This page, The KidVegeta Anthology/The Perfect Lifeform, is property of KidVegeta.
On March 1, 2014, I created three new stories - From Magic to Monsters, Be a Man, and The Perfect Lifeform. The Perfect Lifeform was ultimately created for the same reason From Magic to Monsters was - to give the backstories of characters who I could use in future stories, potentially. With From Magic to Monsters, these characters were artificial and true Majins, but in this story, they were Dr. Gero's androids. I didn't have much of a plan going into this story, like which androids I was going to use or anything. That is the main reason why I finished this story last out of the three; it took me quite a long time to come up with the plots and format for this story.
At the time of creating them, I knew that From Magic to Monsters and Be a Man would be told in unusual formats, but I had originally planned on writing this story like a normal prose story. When I first began working on the three stories, I wanted to cycle through them all by writing one chapter in each before going on to a second chapter. This worked only at first, because I wrote the first chapter of From Magic to Monsters on March 5, the first chapter (or rather, part of the eventual first chapter) of Be a Man on March 7, and the first chapter of The Perfect Lifeform on March 8. After doing this once, I realized it was unsustainable. It was too much work for me to write three stories a week; it would be far easier (and better) for me to give attention to each story one at a time. I did this by focusing on From Magic to Monsters first, then completing Be a Man, and then returning to The Perfect Lifeform. I completed Be a Man on June 25, but did not begin writing The Perfect Lifeform again until July 11. This is because I was very conflicted on the format I was using to write the story.
Even when I was still writing Be a Man, I was struggling with this story. I had written one chapter in prose, and not a lot had been done in it. Because of that, I realized that this story would take many, many chapters in prose to complete. It would be a lot like The History of the Decline and Fall of the Planet Trade Organization in that it would take an enormous amount of my time. I didn't want another story like that, but I also didn't want to delete the chapter I had written. This left me conflicted for almost two weeks after I finished Be a Man. I finally decided on deleting the first chapter and re-writing the story in a similar manner to From Magic to Monsters (though it is actually quite a different approach). I did this mainly because The Perfect Lifeform would have taken a huge amount of time to write in prose, and quite frankly, I didn't want to spend that much time on it. I had a good concept for a story, and using character reports to tell the story was a good, quick, and unique way to tell that tale. If I had ultimately chosen to write it in prose, I likely would still be writing TPL to this day.
I spent a lot of time coming up with the template for the androids and what parameters it would have. Getting the size, the colors, the function to hide and collapse categories took quite a bit of time and effort, and I am proud by how the template turned out. I used the character pages of From Magic to Monsters as a reference point, but I did not want to copy them. The history and fate sections were quite important, so I did carry those over from From Magic to Monsters, but the pun section was unneeded for androids. Additionally, I added an appearance and personality section for each android to make them feel more alive and make it seem more like something Gero was writing. The main difference between TPL and FMTM was that FMTM was written like a history with an omniscient narrator. This story, on the other hand, was written from the perspective of Gero. He never planned on showing these reports to anyone, either, so they function as a sort of diary too. The reports are for his own purposes, cataloguing what went right and what went wrong with each of his creations. I found it fun and interesting to work with an unreliable narrator like Gero; it also felt very real to me. In canon, I could see Gero keeping these kinds of notes about his creations.
Once I had the new format figured out, I wrote all of histories for androids 1-20 in a two week period, finishing on July 25. I then wrote the prototype section three days later solely because I was staying at a friend's house and didn't have much free time to write (I ultimately wrote the last chapter early in the morning of July 28, after waking up earlier than anyone else and getting some precious time to myself). Because I was not writing in prose, the writing itself went very quickly. I could have done several androids a day if I had wanted to, but at the time, I was also writing many other stories, so those took up my time as well. Had The Perfect Lifeform been my only story, I would have finished it in about five days after coming up with my new format for it.
