The Last Tuffle: Chapter 9

Over the next few days, the young Tuffle was trying to get accustomed to the new world around him. The Tuffles had placed technology, intellect, and efficiency high on their cultural pedestal. With the emphasis on logic came a detachment to strong emotions. Sure, they had accepted the fact that all of them could feel happiness, despair, and anger to great extremes at times. Yet, to let their emotions impair their productive abilities was strongly discouraged in their society. A person would especially be reprimanded in pubic if he or she were to have an outburst in the middle of working on an important task. The progress of society and their influence on the world was prioritized over the complex feelings of its individuals.

None of that mattered to Enoki in the moment. He soon gave up being frustrated at the fact that he could not go back to his home planet to try and save his people. Grief held him down to his single bed on the ship like a large block of ice. Enoki was, indeed, thankful to be alive, but at the same time, was he really alive? With his family, friends, and everyone he knew, gone, he felt like a part of himself, his very soul, had gone with them. He might as well be a walking shell, programmed to eat, sleep, and stare off into space.

A rush of heat through his body and his mind interrupted the melancholy silence. Enoki knew it was his Saiyan instincts, gnawing at him, telling him to move and fight. The images of the Saiyans’ smirking faces in the light of the engulfing flames created feelings of fear and contempt. His hatred for what they did to him and his race was enough to snap him out of his sadness. He lifted himself out of bed and walked to a desk where a series of blueprints lay neatly in the center. There was planning to be done.

Several hours later, Enoki had a miniature design of one of his projects: a square cage made out of a resistant dark gray metal. It was designed to withstand the strength of Saiyans and could detain them in their base form. Enoki tested the metal and gripped a bar with all his strength. It didn’t budge. Enoki let go and thought for a moment. Would it be enough for a super Saiyan?

Electricity danced around his hands and arms as he powered up. He gripped the bar again and squeezed as hard as he could. This time, the bar crumpled into pieces on the table, taking parts of the structure with it. Enoki powered down and grunted in disappointment. What point was there in continuing this potential trap if the Saiyans could blast right through the bars? He would have to think of something else. He ran his hands through his short black hair.

Taking a break from his work, the young Tuffle stood up and looked at himself in a nearby mirror. His reflection stared back at him with dark circles under glassy yellow eyes. New scars had appeared on his check, neck, and arms ever since his near encounter with death at the hands of the transformed Saiyans. Ironically, it may have been the very Saiyan powers within him that had saved his life. He cursed under his breath at the thought.

"Are your thought processes optimal, Enoki-san?"

Enoki turned around to the familiar mechanical voice of his droid, Shitake. The cream colored robot was standing to the side of the doorway. Enoki was slightly surprised. Shitake had not visited him ever since they had first landed on Earth. The sounds of banging and clanking from up above and from outside indicated that Shitake had been making repairs to the ship during the last few days. In the back of his mind, Enoki had wanted to contribute and help out, but the negative emotions held him down. Usually, Shitake would be outside patrolling the perimeters. Why had he decided to visit him?

“Um, could you repeat the question?” Enoki asked in confusion.

"I was asking if your thought processes were optimal."

An awkward silence followed.

The droid paused. "Let me rephrase that. I was wondering if you…were doing okay."

Recognition appeared on Enoki’s face. “I guess I’m doing alright.”

"Based on your facial features and tone of voice, it appears that you are still in the process of recovering."

“Oh, wow, who would have guessed?” Enoki asked.

"It is not a guess. It is a fact."

So much for being sarcastic around a literal-thinking robot. “Sorry,” he added. “I wasn’t expecting you to check up on me. After explaining what had happened, you just left afterwards.”

"Psychology shows that some people need time to be by themselves to recover after losses or stressful situations."

“Well that’s good and all, but isn’t there someone I can go to for additional comfort?”

"Like who?"

“I don’t know, maybe my mom, or my girlfriend. Any other Tuffle that’s out there?!”

Shitake was not fazed at his sudden outburst. "I’m afraid, Enoki-san, that all the other Tuffles are…"

“I already know that!” he yelled. “Tell me something I don’t know. Will this planet soon become under the control of the Saiyans as well? What could possibly be worse?”

"Very well. There is a company in Conton City that is looking for new employees to help with mechanics and education. Would you be interested?"

“That certainly could.” he muttered.

"Would you mind clarifying your statement, Enoki-san?"

Enoki face-palmed in frustration. “Shitake, out of all the things you could come up with, you want me to apply for a job for humans?”

"It would provide you with the means of surviving among the Earthlings, as you currently have no money and little space food left."

“Obviously,” he muttered, crossing his arms.

"In addition, it would help direct your mental capacities into the external world instead of internally."

Enoki gave him a blank look.

"In other words…being productive could help distract you from the thoughts that are troubling you."

“I see,” he replied. “That might not be such a bad idea. But how am I supposed to integrate myself into their society? I’ll need to know their language.”

"Based on the sounds and nearby voices that were recorded, it appears that the Earthlings speak a variety of language, most commonly, Japanese and English."

“Well that’s good to hear,” Enoki said, pleased to have learned both languages somewhat fluently at school. “Wait…you were spying on them, right?”

"More or less."

The droid then displayed a hologram of Conton City and to the side, a large number revealed the approximate population of Earthlings, divided into humans, sentient animal beings and extraterrestrials, including Saiyans.

Enoki breathed a soft sigh of amazement. “What would I do without you?”

"Well…"

Enoki help up a hand. “That was a rhetorical question.”

Shitake then recited various definitions of rhetorical questions that Enoki ignored.

Enoki paced back and forth. “I have no resume, no money, no passport…how did the Saiyans manage to get into the city?” he asked himself. He thought deeply some more. “Maybe some got lucky and found someone who could take them in and raise them. I suppose I could pretend to be an orphan…no, I don’t have any background information that officials could use. Not to mention that I am outnumbered based on how many Saiyans there are…”

Back on Planet Plant, the Tuffles managed to stand on an equal footing with the Saiyans due to their numbers and technology, despite their lack of strength. Now Enoki had the technology…just not the numbers.

“Heck if I even encountered one Saiyan, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I need to find a way to master my new power.”