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Reprogrammed
By : moviefan
Category: Dragon Ball Z > Het - Male/Female
Views: 758 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
(A/N: I meant to mention this at the end of the last chapter, but I forgot. Sorry to all you Buu fans, but Majin Buu will not be making an appearance in this story. If you'll remember, at one point in the last chapter, Trunks comments how Majin Buu was resurrected, but do to the androids' interference, he wasn't brought back at full power, allowing the androids to destroy him. So there will be no Majin Buu, or Super Buu, or Kid Buu, or any Buu. But there will be other villains that will appear, such as Cell and others. Just wanted to let you know that. Now here's the next chapter.)
Talking: "..."
Thinking: '...'
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 3: The Reprogramming Begins
For two days straight, 18 wouldn’t come out of her room. Actually, it was his room, and he wasn’t happy about his former enemy taking it over. He had to remind himself on several occasions that, in the end, this would be good for the planet.
But he still didn’t like it.
And she couldn’t stay in there indefinitely. Well, ok, technically she could. Being a cyborg with an unlimited supply of eternal energy, she didn’t need to eat or sleep unless she wanted to. But sleeping was something she did a lot. She said that perhaps her dreams would tell her of who she was.
“You have to get her to come out.” Bulma told him. “I can’t reprogram her if she’s confined in her room all the time.”
“First of all, it’s my room.” Trunks grumbled. “And second of all, what do you want me to do? Go knock her out and drag her down here?” At his mother’s pointed look, he got the impression that that’s exactly what she wanted him to do. “If we want her to think we’re her allies, I can’t use force on her.”
“Then at least go talk to her. Honestly, Trunks, unless I install this data, she’s almost like a newborn infant. An infant with the intelligence of a full grown person and incredible power, but an infant all the same. What if she accidentally blows up our house when she discovers her power?”
“Alright, alright, you made your point.” He reluctantly agreed. “I’ll see if I can get her to come out.”
With a sigh, he headed upstairs. 18 was being a nuisance, but it was better than having her killing people on a daily basis.
‘It’s for the good of the world. We need the extra manpower.’
He knocked before entering, and found 18 once again laying in his bed, sound asleep. He moved to wake her up, but suddenly stopped himself. She looked rather… cute while she was asleep. If only she could be like this all the time. But no, she had to go and destroy half the planet.
‘I’ll never forgive you for it.’ he thought angrily. ‘Even if you’re not that person anymore, I’ll never forgive you. You and your brother took away my father, my friends, my master. I’ll never forgive you!’
But he had to pretend. Pretend that there was nothing to forgive. The thought made him sick. He briefly wondered if this was how the other Z Fighter’s felt when Piccolo and his father first joined up with them. To be fair, Piccolo, or rather, Piccolo’s father, had probably killed just as many people as 18. And his own father had killed more people than 17 and 18 combined. After all, he knew about his father’s former life as a space pirate, taking over and then selling planets in Frieza’s name, sometimes just blowing them up completely.
‘But they changed willingly.’ He reminded himself. ‘They chose to leave behind their dark paths. She didn’t. Her memories were erased. Otherwise she’d still be as evil and sadistic as ever.’
His fists clenched as he was once again overcome with the urge to blast her. Did the planet really need her? He was plenty strong, maybe even the strongest fighter in the entire universe. 18 couldn’t match him in strength. So if another evil freak did come along that was stronger than him, 18 couldn’t hope to beat them. So what use was she?
‘What would Goku do?’
Sometimes he really wished he could be the bad guy, just once. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He would do whatever it took to protect those he cared about, but he couldn’t outright kill someone who wasn’t posing a threat to anyone, no matter how much he despised them.
“Hey, 18, wake up.” He said, tapping her arm.
18 frowned in her sleep. Then her eyes slowly opened. She looked up at Trunks with a disappointed look on her face. “I was dreaming.” She said. “But it doesn’t mean anything. I know that sometimes amnesic patients will have dreams that turn out to be memories. I was hoping I would.”
Trunks crossed his arms. “You don’t have amnesia, 18. Your memories aren’t being blocked off or repressed. They’re erased. Wiped clean.”
18 looked down, a slightly irritated look on her face. “You have no idea how frustrating it is not remembering anything. I just want to know who I am. Is that so much to ask for?”
Trunks shook his head. “No, it’s only natural. But you’ll never find the answers in this room. I can’t do anything about your memories aside from telling you what I know about you, but once my mom reprograms you, perhaps some of your old personality will return. She said it would.”
18 sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Nothing’s going to be accomplished with me being in here. I’m just wasting time. Besides, I probably already threw a tantrum about being forcibly turned into a cyborg when I first found out about it.”
Trunks sweat-dropped. “I don’t know about that. I, uh, hadn’t met you yet.”