I wrote all chapters on the wiki, like I did with BAM and FMTM. One thing I did is that I saved the history sections for last every time (as I did with FMTM), since they were the most time-consuming parts, and they also defined the characters the most out of all of the sections. Writing out the appearance and personality sections first allowed for me to create a character who I could then inject into a plot of my own creation and develop them with traits I had already given them. Almost all of the plots were improvised, though I knew I wanted to use General Copper and his officers (their names being detailed in the last chapter of Be a Man) in some way before I began writing this story. In fact, most of Android 9's plot was set up long before I wrote his chapter. Also, by the time I finished Android 8's chapter, I knew that Androids 11 and 12 would be the two main androids I would set up to be able to be used in future stories (though there were other androids I also left open for use, like Android 14, and Androids 21 and 22). But aside from them, pretty much everything else was improvised.
One last thing I want to mention is that this is one of my few stories that has conflict with the "official" Dragon Ball media because of my canon policy. In most of my stories, my canon policy doesn't really affect much (though it influences who I write about - for instance, I have no oneshots about Turles or Janemba because they don't exist in canon, to me). Here, however, it does. Since I don't view the Android 13 movie as canon (and neither should you!), that meant I would be creating unique characters for Androids 13, 14, and 15. This could be confusing to some readers, but it is what it is. There is no official canon, and since the Android 13 movie could not have taken place in the normal timeline, I personally didn't see the movie as taking place at all. I briefly considered using the three androids anyway (the "official" 13, 14, and 15 models), though with different histories to make them canon. In the end, I didn't do this though because it was more interesting for me to create new characters. I recognize that the Androids are a part of the official Dragon Ball media, but they are not canon to me. This story (and the chapters about Androids 13, 14, and 15) is/are a great example of the differentiation between official media and canon media, in my opinion.
Android 1 is a humanoid figure with a metal body. He stands about six feet tall, although there are wires
protruding from the back of his neck and head which reach significantly higher than the top of his head.
While I was able to build the humanoid shape for #1, I was unable to perfect the joint systems in the arms
and legs. He walks very stiffly, and I fear he cannot turn very fast. He has sensors around his body which
glow blue to alert him to foes on all sides. Additionally, Android 1 has a large power supply box in the
center of his chest. I covered it with many layers of armor, but the test subjects were able to damage it
during training runs. Android 1's power supply is an issue. He can only operate for three hours and forty-
five minutes before running out of energy. He requires a charge up to return to operational status. This
will be an issue on the battlefield, I believe. I need to look into different ways to maintain energy for future
models. Android 1's face is a rudimentary one. I gave him two eyes for scanning purposes and several
slashes across his mouth area that serve as heat vents, but nothing else. It gives him a frightening, alien
look. However, if I am to make future androids more human-like, I will need to abandon this fearsome
concept. I want to give the next series of androids a weapon in their mouth area - a machine gun or a
laser beam. I am undecided. Android 1 had none of these features, for I feared for the test subjects' lives.
Characteristics
Android 1 is a stupid, if loyal thing. I have been able to program commands into his processors, but I lack the
resources to apply voice commands into his interface. Android 1 lacks the ability to feel emotions. He has no
empathy and no moral sense of right and wrong. He will obey me, but I fear he is not fully conscious. I did not
install any sound boxes on Android 1's body, so he cannot make any noises. That was an oversight on my part.
The soldiers do not want to work with him because of this. Perhaps they are afraid. When I am not ordering him
around, Android 1 simply stands still and appears to do something akin to sleeping. Because of these things, I
have deemed Android 1 an abject failure. For my next model, the first goal must be to give him human-like
emotions and the ability to speak. These androids need to be the evolution of our species, not mindless robots.
I will ask for Commander Red to allocate me additional resources to pursue these goals.
History
Shortly after Commander Red and I formed the Red Ribbon Army, he requested that I lead the army's weapon
division. He had several other scientists come in to help me, but many of them were stupid, old men afraid of
change. Those who did not want to help with my android projects were dealt with by my son, Nagiri. I moved
most of the other scientists to other subdivisions, leaving only myself and one helper to work on the androids.
