Mirai Bulma began to feel dizzy as she inhaled the nauseating scent of antiseptic and plastic over and over again. They were finally in the operating room and the procedure had begun, but she felt strangely detached from it all. She knew that her mind was completely on the task before her, but it felt as though her body were numb and cold all over, as if the ice that had recently began to coat her heart had spread to her other limbs as well. Although she appeared calm and collected on the outside --- the perfect picture of a woman handling pressure with ease; her hair was tied precisely into a knot at the nape of her neck, her makeup was flawless, her clothes were neatly pressed, and she had held herself back from visibly shaking. On the inside however, she was already falling apart from nervousness and fear. She was trying as hard as she could to keep herself stable and to not crumble into a thousand pieces right then and there, but it was hard. The situation was just simply too intimidating for her. She honestly felt that if she spent another five minutes under the bright lights and inhaling that sharp, awful scent, she would die of anxiety.

The surgery had been set up in a very unique way. Instead of having an entire legion of doctors working on the jinzouningen, they had to deal with having only Dr. Cho and his assistant. There were just too many security risks to invite other doctors into the operating room --- for their own safety and for the safety of the jinzouningen. Now that Mirai Bulma was aware of the jinzouningen protestors that were after Juuhachi-gou’s life, she had to be certain to take extra precautions. She had warned Kuririn to stay inside of the small waiting room that she had found for him, and he was not allowed to say anything to anyone about what was going on. The hospital was a big place, but not big enough. If any one of the jinzouningen protestors found out that Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou were in this hospital, there would be a riot and the lives of the jinzouningen would be in serious, immediate danger.

She was seated at a small, movable desk in front of a Capsule Corporation computer, her eyes trained carefully on the monitor. Beside the computer were two other small monitors that were keeping track of brainwave activity and heart rates. Several bundles of cords ran from the computer to the operating tables, where they were attached to the jinzouningen. On the computer screen in front of her were two diagrams: one of Juuhachi-gou’s body and the other of Juunana-gou’s body. During her research, she had managed to develop a program that would allow her to see the entire surgery through the diagram before her; she could see the muscles and bones and most importantly, the biotechnology that Dr. Gero had placed inside of their bodies. It was up to her to direct Dr. Cho in the surgery and to make sure that any evidence of Dr. Gero’s influence was removed. Luckily, she had engineered the program in a way that made it easy. It listed the exact placement of the biotechnology parts, gave a time estimate for that section of the surgery, and also projected an image of where the initial incision should be made. Mirai Bulma transferred this image to the large screen in the center of the room for Dr. Cho, so that she didn’t have to yell out directions and startle him.

Dr. Cho had positioned himself in between the two operating tables and looked nearly unrecognizable in his surgical mask and cap. He was moving with clear assurance, obviously not afraid of the task that had been given to him or the dangerous monsters that he was operating on. His brown eyes were narrowed in concentration as he worked quickly and professionally, removing the first piece of Dr. Gero’s technology out of Juunana-gou’s body. His assistant stood at his side and for once, she managed to actually look competent. She followed him through the surgery and then moved to neatly stitch up the incision after it was finished, so that Dr. Cho could move on at a faster pace. The two of them were working flawlessly together, not even pausing for a breath as they worked. Mirai Bulma was pleased that she had signed on this particular doctor for the task; she had always admired Dr. Cho and knew that he was an excellent surgeon. His willingness to comply, knowing that he was operating on a mass murderer was even more impressive. He had simply accepted the situation, viewing Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou as normal, everyday patients.

Vejiita was standing at the ends of the operating tables with his arms crossed and his dark eyes glaring down at the jinzouningen, as if daring them to move. He was keeping an eye on the heart monitors as well, watching for any signs of change. He was prepared for what might happen if the jinzouningen did wake up and was certainly paying close attention to his surroundings in case it actually happened. And although she hadn’t quite been able to catch him in the act yet, she felt him staring at her as well. It didn’t feel like his normal, deadly glare however. It felt more like he was just looking at her; not admirably, not fondly, not fearfully….just looking. It made her feel even more distanced from the situation. Vejiita was treating her as if she were just another shelf on the wall, just another speck of dust floating through the air --- he was acting as though she barely even existed. She didn’t know how she felt about that, really. On one hand, it was nice to know that he wasn’t paying close attention to her and waiting for her to mess up the operation. But on the other side, it made her feel slightly jilted that he was ignoring her and acting as though he didn’t care.