18 looked down. “Oh.” She looked back up at Trunks. “Do you really think that reprogramming me will get me back to normal?”
‘Quite the opposite.’ But there was no way he was going to tell her that. “I do. But like I said, we won’t be able to give you back your memories. At least you’ll still be the same person you were back then.” ‘Without the destructive nature.’
The blond android remained silent for a moment. “What if… I don’t want to go back to normal?”
Trunks raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
She hesitated. “Well, what if I wasn’t happy with the way I was before. Maybe I’ll be better off making a fresh start.”
‘Too risky.’ Trunks decided. He would not let her wander around freely unless she was programmed for good. “I think you’ll be better off going back to the way you were before. You were really happy back then. You had a lot of friends, and you smiled all the time, even though your humanity was stolen. The only thing you didn’t like was that we couldn’t stop 17’s rampage. But with him gone, you can go back to being the happy person you were before. I know we won’t be able to replace the precious memories you’ve lost, but we can make new ones together.”
He watched her face brighten up and mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with such a convincing speech so quickly. Maybe now she would come downstairs and the reprogramming could begin.
18 gave him a grateful smile and stood up. “Thanks a lot, Trunks. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’m very grateful to you.”
He gave her a forced smile. “Just glad I can help.”
Then, before he could react, she surprised him by kissing him on the cheek. She gave him a small smile and left the room, leaving Trunks standing there in surprise. But slowly a scowl crossed his face and he aggressively wiped off his cheek before heading downstairs.
He heard his mother’s scream of fright, which he meant that she had seen 18. It made him grin slightly, even though he knew he shouldn’t find humor in his mother’s fear.
“O-Oh, so you’ve come out.” Bulma stuttered.
18 nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry for the trouble.” She frowned. “Are you ok, you’re looking a little pale.”
Bulma gulped. “Um, no, I’m fine. I was just wondering where TRUNKS went.”
“I’m right here.” the half saiyan replied. Apparently his mother’s acting skills hadn’t improved. “Is everything ready?”
Bulma took a moment to calm herself. “Y-Yup, everything’s all set. We can start anytime you want.” She gave 18 a smile that was a little too friendly. “How about we start now?”
18 shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything else to do. Besides, I want some answers.”
Bulma laughed humorlessly. “Well then, just lay down on this table here, and I’ll have you back to normal in no time.”
Trunks raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said it would take months.”
Bulma threw him a death glare. “Well, yeah, to complete the process, but I should be able to get down the basics quickly enough.” She turned back to the android, patting the test table. “Now, 18, if you’ll just come over here.”
18 eyed her suspiciously for a moment before glancing at Trunks. When he nodded to her, she went and laid down on the table. Bulma was quick to hook her up. 18 gave Trunks a worried look. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, and she relaxed a little.
A few minutes later, she was, not quite asleep, but in a hibernate-like state, and the reprogramming had begun. Trunks may have been smart, but this was way above his level of intelligence. So he let his mother handle this.
“Hey, Mom, I still don’t fully understand this whole programming thing. I know about programming computers and stuff, but 18 isn’t like a computer. She can think and act for herself. What guarantee do we have that once you program her, she won’t go bad by choice?”
Bulma thought about it for a moment. “Well, I guess there is no real guarantee. It all comes down to choice, just like it does with everyone else. But by programming her to be a protector rather than a destroyer, it increases the likeliness that she’ll choose good. I guess you can compare her programming to your saiyan instincts. You saiyans are a warrior race, as your father was so fond of reminding me. Fighting is in your blood, and it’s hard to resist. From what I can tell, nearly all saiyans were ruthless thugs, but they can make the conscious decision not to go down that path. Take Goku for example, he was a saiyan, but he chose not to be a brute. But fighting was still in his blood, and he couldn’t resist it. Not even you and Gohan could resist your saiyan instincts and desire to fight and become stronger. So it’ll sort of be the same way for 18, though she can choose not to follow it.”
‘During which case I’ll have to destroy her.’ Trunks said to himself. “I guess that’s what happened with Dr. Gero. He programmed 17 and 18 for world domination and to obey him. They didn’t resist the world domination part, but they went against their programming of obeying him, and instead they destroyed them.”
Bulma was nodding along with what Trunks was saying. “Which is why it’s very important not to let her know of her true past. Because even if I do reprogram her, if she minds out what she was really like, she may go against her programming and turn back to her wicked ways.”
‘And I secretly hope that will happen.’ Trunks thought selfishly. He looked back at the ‘sleeping’ android. ‘For your sake, you better follow your new programming.’
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The days turned into weeks. Bulma’s reprogramming process of 18 was turning out to be successful so far, much to Trunks’ disappointment. And while his mother was programming 18, Trunks was busy teaching her to control her powers. They had decided, for safety reasons, not to give her full programming knowledge of what she was capable of before the program that classified her as a protector was finished, just in case.