Dr. Flappe is an excellent assistant, but he is good for little else. If anything happens to me, I do not think
he could continue the android project. I drew up the plans for all of the androids. Flappe acquired the parts
from our distributors. Android 1 took us three weeks to make, even with the assistance of the army's super
computer. At first, I was not sure if #1 would be fit for testing, as he was a very basic android creation. He
lacked many components, such as emotions, free thought, and speech, but he did not need those, in truth.
The first prototype is never suited for action, as I have realized throughout my life. I tested him on numerous
soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and weapon exercises with rubber bullets. Each time, Android 1 was beaten
by the ingenuity of the human mind. Captain Silver was able to punch a hole in #1's chest. He is a strong
fighter, but even so, I am worried that the android is too brittle. I haven't told Red or Flappe my true goal yet.
But replacing the entire Red Ribbon Army with androids will take time. It will make us invincible, yes - we can
take over the world with the unlimited power of androids. I am sure of it. So, I will see if I can ease this topic
into the conversation as the androids become more successful. It's too early to tell them directly. I must plant
this idea in their minds if I am to have any hope of swaying them. But they may reject it anyway. That would
be most unfortunate. Should Red cut off my funding for future android projects under any circumstances, I
will replace him with a more suitable commander of our army.
Current Status
Android 1's memory chip was deactivated by me, personally. His body was destroyed and
his parts recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
Android 1 is much like Majin Shazo from FMTM in that he is a very rough creation. This allows me to improve upon the precedent he sets in future androids, which shows progression throughout the story (from the perspective of Gero's ability to create and refine androids). That he can't talk and doesn't even look human reinforces how primitive Android 1 actually is.
The power supply thing in Android 1's appearance section was mentioned purposefully so that I would have a reason to get to Android 8's infinite energy supply system. Because Android 1's power supply is an issue, Gero spends a lot of his time with these early android creations trying to improve upon that.
Gero considered all of his androids, save for Androids 19 and 20, to be failures. I had to convey this in every chapter before those androids appeared. Usually, it resulted in the android being destroyed in combat, but with Android 1, as with Majin Shazo, the creator simply destroyed their first creation since it wasn't good enough to be used in battle yet.
Like with the Toriyama interview that revealed Bibidi did not create Buu influencing the development of From Magic to Monsters, another Toriyama interview influenced this story. In that interview, Toriyama stated that Gero was the real leader of the Red Ribbon Army, which, in many ways is a direct contradiction to established lore. Gero didn't exist in Dragon Ball; he was a retcon in the sequel series. This was highly irritating to me, for it was obvious throughout Dragon Ball that Red was the undisputed leader of the organization. He wasn't answering to someone behind the scenes; his personality made that clear. Still, I didn't want to completely ignore Toriyama's interviews unless they were obviously non-canon, so I had Gero form the Red Ribbon Army with Red and then allow Red to use most of the resources while he ran the scientific division. This was the best compromise between Toriyama's remarks and actual canon that I could create. The way I see it, Red's arrogance led him to think that, as he became the leader of the Red Ribbon's army, he became its total leader, forgetting (or perhaps purposefully ignoring) Gero's status as an equal.
In that same interview, Toriyama named Gero's son, so I felt it would be good for me to mention Nagiri as soon as possible. Nagiri would later be the character model for Android 16 (which Toriyama stated in the interview), so it was good to build up mentions of him. Additionally, since Nagiri was Gero's son and Gero cared deeply about Nagiri, it only made sense that the good doctor would talk about him in his personal notes.
I had Flappe assist Gero with the early androids simply to align Dragon Ball with Dragon Ball Z and make Toriyama's poorly-written retcon a little easier to swallow.
Android 1's status report was written in the 735 Age, a good 15 years before the Red Ribbon Army met Goku. Because of this, I had Colonel Silver's rank be lower (a Captain in this story) than it was in Dragon Ball.
Because these status reports functioned almost as diaries (better versions of Blue's postcards to himself in Be a Man), I was able to show Gero's true nature in some places. His idea that all of humanity should eventually be replaced by androids was a true goal he had in his canon appearances. By mentioning this goal in the first chapter, I was able to keep Gero in character and foreshadow his eventual transformation into an android himself. He is an intelligent man, too. He knows that his philosophy is radical and not likely to gain support from the other members of the Red Ribbon Army if he outright says it. His aggressive, yet subtle plan to get them to agree with his goals by psychologically influencing them is a very Gero-like move, in my opinion.
