Super Dragon Ball: Redux Kaizen

Arc 1: C6

(The Following Morning After That Night, Inside The Bunker. . .)

"16, is it possible that there is something wrong with me. . ."

The red-haired giant turned his head towards the couch of the dimly lit room. It was early morning as far as he could tell and usually around this time, 21 would be at her desk, slaving away on formulas to deal with her own problems while trying to figure out a way to stop Project: Festival. But, today was different which wasn't much of a surprise compared to how she left on an "errand" and came back with nothing she said she was getting. Now, she was laying on the couch, ultimately sleep-deprived from having to make up for the lost time she had wasted on whatever she was doing outside the bunker. 16 averted his eyes and responded, "Depends, are you referring to that 'hunger' problem you have?" 21 flinched for a moment and shook her head as she ran a hand across his face.

"No. . .," She dismissed and pointed towards the object on the table. 16 peered over and only saw a cellular device with a pink phone case.

He raised an eyebrow, "O. . .kay? Did you need this device for your plans but it turned out to be defective?"

"No. . .," She repeated.

"Then what?" 16 asked, quickly giving up on trying to draw a conclusion himself.

"I. . .honestly don't understand it myself," 21 admitted, removing her hand to reveal a mixture of confusion and worry, "You and I both know my 'hunger' is a problem as great as Project: Festival. Because of that, I avoid as much contact with other life forms as possible, such as food and ordering parts. Thankfully, I can avoid working due to the funds left behind by my creator. . .but. . ."

16 noticed her eyes narrow. He could tell. She was reflecting on that time as an excuse again. He sighed as he already knew the whole story, "Yes. . .I understand. After something like that, it'd be hard to trust yourself again." 21 didn't refute that. She and he knew that at the moment, 16 was the only person she could talk to. He didn't have a Ki signature so he wouldn't cause her symptoms to activate from prolonged exposure.

"Yeah. . .," 21 acknowledged before continuing after taking a glance at the phone, "For the first time in a long time, I've met some human that I couldn't push away. When I realized that, I decided to run once my symptoms started yet somehow, he still managed to find me."

"So? It just sounds like a coincidence. Perhaps you're just overthinking things," 16 refuted.

21 nodded and turned to her side, her expression softening still, "Maybe, you're right. But last night. . .when my 'hunger' was being the devil on my shoulder and trying to get me to lose control, I. . .stayed. I didn't want to leave and ignored whispers. I even went out of my way to buy a phone and get his contact information." 16 raised an eyebrow at this.

"Contact? What did you use as your name?" He asked.

21 froze a bit and nervously answered, "Shoko. . . "

"Simple enough. But that's. . ." 16 noted.

"I know, I know! Everything happened without me realizing it so I just used the first thing that came to mind," 21 admitted before he could continue further, turning back to face the ceiling, "As I said, I'm feeling off today. . . It's like I can't focus lately like I used to."

"Perhaps you're worth ethic has finally reached its limit," 16 proposed, the phrasing catching her attention enough to dart her eyes to him.

"Huh?" She murmured as she sat up and stared at her fellow android in search of a better explanation.

Nevertheless, 16, unironically enough, looked back impassively yet spoke with what felt like a poor attempt to sound sincere, "I believe that you have reached your limit in terms of social interaction with other lifeforms such as yourself." 21 raised a confused eyebrow.