"No problem at all. This is a fairly routine task, Mr. Fabeli," said Jarvis's voice, coming from a speaker embedded somewhere in the ceiling.
---
After lingering a while longer in the lab, Taro and Hathaway went on a tour of Fabeli's research on the Divine Tree cells. Of course, Taro only glanced over the research progress itself, while Hathaway focused on the finer technical details.
Although Hathaway's expertise lay in energy systems and mechanical engineering—fields far removed from biology—geniuses are geniuses for a reason. Even when they claimed something wasn't their specialty, they could still outshine most people in the world by a mile.
During this time, a middle-aged researcher with graying hair came in and exchanged a few words with Fabeli. Hathaway recognized the man and gave him a polite nod. The researcher looked over at the man standing beside her—a young-looking face with gray hair and beard? A strange fellow indeed. And he seemed close with Hathaway... The researcher, whose name was Gero, silently speculated about Taro's identity, but soon left the room.
"Is Gero doing well under your supervision?" Hathaway asked Fabeli casually after Gero left.
Taro, meanwhile, seemed deep in thought. His eyelids lowered slightly, his gaze fell to the ground, and his spirit detached from his body—shifting into a formless, intangible mist that quietly followed the departing Gero.
At this point in time, Gero didn't seem nearly as old or mad as in the original timeline. Taro couldn't sense much of a dangerous aura from him either. As expected of genius scientists—there's always something a little off about them.
Taro's consciousness followed Gero at a distance before silently retreating.
Gero suddenly paused in his steps, puzzled. He looked around but couldn't make sense of the strange feeling. With a shake of his head, he continued walking, his thoughts calm and unbothered.
"Fabeli's too rigid... If science is to advance, how can there not be casualties?" he mused quietly to himself.
Back in the room, Taro retracted his spiritual awareness. He flipped his hand, and a drop of crimson blood appeared in his palm, suspended mid-air.
"What's that?" Fabeli asked curiously. "If it's your blood, I already have enough samples... Oh? It's not yours?" He peered closer and realized this drop of blood didn't resemble Taro's, which was heavy and viscous like red mercury. This one was more like normal human blood.
"Analyze the genes in this blood as well, when you get a chance," Taro said as he scanned Fabeli's office. He reached out with a flick of his fingers, pulling an empty glass vial from a nearby lab bench, and sent the drop of blood floating neatly inside.
Fabeli took the vial, swirled the crimson liquid gently, and asked, "Not going to tell me what it is?"
Taro smiled. "A certain monkey's."
"Monkey?" Fabeli was confused.
"You… when did you collect it?" Hathaway had already guessed—it had to be blood from Goku, that boy.
"In passing," Taro replied. After a moment's thought, he added a warning for Fabeli. "Later, I may give you more samples. But by then… they'll likely be from after a certain 'mutation'. Just keep that in mind."
"Mutation?" Fabeli's eyes lit up.
"Or... you could call it 'evolution'," Taro said, thinking of what it meant to be a Super Saiyan.
Hathaway, on the other hand, was wondering—did Taro mean Goku himself had the potential for such mutation or evolution? Or was it something inherent in his species?
Before they left—
Taro used telekinesis to lift all their bags and crates into the air. The boxes floated behind them as he and Hathaway walked. The Phoenix flew freely overhead. As they reached the cave mouth that served as the lab's exit, the northern winds howled outside. Suddenly, Taro turned back and said to Fabeli, "The blood sample just now—don't let that young man named Gero participate in the research."
Given his age, calling Gero a "young man" was more than generous.
Fabeli found the request odd but didn't question it.
Hathaway, however, was thoughtful... She'd mentioned it many times before—Hathaway had a gift for reading people, for discerning good from evil.
But someone like Gero was difficult. Those so-called "mad scientists" often seemed perfectly normal—until they weren't. While Hathaway had long harbored suspicions about Gero, she couldn't very well judge someone before they'd actually done anything wrong. So she had kept her concerns to herself.
But now, Taro was specifically asking that Gero not be allowed to touch Goku's blood... Hathaway had seen firsthand just how much Taro cared for the boy. The man who never took anything to heart had gone so far as to suppress and seal away Goku's innate savagery in order to nurture him properly.
Did this mean that Taro had "seen" the path Gero might eventually take?
Hathaway pondered this silently.
"Let's go."
With matters settled, Taro took Hathaway and the Phoenix, along with the floating cargo, and flew into the northern wind.
Fabeli watched the two of them and the bird fade into the distance. After standing still for a while, he turned and walked back into the depths of the cave lab, his mechanical half-body making rhythmic clack, clack, clack sounds as he disappeared down the corridor.
Boom...
The massive doors of the lab slowly closed, sealing off the world outside.
In the sky—high, high above—
Taro flew with Hathaway and the Phoenix above the clouds. Hathaway looked into the distance and spotted, in the clear sky even higher above, a small dome-shaped building floating motionlessly.
"Is that where Earth's deity lives?" Hathaway asked.
"That's right. That's the Earth's Lookout," Taro replied. They were flying upside-down, with the dense clouds rolling beneath them. Despite their speed, which could cover hundreds of miles in an instant, the distant temple seemed to remain the same in their vision, never receding.
Staring at the temple, the ripple-patterned tomoe design in Taro's Rinnegan flashed briefly in his eyes. He fell into deep thought, contemplating the space-time abilities that might be hidden within them. After that brief battle with Freeza during Planet Vegeta's destruction a year ago, he figured they must have already collected data on his teleportation...
Would they develop some technology to limit that ability?
"What are you thinking about?" Hathaway asked. She floated beside him, completely at ease, her body relaxed. Since she couldn't fly on her own, she had entrusted herself completely to her husband's control. Seeing him so deep in thought while gazing at the distant temple, she knew he was planning something again.