Gero's power in the army can be seen in the closing line of the history section when he threatens to kill Red and replace him with someone else if Red refuses to go along with Gero's android plan. I think Gero likes Red, which is why he wants to approach the subject with him in a subtle way. He doesn't want to kill Red if he doesn't have to. And he knows the default human reaction is to disagree with Gero's idea. So Gero takes a very pragmatic stance with this situation.
A rare move on my part was not showing Android 1's deactivation in the history section. I don't believe I did this many more times. In the future chapters I tried to show each android's end in detail in the history section of their status report since such an event was crucial to the history of each android.
Android 2[]
Status Report - Android 2
Date of account: July 5, 736 Age
Appearance
Android 2 is a humanoid figure with reinforced metal plating covering his entire body. Most of his armor is chrome,
though I also gave him some Red Ribbon Army logos across his back and cheeks. With this model, I improved
upon the human features, molding an entire face. Some of the parts to his face are unnecessary - the nose and
eyebrows are, admittedly, purely cosmetic attachments. He looks more like a mannequin than a human. The
flesh doesn't look too natural, but it is a step in the right direction. I outfitted #2's hands with short-range rockets
and his mouth with a railgun. I was unable to add in energy-based weaponry because #2 suffers from the same
power supply issues that #1 did. I was able to improve upon the battery's life and make it a smaller protrusion on
Android 2's chest, but it still limits offensive capabilities. I also added in rocket boosters to Android 2's hands and
feet. Android 2's ears are particularly large due to the new sensors Flappe and I added to his body. I will need to
shorten those with future models.
Characteristics
Android 2's AI is better than I had hoped. He can work with other soldiers on the battlefield, exchanging positioning
tactics and relaying live information to humans. There is still a robotic quality about him, and I am unsure how to
solve his lack of emotions. Perhaps only a true human brain will give an android such emotions. Still, #2 does his job
well. He attacks any enemy he can find with all his power and focus. He is highly effective at combat; the brutality
he displays during battle can only be attributed to his lack of human emotion. Android 2 is highly aware, though he
is morally unrestricted. If I had not programmed him to protect the other Red Ribbon Army soldiers, I am sure he
would have killed many of them by now. After I installed new voice command modules, Android 2 quickly developed
the ability to communicate with humans. His speech is slow, clunky, and robotic, but it is better than nothing.
Android 2 is not incredibly intelligent, as he is able to be out-thought and out-maneuvered by common soldiers.
I believe this is because he does not have much operational experience. With more experience, he could learn to
counter human tactics with more success.
History
Dr. Flappe and I worked for many months to improve upon the base model for Android 2 and for his AI. He was a
significant improvement over #1. Whereas #1 was a true robot, #2 had human-like qualities. He could speak and
formulate strategies and react to what he was seeing. I used Captain Silver and Staff Officer Black to train
Android 2, and the results were positive. After a few training sessions, Android 2 had learned the behaviors
of his foes and was able to defeat them in combat. Flappe put #2 through combat simulators thereafter, and
once he had gained enough experience in those, we outfitted him with numerous weapons, including a railgun in his
mouth, hand rockets, machine guns in his chest and mounted on his shoulders, and a grenade launcher in each
palm. Commander Red was impressed by #2's capabilities and ordered him to be put on the front lines with the rest
of the soldiers. I was against this; I asked Red to give me more time to perfect #2 body. But Red,
in all his infinite wisdom, overruled me and deployed #2 to a battle going on with a rival group on the
Papaya Islands. Our forces were under the command of General White. He personally led the attack and
captured footage of #2 fighting with his helmet camera. #2 performed well, relaying information to our soldiers
and helping set up tactical positioning. He was proficient in combat, though slightly reckless. The lack of emotion
and fear of dying was an issue. He charged the enemy several times. On the third time, they took him down with
concentrated turret fire and a wall of RPGs. General White was eventually able to recover #2's remains and send
them back to me. His memory chip was destroyed during the attack, but I was able to salvage a good deal of his
parts for future android creations. With my next android, it is imperative that I add in the concept of
self-preservation to its memory banks. I have been subtly hinting at using human brains instead of AIs with
Dr. Flappe, but the suggestions have been going over that ingrate's head. He's a fool, a simpleton. But I need him
for now…
Current Status
Android 2's memory chip was destroyed in combat. His body was also destroyed and his parts recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
The progression in the plot for this story revolves around Gero making more androids and making improvements to those androids. I made this rather clear with Android 2's appearance section, which shows the progress already being made with but the second model. Overall, in appearance and personality, this android is a huge improvement over the first android.