That wasn’t to say that 18 wasn’t capable of accessing those powers. She still had the skills, just not the knowledge to use them. Trunks was merely training her to control her abilities, though he also added in a few extra things, such as how to detect energy levels. He had to be careful though. 18 was still very powerful. She was actually stronger than him when he was in his normal state, and when he was a Super Saiyan. But when he became an Ascended Saiyan, she stood no chance. He therefore mostly trained with her at the Super Saiyan level so they were more even.
During these training sessions, they discovered that 18’s power had no limitations. Not only would her energy never run out, but she was also capable of getting stronger, just like anyone else. Trunks made sure to always keep that in mind. He wouldn’t risk allowing her to become stronger than him again.
They also found out other interesting aspects about her. Things that would be considered a necessity to normal people, such as eating, drinking, and sleeping, were not needed, unless they were for luxury purposes. Her artificial parts were in perfect sync with her organic parts. Bulma estimated that 18 would be able to live, or function, or whatever she was doing, for about a full century. This made Trunks feel a little more at ease, knowing that 18 wouldn’t live forever, and he would be able to pass on without fear of her going back to her destructive ways and being unable to stop her.
But then his thoughts turned to someone who would live forever. Who was even stronger than both 17 and 18. Who was the real ultimate experiment of Dr. Gero.
Cell.
17 and 18 were imperfect beings in Dr. Gero’s opinion. They were meant to be tests subjects, the keys to world domination before Cell absorbed them to become a perfect being that would bring forth universal domination. Cell was the final goal. 17 and 18 were just practice, mere steppingstones to get to that final stage.
But Cell was keeping a low profile. Wherever he was, Trunks knew that he was slowly gaining power with the more people he absorbed. Trunks hated it, but he was once again forced to wait until Cell revealed himself, the coward.
His gaze shifted to 18 as she went about her training. He knew Cell would be after her. He would have to leave her behind when he did find out where Cell was. It could be troublesome if he managed to absorb her. True, he should be able to defeat Cell even if he did absorb 18, but why take the risk? Besides, it’d also be a waste after all this time and effort he and his mother were doing with reprogramming her.
“Hey, Trunks, you ok?”
Trunks blinked, coming out of his thoughts. “Huh? What?”
18 cocked her head to the side. “Well, you look like there’s something on your mind.”
‘Damn. Can’t tell her about Cell.’ He tried his best to look sincere. “It’s nothing, just thinking about things.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Trunks felt the urge to scowl. At times like these, when she showed genuine concern and caring, it was hard to hate her. But all he had to do was remind himself what she did and his hatred would come back.
“Thanks, but I’m fine.”
She studied him for a moment before sitting on the ground in front of him. “Can we talk for a bit?”
With a sigh, Trunks joined her on the ground. He expected her to inquire him about her past some more like she usually did. “Fine, what do you want to know this time?”
She was silent for a moment before asking, “Are you angry with me?”
Trunks was caught off guard by the question. “W-What do you mean?”
She frowned slightly. “Well, it seems like, most of the time, you seem angry when I’m around. Your mother too, only she seems more afraid than angry.”
Trunks silently swore. Was it that obvious? He knew his mother wasn’t doing too good of a job with hiding her fear, though it had gotten better, but he had thought that he had been doing a better job at hiding how he really felt about her.
“What do you mean by angry?”
18 shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like you’re holding a grudge against me for something. Did I do something to upset you before I lost my memories?”
Trunks began to slightly panic. This hadn’t been part of the plan that he and his mother had come up with. He would have to be more careful with his emotions in the future. In the mean time, he would have to think of some excuse to give her.
He decided to focus on his mother first. “Well, for my mom, you see, she’s always been a little afraid of you.”
18 raised an eyebrow. “Why, did I do something?”
“Not necessarily. It’s actually Dr. Gero she’s afraid of. You see, 17 put us through hell. And even though you’re nothing like him, the fact that you’re also one of Dr. Gero’s creations makes her uneasy.”
18 was silent, running this information through her head. “I see. Well, I guess I can’t blame her for being concerned. After all, I could kill her very easily.” She gave him a serious look. “But I would never do that. I’ll never hurt anyone.”
Trunks resisted the urge to snort. ‘Wanna bet?’
“It’s not just because of my programming either.” She continued. “Even before your mother started working on me, I never wanted to hurt anyone.” Her eyes narrowed slightly and a determine look came across her face. “I can’t help being what I am, but that doesn’t affect who I am. I’ll never be like 17. In fact, I’m glad I can’t remember him. Seeing the condition he left the world in, I know that I’m better off not remembering everything he did.”
If only that had been true when she first been activated all those years ago. But at least now she was heading in the right direction.
“And what about you?”
