” The android spoke simply, showing neither friendliness nor animosity.

Trunks set his jaw. “From what I know…it looks like you want to protect the Earth, nature, and life in general, is that right? You’re a Good Samaritan…super nice?”

16 didn’t reply immediately; he could tell Trunks was being sarcastic. He checked his systems, and realized that he could not move anything but his head. This was unfamiliar – where was he? Looking around, he recognized the daughter of Doctor Brief. Trunks interrupted his thoughts:

“Does that apply to humans as well? Will you help and protect the humans?”

“Yes. I like the humans too,” the android said, smiling.

Was it enough? The machine could be lying, Trunks knew. And even if this was consistent with what he knew from the past, there was a chance that things could go wrong…so he took one more step. “One last thing then.”

Focusing, Trunks concentrated his ki, his hair rising and standing up on his head while turning from purple to gold. His eyes became green, and his muscle mass expanded violently. His mother was impressed…and a little worried too.

“Can you scan my power level, Number Sixteen? Do you know how strong I am?”

“Yes.”

“You can see that I’m stronger than you.”

“You are. Much stronger, and much more than Gero could imagine.”

“I’m sure of that.” Trunks allowed himself a hint of a grin.

Trunks returned to normal, his hair falling loosely around his face again. He said nothing for a long moment, staring at his mother who waited to see what he would do. 16 still watched him, motionless.

“So here is the deal,” Trunks said finally, to his mother’s great relief. “We can repair you. We will get you back, all good and running. But you will give us your time, energy, and power to help rebuild humanity. Are you ok with that?”

“It would be a great pleasure.”

Trunks added one threat. “And if you act in any way that could be harmful to humans, I will destroy you immediately, just like I destroyed Number Eighteen and Number Seventeen. Clear?”

“You are clear,” the android finally answered, smiling again. He understood. His internal clock indicated that many years had passed. Gero must have made other models after him – models that had caused widespread destruction. They had gone beyond their directive of killing Goku. Trunks, Vegeta’s son, became a big boy and spent his life improving until he could overcome and destroy them.

Bulma stood. For her, it was enough. Her son continued:

“Good. We can see. I do not trust you, but…”

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” his mother said with a smile.

“Mom…let’s rebuild Sixteen!”

It took them two months to repair his damaged limbs and make the necessary replacements. During these months, 16 stayed awake, even chatting with Bulma. Trunks wasn’t very happy about it. But he allowed it; a robot who couldn’t move or do anything other than talk wasn’t very dangerous.

To Trunks, it was still risky. 16 was a creation of Doctor Gero, so he could still be dangerous; that would not change after Bulma reactivated his functions. But she worked fast – before too long, 16 could move and use his hands just like new! After all, she had managed to build a machine to travel back in time; rebuilding a robot was a piece of cake!

After several days walking around Capsule Corporation to make sure that the machine didn’t blow a cable, Bulma decided to present him to the world…but as one of her own creations. They could not tell people that 16 was built by the same madman who had created 17 and 18. Trunks wasn’t exactly a fan of this idea, but he had to admit that 16 seemed friendly.

With Trunks always at his side, 16 began working on the first city. He could carry heavy beams on his own, large concrete blocks. He could fly and carry materials to the tops of high buildings much faster than a crane could have. Very soon, people began thanking, congratulating him. The new spread quickly around the world: it was said that a robot created by the famous Bulma of Capsule Corporation was helping Trunks to rebuild the world. 16 began receiving fan mail – he was especially popular with children. Everyone loved him.

However, Trunks continued to be suspicious – he insulted 16 regularly. When he asked 16 why he helped the humans, and the machine replied, “Because I love them,” the Saiyan had replied:

“You do not love them. You’re a machine; you do not have a heart or feelings. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” This kind of remark was common. He rarely spoke to the android except to give orders and belittle him. But 16 never snapped back. He was always smiling, always trying to please the humans, always ready to follow whatever orders Trunks and Bulma gave him.

Trunks and 16 were far from friends.

Trunks even had nightmares where he saw 16 with a sadistic smile like the cyborgs, hands stained with blood and surrounded by bodies. He was amazed that his mother didn’t have similar dreams.

“When I was younger, the house was filled with robots. They were all friendly and helpful. There was no problem.”

“Sixteen is not the same!”

“But oh, he is exactly the same.”

Trunks ignored her. 16 was a creation of evil. Sooner or later, he would do something wrong.

“Both fighters are now in place on the ring! The fight can begin!” announced the lead Varga, startling Trunks from his thoughts.

16 smiled again. He waited for his opponent, Eleim, to make the first move.

A visor from the radar system of his armor instantly appeared before Eleim’s eyes as it scanned, revealing some important information. ‘No sign of life detected, not even a red blood cell! It is a combat robot, not a human being. No need to go easy on it…’ he thought.

Allowing the visor to slide back from his eyes, he held out his left arm, braced it with his right, and shouted while jumping backward: “Ultra Waver Ball!!”

It was the same attack that Xeniloum had used against Buu. The glowing orb was relatively slow – lazy enough to follow with ordinary eyes – but fatally destructive!

“If that touches me, I’m dead!” realized 16 immediately as his scanners analyzed the attack.

‘When you duck,’ thought Eleim as he took off into the air, ‘you’ll be more open to my next shots!’

But 16 didn’t dodge. His hands snapped off at the forearm, revealing a devastating weapon. “HELL’S FLASH!” he shouted, pointing both arms at the ball of energy that was now only six feet away.

The explosion was violent. Eleim had not expected this and was a bit too close; he had to cover his face to protect himself from the blast. It was a mistake that 16 took advantage of; as soon as he launched the attack, he quickly moved to come around behind the warrior from universe 19 and slam into him with a violent kick from behind. Eleim fell like a stone onto the ring near the crater formed by the explosion.

He rolled onto his side to avoid 16, who came down with a crushing blow. But he had no time to rest; 16’s fists were still detached and came flying toward him, forcing Eleim to take off. He was pretty smooth – he had good reflexes in addition to a good sense of where the attacks would come from. He jumped to avoid the first fist, then turned to the second and activated the blaster on his right arm. The orbs of energy exploded against the fist violently, destroying it.

16 recovered his right fist and lunged at Eleim again, his left arm firing an energy beam from close range. Again, Eleim demonstrated flexibility and dexterity, gripping the android’s forearm and lifting his legs to avoid the deadly attack. Then he kicked 16 violently in the face, only to be met with a crushing punch to the chest. Both backed up, ready for another go.

“His armor makes him as resistant as a cyborg! But his strikes and his superhuman speed, he owes them to his boosted and trained body!” 16 concluded after brief analysis.

“If not for my armor, that would have destroyed my heart…he is very strong, I have to be careful,” Eleim decided simultaneously.

The fight would be difficult for both fighters. No longer could they rely on their strength to win; victory would require them to exploit the weaknesses of the other and use their best strategies…