The bit about Gero adding in human features to Android 2, despite them being purely cosmetic, is an important character trait about Gero. He wants everyone to accept the androids so that his plan to turn them into androids can be a success. The more advanced and humanoid the androids look, the greater chance that the soldiers will accept being turned into one. We see this in practice, which was very important to me. I needed Gero to show, not just tell, how he was going to convince people.
Dr. Gero speculates that perhaps an android can only feel human emotions if it has a human brain. This is foreshadowing to Gero doing this with his own brain in the Android 20 arc.
Silver and Black were added into 2's history mainly to make the larger universe around Gero's lab more apparent. Getting only Gero's diary-like thoughts about what he does in his lab makes the story seem narrow in this regard, but by bringing in other characters from the outside world, I tried to fix that problem.
I had a fun time coming up with all of 2's weapons and where to put them. I also knew that many weapons would be better than a few, as it would show the drastic improvement that occurs when Gero later learns to put the weapons inside the androids.
I had to use a soldier (General White in this case to make it more interesting) to relay to Gero what happened during the battle, since Gero was not present on the Papaya Islands at the time.
I purposefully did not describe the fight too much because it wasn't going to be important. The fact that 2 was fighting and that 2 was destroyed was important; the opponents, less so. At least, that's what I thought, when looking at this from Gero's perspective. Later opponents would be mentioned if they had more relation to the plot (or, in a few cases, merely for the easter egg factor).
The "moral" of Android 2's story (if there is one, and I don't really think there is) would be that self-preservation is good. Self-preservation is important in later arcs, so introducing the concept here was something I was focused on doing. While Gero sees it as a bad thing that 2 does not have any idea of self-preservation, some of the later androids he programs self-preservation into also end up as failures. So it's really a lose-lose situation for Gero.
I enjoyed writing the little jab at Dr. Flappe at the end. Gero being too subtle is something I have done in a few of my own stories. Dr. Flappe could be seen as a parallel a number of people on DBF (especially in their reviews of my stories). I don't think I'm portraying myself well, either, since Gero is highly arrogant when he calls Flappe an ingrate for not understanding his extremely subtle hints about putting human brains in android bodies. This also foreshadows why Gero eventually leaves Flappe behind; he doesn't really care for Flappe, though he understands that Flappe is a useful assistant. After the fall of the Red Ribbon Army, Gero would have progressed to a point where he didn't need Flappe - he could have kept the other doctor around, and probably would have, if Flappe had been more like Gero in intellect and philosophy.
Androids 3 & 4[]
Status Report - Androids 3 & 4
Date of account: February 28, 737 Age
Appearance
Androids 3 and 4 are humanoid beings. They stand about 4 feet tall apiece. They are identical twins. I decided to manufacture
these two specifically for Commander Red's army so I could work on better androids for my own personal use. They look much
the same as Android 2, although they are smaller, sleeker, and more combat-apt. I made their ears smaller than #2 and also
added in heat sensors to their eye sockets. They have multiple weapons all over their bodies, including railguns in their
mouths, hand rockets, grenade launchers in their palms, several machine guns along their torsos and shoulders, and a mortar
on their backs. I have painted them black instead of chrome to make them less visible on the battlefield, though several
Red Ribbon Army logos are painted across their bodies as well. Androids 3 and 4 have glowing blue eyes. Their batteries
are located at the center of their chests, surrounded by the heaviest armor we could afford. I was able to add three
additional hours of juice to their batteries as well, so they can stay in combat far longer than their predecessor.