He gave her a confused look. “What do you mean?”
She cut her eyes at him, looking annoyed, as if she knew he was playing dumb. “Now I know what you mother’s problem with me is, but why do you see to be angry with me all the time.”
Trunks wracked his brain for an excuse. What reason would he have to be angry with a person who he claimed he was friends and allies with? It would have to be something good. Something really convincing that could be held as a grudge for a long time.
And there was something he was able to come up with. He was only able to come up with it because it was true. Even now, the hurt, the betrayal, the anger he felt back then still remained. And it was the only thing he had to go with.
“It’s a long story, but I’ll try to narrow it down. You remember when I told you about my master, Gohan, right?” When she nodded, he continued. “Well, when I was about 13, I was nowhere near as strong as I am now. You and Gohan were the strongest ones around. One day 17 went on the attack. You, me, and Gohan were there, but Gohan was badly injured; he’d lost his arm in the last battle. You and he were going to go after 17, and I wanted to come, but Gohan wouldn’t allow it, and you agreed with him.”
18 nodded. “Ok, but I don’t see where you’re going with this.”
“Just listen.” He replied, and some of the anger he had felt back then began to surface. “I begged you two to take me with you. And Gohan finally gave in. But then you… you knocked me out. Then the two of you went off to fight 17 while I was unconscious.” Angry tears crept up his eyes. “Gohan didn’t survive the fight. I found his body several hours later after I woke up. I was really sad that he had died, but I was also very angry. Not with 17, at least not entirely, but also with him, and with you. I felt that if I had been there, that I could have helped. That even if we didn’t defeat 17, maybe all three of us would have still come out of it alive.” He wiped away his tears and looked up at 18. “I know you two were trying to keep me safe, but I don’t think I was ever able to fully forgive the two of you. So… that’s why I seem angry all the time.”
18 stared at him in stunned silence. She seemed at a loss of what to do. But finally she approached him and wrapped her arms around him, much to Trunks’ surprise.
“I’m so sorry.” she said, holding him tightly. “No wonder you’re so angry with me. I would be furious if I had been in your position.” She pulled back and, to Trunks’ amazement, wiped away tears from her own eyes. “Listen, Trunks, this may not mean much coming from me now, but I’m sorry. I may not remember that happening, but I do know that I must have had your best interests at heart. I must have been afraid of losing you. I know Gohan must have felt the same way. From what you’ve told me about him, he really cared about you.”
‘He did!’ Trunks thought furiously. ‘He was like my brother! And you killed him! You and 17 slaughtered him like you did so many others! Damn it, Gohan, why did you have to fight them on your own? You knew how lethal they were, so why?’
A blinding rage suddenly struck him. But it was different from before. This rage wasn’t directed at 18, or even 17. No, it was directed at Gohan. He was suddenly furious with his mentor. He may have changed the story to fool 18, but he realized that one part of what he had said was true. He was angry with Gohan. He felt betrayed and abandoned. At the time, the outlet of his anger had been the androids, but now he realized for the first time that he was angry with Gohan as well, and always had been.
“Why?” he whispered, his voice starting to crack as more tears welled up in his eyes. “Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why did you have to go? Why didn’t you let me fight? Why did you have to die and leave me alone?”
He wasn’t even speaking to 18 anymore, but was instead releasing a powerful rage that had stayed dormant in him for years. In a flash, he was suddenly an Ascended Saiyan.
“WHY?”
With a cry of rage, he slammed his fists on the ground, creating a crater that was over fifty feet wide. A golden aura danced around him angrily as all his grief erupted. The ground cracked and the clouds swirled overhead, caught in the energy field of his power.
He wasn’t sure how long he sat in that crater breathing heavily, but he eventually became conscious of a pair of arms around him. It took him a moment to realize that 18 was holding him in a comforting hug, quietly shushing him in his emotional state.
Finally his power died down and he returned to normal. His anger soon gave way to despair, and he suddenly found himself crying. Crying like he hadn’t cried in years. All the while 18 held him, allowing him to release his grief. He didn’t have the strength to pull away from her.
‘I hate you for what you did.’
He wouldn’t realize until much later that the person that that final thought had been directed at hadn’t been 18, or even 17.
‘It had been Gohan.’

(A/N: Don't immediately discredit Trunks' anger. When someone dies, it's actually very common to for the people close to that person to be angry with them for leaving. Especially in Trunks' case, considering that Gohan had knocked him out and then went to fight the androids on his own. Even though most of his anger was directed at them, I'm sure he was angry with Gohan as well. The androids had been his outlet before, but with them gone, aside from 18, his buried anger at Gohan finally came out. Please review.)
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Reprogrammed	By : moviefan Category: Dragon Ball Z > Het - Male/Female Views: 758 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I own nothing

Reprogrammed