Dr. Cho finished with Juunana-gou and moved quickly to Juuhachi-gou to perform the same incision. His assistant stayed a moment by Juunana-gou’s side to clean the area and stitch it up, then moved to join him again. A small pile of Gero’s technology was beginning to accumulate in the bin that Mirai Bulma had set aside for it. She would be testing these items later and using them to analyze what Gero had done in an up close manner. The jinzouningen were gone in her world, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a right to know why they had existed and how they had been created. She felt that she wasn’t the only one who deserved to know, either. As soon as she was able to produce a sound assessment of what had happened in Gero’s laboratory years ago, she would publish it. She wanted every single person in her world to be able to know what happened. They couldn’t hide in the hills forever and be afraid that it would happen again; they had to use this knowledge to protect themselves from future events and possible threats against their lives and safety.

They would be operating on the brain last of all. It was by far the most difficult surgery, but in order to assure that the jinzouningen were completely free of Dr. Gero’s influence, they would have to remove the computer chip that had been placed inside both of the androids. The other surgeries on the rest of the body were not as difficult; most of them were just below the surface of the skin, used to reinforce the body’s strength and create somewhat of a shield. Mirai Bulma had chosen to start with the feet and work upwards, clearing the body of anything foreign until they reached the computer chip in the brain and were able to declare the jinzouningen officially human.

Dr. Gero actually had not placed a great deal of biotechnology inside of the androids; besides the “shield” under the skin, there was nothing but the computer chip. He had left all of the original human organs in tact, which would explain why Juuhachi-gou had been able to give birth. The one piece of knowledge that Mirai Bulma didn’t have, was what the computer chip actually did. She knew that it was Dr. Gero’s way of controlling the jinzouningen --- even after his death, but she not know if the computer chip was able to survive on its own. Without the rest of Gero’s biotechnology in the body, would the computer chip self destruct? Would it send a signal to the jinzouningen that something was wrong? It was a huge risk to take, and that was the main reason why she was so nervous about the surgery. They could be almost entirely finished with the operation when the computer chip kicked into effect and the jinzouningen both self destruct or worse --- woke up and flew into a killing rampage.

Vejiita was standing by in case the latter of those two options actually happened, but what could they possibly do about the first? If the jinzouningen had been programmed to self destruct or “shut down” at a certain point if their corresponding biotechnology parts were removed, what would happen? Surely both of them would die, and she would have a lot of explaining to do. Kuririn for one, would be thoroughly upset that she hadn’t been prepared for such a thing, or even mentioned it to him. She had told him that there would be risks of course, but she had not mentioned anything specific --- if she had indeed mentioned her concerns about the computer chip, then Kuririn probably never would have given her permission to go through with the surgery. She knew her friend well, and he would never want to place anyone in danger like that. Especially not someone that he obviously, deeply cared for. If anything happened to Juuhachi-gou or Juunana-gou during this surgery involving that computer chip, she would have absolutely no excuse.

She frowned and clicked the icon for enlargement, looking up to assure that it was being properly displayed on the screen for Dr. Cho. It didn’t even seem as though he needed it --- he seemed to already be catching on to Gero’s patterns, knowing exactly where the next incision would need to be made. Again, her heart swelled, knowing that she had made an excellent choice with Dr. Cho. He seemed to be able to read the jinzouningen perfectly, without the use of a heart monitor or her computer equipment. She supposed it was the mark of a good surgeon; being able to discern what the patient needed and the status of the patient’s health without any kind of outside help. It filled her with hope to know that the jinzouningen were in such competent hands. Surely, if something were about to go wrong, Dr. Cho would know. After all, he had completed years and years of medical school just to be ready for these kinds of tense situations. He wouldn’t let a patient die, and certainly wouldn’t take risks unless he was certain that the outcome would be a positive one.

She was just being pessimistic again. It was hard not to be pessimistic after the life that she had lived so far. When had things ever gone her way? When had life ever afforded her something miraculous and beautiful, something that didn’t have an evil price tag attached to it? Yes, the jinzouningen in her world had been destroyed, but many of the people that she truly loved had to be killed in order for the lives of those terrible beings to be extinguished. She had been trying to tell herself and others for many years now that the past did not matter. She had encouraged the widows and orphans of her world not let the horrors of the jinzouningen affect their lives on a deeper level than it already had. She had lectured her own son on the importance of always having hope and being strong enough to let go of the things of the past that haunted their lives, and tortured their dreams at night. And through it all, she had never listened to herself. She told everyone else to be hopeful and positive about the future, but she had never taken her own advice to heart.

That was probably one of the reasons why she was so miserable.