Each android wears a pointed hat which can open and fire a heat seeking rocket. They also have two red sensors on the
back of their necks which allow them to view their entire 360° surroundings.
Characteristics
#3 and #4 were bred for battle. They have ruthless, mission-oriented AIs. They will stop at almost nothing to kill their
targets. However, I added in a self-preservation addendum to their combat matrices. This allows them to retreat when
their death is imminent. They have been programmed with specific military tactics to allow them to better adapt to
various combat environments much more quickly than #2 ever could. #3 and #4 are mirror copies. Their personalities
are exactly the same. Even though they developed speech patterns at slightly different rates, their personalities
did not grow apart. I attribute this to their AIs. Much more so than with Android 2, Androids 3 and 4 help their
allies in battle. They will deploy spotting signs over the enemy soldiers and even shield allies with their own bodies
if they can. They are not as easily fooled as #2 was and they are extremely loyal to their commander.
History
Androids 3 and 4 were built by me with Flappe to give Commander Red some androids to use in battle. They were not
much more advanced than Android 2, though their appearances and personalities were refined slightly. Giving Red
these two androids to use in his various wars allowed Dr. Flappe and I to focus our attentions and resources on
other androids which we could spend more time and effort creating without the fear of Red pulling them from our
grasps and deploying them into combat zones. #3 and #4 were trained by a variety of military personnel, including
Captain Silver, Captain Violet, and Staff Officer Black. Flappe built a robot to train with the two androids. He
called this beast Major Metallitron. The Major wasn't a true android, and I deemed him a failure for his slow-witted
personality. He was little use for Androids 3 and 4. I had Flappe ship him off to General White's base, muscle
tower. That way, Flappe will forget about him and not make the same mistakes with his next creation. Androids 3
and 4 were deployed to the Papaya Islands after they completed their training. I heard they were a successful duo
in battle, tearing through hundreds of enemy soldiers with ease. General White used them on 3 separate campaigns
before returning them to me for repairs. After I gave each android a new combat shell and updated their AIs, the
two went berserk, destroying much of my lab and wounding me in the process. My leg will heal; it was only a flesh
wound. Still, I was forced to deactivate #3 and #4 at once with my remote controller. Once they were deactivated,
I removed their memory chips and destroyed them. Flappe then melted down their bodies to be used on future
android bodies. I am not sure why #3 and #4 attacked me. Perhaps I programmed something wrong in their AI
update. I will have to look over my notes to confirm this. In the meantime, Flappe and I need to build another
android for Red. He was highly pleased with Androids 3 and 4. I must continue the high quality with #5 if I am
to have any hope of swaying Red to my cause.
Current Status
Android 3 and Android 4's memory chips were deactivated by me, personally. Their bodies were also destroyed and their
parts recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
Dr. Gero wrote this status report on the same day that Ledas and Prince Vegeta met for the first time.
I combined these two androids after doing something similar with Majin Manto and Majin Janto in From Magic to Monsters. I didn't want to give each android a separate status report, since it was quite a hassle with Manto and Janto. Thus, I combined them. It also allowed the story to progress faster, since it meant one less arc. Considering many of these early androids ultimately have little impact aside from being playthings for Gero to hone his techniques on, I felt this was a good idea. Unlike with FMTM, I had a set number of Androids I had to create before getting to the canon ones, so that made things a bit trickier in terms of pacing. This was one way for me to deal with the pacing issues I thought existed.
Androids 3 and 4 aren't a tremendous upgrade over Android 2 so that Gero could quickly make them and give them to Commander Red to use in combat. Throughout the earlier chapters, Gero and Red have been having a bit of a power struggle, and this was Gero's solution to the problem. It's quite a good idea on his part, from an in-universe perspective.
The self-preservation stuff has an immediate impact from last chapter. By programming it into 3 and 4, Gero is able to keep both of Red's androids alive longer, allowing him to devote more time to creating Android 5.
