The milk jug rolled off the table and smashed onto the floor. The two men glared at each other in a deadly eye lock. A silence filled up the kitchen like flood gates closing for the first time in on a river. The older man sat back in his chair, still glaring straight into his son’s eyes.

"I’ve had enough. How many soldiers are going to die for your stupid vendetta?! That ‘child’…", he rolled the word off his tongue, foreseeing his father’s disgust, "…has taken out all of HQ. There’s no way your ‘androids’, could stand up against him. Even that ‘Hachi-gou’."
The older man thumped his hands down on the table, "That was a simple mistake. The next one won’t be capable of emotions! The next one will be even greater than the great Taopaipai!"
His son folded his arms in a vaguely arrogant stance, "Oh, didn’t you hear? That ‘child’ defeated him. They found his dead body a few hours after the attack. It’s no wonder he decimated the troops."
"I know that all too well. That ‘Son Gokuu’ shall not live to the end of the month. My latest model, Kyuugou, could easily defeat him. I’ve done plenty of tests."
His son laughed. He turned away from the table. "Forget it. It’s impossible to turn humans into machines. All you’ve got to show from the men you killed while trying is a spare kidney collection."
"Just wait. Just wait." The doctor rubbed his chin. "I know what I did wrong last time. The prospect of using a combination of man and machine opens up endless boundaries! I could make them twice as light, twice as fast, twice as strong!" He looked up only to realize his son had left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gero woke to the sound of a crashing noise from the underground laboratory. He ran to the stairs, clutching his gun under arm. It clanked on the railing as he made his way downstairs, panting. The lights were off. He was in there. He fumbled with the light switch, and realized the power had been shut off.

‘The power had been shut off?’ Rage made his forehead burn crimson. He loaded the gun and hoisted it over his shoulder. The test subjects would all be dead or on the verge of death without their life support. A blue spark leapt between two consoles and he caught a glimpse of the room. Shattered glass lay all over the ground, the computer in the center of the room blinked a feeble red warning light.

"I know you’re in here! I’m armed!"

His voice echoed around the room. He took a step forward, he feet crunching on the broken glass. Then he stepped into a pool of liquid. A brief spark confirmed his theory. He jumped back in surprise; none of the test subjects had an ounce of blood left in them. Blood was unnecessary. The stench of burnt flesh filtered it way into his nostrils. He thought angrily about the waste of his test subjects. He had been so close.

The rattle of a glass flash across the cement floor brought him back to his senses. The lights flickered back on.

His son lay, slumped against the wall. His face and arms were covered with fragments of glass. He looked up at his father hopelessly. "You lose. I’m not gonna see one more of your creations forced to do your will whether they’re strong or not."

"You’re right. You’re not going to see any of them." Dr Gero held up the gun.

"I suppose you should know before hand that it was I who gave that Hatchigou his own will. I’ve implanted the same program into the computer. I designed it, so you already know you can’t just make a replacement."

"Shut up! I’ll reset everything! You’re not going to get in my way now! Not after you’re dead!" The gun shook in the old man’s hands.

"You’re not capable of it. Every android you make using that machine will be capable of turning against you! Every single one of them! Every…" His words were cut short. He collapsed to the ground, his breathing coming in gasps.

Gero stood over him. "Don’t die to quickly. You destroyed all of my patients, so I’ll have to use your body for the next one."

The last thing his son saw was the door close in his face. He remembered his mother, he remembered what had happened to her, then he felt his thoughts leave him.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Dr Gero stood back. It was finished. It had taken him several months, but it was ready. That ‘Son Gokuu’ would simply not have a chance. He pressed the button on the side of the chamber.

His android opened it’s eyes. "Ohayo Gozaimas, Doctor Gero-sama."

Dr Gero stared at it, " ‘Gero-sama’?!"

"Yes."

He stared at it. He shook his head. "You aren’t my son, are you?"

"Do you have a son?" It asked. "I have no data on him."

Gero grit his teeth, and slammed his hand down on the de-activation device.