Maybe it didn’t have everything to do with Vejiita after all. Perhaps Vejiita’s death had not been what ruined her life and killed her spirit. She had murdered her own spirit by not allowing it to get past that death. Instead of moving on and growing stronger because he died, she had impeded the grieving process and fed off of it. She had let the sadness and the depression soak in through her skin until she was drenched in it. And that sadness had altered every other event in her life --- even the things that were supposed to be full of joy and happiness. Instead of feeling elation when the first new city was rebuilt in the future world, she had felt nothing but cynicism. She hadn’t been excited that their world was being built back up from the rubble on the ground; she had felt nothing but disgust and frustration, knowing that one day that same city would fall once again. Life to her seemed as though it were a never ending cycle of torture. As soon as the world was restored to its former state of grandness, mankind would become arrogant and ignorant again, assuming that they are untouchable. Much to their surprise, they will find years later that the world is set on a never-ending circle of progression and destruction. As soon as they are happy and comfortable, something else will come along to wipe them off the face of the Earth and burn down their beautiful cities.

She tried desperately to concentrate, but the diagrams on the screen began to blur.

Despite what her son seemed to think, she knew the truth. There was no escaping destruction. There was no perfect world. Everything about life hung suspended precariously in the air; there were high points and there were low points, but eventually it would all tumble to the ground. Nothing was ever stable and fate was unspeakably cruel. Thinking that you could run away from life and away from pain wasn’t just pointless, it was stupid. And hoping for a better life was just as asinine. What better life did fate have to offer?

So what if the jinzouningen had been stopped sooner? So what if their world had been perfect just like this one? She would have only been setting herself up for a bigger fall. She would have had the luxury of a family and an uncomplicated life, only to be impaled by a sword years later, dying at the hands of some Saiya-jin lunatic who couldn’t tell the difference between a threat and an innocent. And the jinzouningen! They would live their lives peacefully, have a family, and then one day discover that their bodies were still full of evil and their minds were still programmed to kill. As far as she was concerned, there was no true happiness. There was nothing but the shadow of happiness, set off by the light of pain and disappointment looming in the background. It was a cynical way of looking at things, but she didn’t really give a damn anymore. After what she had been through, she had a right to be cynical. In fact, she had all the reason in the world to just simply kill herself and fucking give up.

But she didn’t. And she never would. Because despite the fact that fate seemed to be doing everything it could to crush her will and shatter her heart into pieces, she had survived. And somewhere in the deepest, most secret part of her soul, she still believed. She still believed in love and in happiness. She knew that they existed --- she had felt them before. She knew the kind of power they had. Yes, they had been taken away from her, but for a brief moment she had gotten to grasp them with both hands. She knew what it was like to feel that thrill of wonder and joy that only came from experiencing something pure and right and perfect. And that small, secret part of her soul still insisted that those feelings could last. When it felt as though every other shred of hope had been ripped from her, she was still able to hang onto that small splinter of a dream, knowing somewhere out there, love existed and flourished.

Her eyes lifted above the computer screen to meet Vejiita’s penetrating gaze.

Was this that place? Was this the one world where love and happiness still had a chance? Because the longer she stayed here, the more she began to believe. And it was moments like this, as she stared into the darkness of her dead husband’s eyes, that the smallest, most secret part of her soul started to awaken again. Whatever terrible events had taken place in this world, it still managed to hold onto love --- The cycle of destruction hadn’t been strong enough to touch their hearts. She knew as she stared into Vejiita’s soul that he hadn’t stopped loving his wife, or believing in love. And Kuririn, despite the fact that his wife had turned into a murderer and was an edge away from death, was still gazing through the window at them with a look of pure love and hope on his face. They still held on and they still believed, because this was a place where dreams still had roots. Their hearts had not yet been killed, and their souls were still as pure and light as rain. This was the place that love existed and flourished. This was the reason that she had held on, even during the toughest, most painful moments of suffering.

She couldn’t take this back with her when she left, though. And she could not stay here. So it would have to be the memory of this world that kept her alive from now on. Every time she felt like falling, she would just have to look back and remember the determination in Bra’s eyes, the quiet way that Vejiita spoke of his dead wife, or Kuririn’s hand pressed up against the glass of the waiting room, his expression full of love and hope. She would have to remember it all and take it with her, because in her own world, hope didn’t exist like this.

In her world, hope barely existed at all.

Though his mind was supposed to be on the jinzouningen, his eyes couldn’t help but wander towards her. As he stared at the deep blue of her eyes, he began to feel something that he had rarely ever felt before in his life: curiosity. Vejiita found it odd to look into eyes that were so much like hers, yet completely different. His Bulma had never carried around those tragic shadows of disappointment and pain; she had never looked as though she were too sick and too jaded to move on in life. This future woman had been through a lot of suffering. He knew that she had seen and experienced more horror than most people could in two lifetimes. It made him wonder why someone who had been through so much already would risk the torment of coming to another world, of seeing everything that they had ever wanted --- just out of their reach.

All at once, he began to feel something else that he rarely felt: compassion.