3 and 4 were not androids that would be remembered for much, even by Gero himself. They were too early in the group to be very strong or very advanced. Because of this, to keep myself from getting bored, I came up with the plot with Major Metallitron. It primarily functions as a point of interest on the history part and as a way to show some trivia about Metallitron. I also found it funny writing for an (as I pictured it) irate Gero who was hating on the robot's primitiveness.
I referenced Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight scene when Gero said: "it was only a flesh wound".
I had the two androids betray Gero to mix it up a bit. So far, through the first three chapters, each android has been destroyed in a different way. I knew I couldn't keep that up for all 19 chapters, but I wanted to have as much variety as I could. It also foreshadows future betrayals (with the 17/18 betrayal being the most significant) and Gero's death as a result of a betrayal.
Android 5[]
Status Report - Android 5
Date of account: August 1, 741 Age
Appearance
Android 5 is a humanoid-like being. He stands very tall, at over 8 feet. He is painted with unreflective black paint and has
many holes and spaces along his body to make him less of a target. Android 5's body is composed of a sinewy skeleton.
His face looks like a skull and his eyes burn dark purple. He has long fingers which can become sharp daggers if #5
needs to engage in close quarters combat. His entire body has small electrical nodes along it, allowing for electricity
to flow across his body and punish nearby enemies with deadly shock blasts. Android 5 can reconfigure his right arm
into a sniper rifle which will fire heat-seeking magnetic bullets. Android 5 also has thrusters on his feet, though
they do not make much sound. His entire body is outfitted with sound-dampening mechanisms, allowing him to fly or walk
without making any sounds. Additionally, he has an invisibility module on the back of his neck (connected via two
long cables) which allows him to go invisible for upwards of twenty seconds. When he is not invisible, Android 5
can use another mechanism on his body to prevent him from showing up on any sort of radar.
Characteristics
Android 5 is cold and shy. He does not talk very often, except when acknowledging his superiors. Android 5 never
asks questions. He does not socialize with the other Red Ribbon Army soldiers. However, he always watches his
surroundings, giving him high awareness. This awareness allows Android 5 to pick up on human mannerisms.
Of all the androids so far, Android 5's speech is the most natural, though his vocabulary is highly limited.
When deployed on a mission, Android 5 will see it done no matter what. His self-preservation matrices are
slightly lower than Androids 3 and 4's. Android 5 was specifically designed to have no moral restrictions,
though he is programmed to be non-hostile around Red Ribbon Army soldiers. #5's ability to hunt his foes
and adapt to his environment is second to none.
History
It took Dr. Flappe and me many years to find a replacement for Androids 3 and 4. We went through dozens of prototypes,
many varying designs, and different AI capabilities before settling down on Android 5's final appearance. While a
goal of mine was to make all of the androids human-like, Android 5 was an exception. His fear-inducing appearance
was necessary for him. Android 5 was specifically designed for assassination missions. Aside from the various combat
exercises used to hone this ability in him, Android 5 was taught stealth techniques by Ninja Murasaki and his brothers.
Once that training was over, Commander Red took Android 5 as a personal bodyguard for some time afterwards, which
annoyed me. I wanted to see #5 in combat, and with the help of General Copper, I was able to eventually convince
Red to let Android 5 fight. He was used to assassinate high-ranking members of rival organizations on at least
six different operations that I knew of. We were able to watch many of Android 5's missions through his personal
video feed. On his seventh mission, Android 5 pursued a leader of the Red Dragon Brotherhood to a manufacturing
power plant. He stalked the leader and followed him inside the power plant until they came to some catwalks
overlooking a pool of acid. There, Android 5 made his move, suddenly appearing in front of the Red Dragon
leader and slicing him across the face with his finger daggers. The leader's face was ripped to shreds,
but he was able to throw a grenade before he died. The explosion catapulted Android 5 from the catwalks down
into the large acid pool, where he quickly dissolved away. I believe the explosion briefly disabled the
android's thrusters, disallowing him from escaping. This design failure is something I must address with the
next model.
Current Status
Android 5 was accidentally destroyed during a combat operation. His entire body was melted and none of his
parts were able to be recovered.
Endnotes:
Android 5's appearance was based off of the Terminators in the Terminator series.
Android 5 is my favorite of the Red Ribbon era androids (Androids 1-8).
I had a specific image of an assassin robot in my head when creating this android. It's why Android 5 has all the weaponry and technology he has. I want to say his ability to change an arm into a sniper rifle came from the Ratchet & Clank series, but I am not sure which (if any) enemy from that series was the inspiration.
Android 5 is the first to really be able to communicate adequately with humans. While his vocabulary is limited, I would say he could hold a decent conversation while speaking in a natural way.
Android 5 was the only android Gero created specifically to not look like a human (even though Android 1 didn't look like much of a human either, that wasn't intentional).
It was a goal of mine to use as many Red Ribbon Army soldiers as possible in this story. Ninja Murasaki had more plot relevance than the General Copper, though (Copper was more of a name-drop than anything else).
Giving Android 5 a personal video feed dealt with the problem seen in the Android 2 arc with needing a soldier to videotape 2. Since 5 did solo stealth missions, having allies with him wasn't going to be possible, so I gave him a video feed.
The Red Dragon Brotherhood is the same group seen in Ain't No Hero. This chapter was written months after the first chapter of ANH was posted which is why I referenced the group. And I quite enjoy referencing stuff from my other stories when I can. The Red Dragon Brotherhood from Ain't No Hero is a reference to the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate from the anime, Cowboy Bebop.
I don't believe the grenade damaged Android 5 very much, aside from causing his thrusters to stop working. Mainly it was the explosion itself that threw Android 5 into the pool of acid. I specifically had the pool of acid in the scene because I didn't think a grenade would be able to damage an android.
It's quite significant that Android 5 was completely lost. In all previous models, at least some of the parts were recovered to be used in future models. Not so with 5.
Android 6[]
Status Report - Android 6
Date of account: January 11, 744 Age
Appearance
Android 6 is a tall, muscular humanoid figure. He is bald, has a sharp face, and wears an orange and white armored jumpsuit.
Much more so than with any previous android model, #6 looks like a human. Flappe and I were able to give him more defining
human features, and his skin looks quite natural. He has the ability to regenerate lost tissue naturally. However, if he loses
more important features (his eyes or a limb), that will require in-laboratory work. Android 6 stands about six feet five inches
tall. He has several weapon systems on his body, such as rockets, machine guns, and grenade launchers, but they are all
concealed beneath his skin. Android 6 has an EMP ability which can temporarily paralyze all mechanical devices within ten
feet of his location (in all directions). Obviously, this is only useful when he does not have allies with him. Android 6's
battery will last for upwards of 48 hours, a marked improvement over previous models. Flappe and I are still looking into
developing other means to power these androids, however.
Characteristics
Android 6's AI is the most advanced in the entire Red Ribbon Army currently. He has impeccable speech recognition, courtesy
of the vast information we imported into his memory banks. Android 6 is a pure fighter, however, and he uses all of his
knowledge to help him and his allies on the battlefield. We made him bald to make him look more fearsome. Because Android
6 looks so much like a real human, many of the soldiers forget that he is artificial. In battle, #6 particularly enjoys tackling
larger and more dangerous foes and seems to enjoy the prestige that comes from defeating them. He can often be seen
taking on the best soldiers, tanks, and mechs on the opposing side. Although he seems reckless, #6's self-preservation
module is active, though, and he never engages himself in scenarios that put him at too much risk. Android 6 is a determined
member of our army and wishes to see our victories come as quickly as possible. He uses everything in his power to make
that happen.
History
A few years after the death of #5, I was able to come up with a new prototype android model with the help of Doctor Flappe.
We spent considerable time with this one to make him appear more humanoid than before. I did not tell this to anyone, but
losing my son, Nagiri, during a covert operation a year and a half ago was a big loss to me. Because of that, I wasn't
able to properly work again until a few weeks ago. I know Flappe noticed my slower pace, but I don't know if he attributed
to what happened with my son. I will never tell him it did. Anyway, these past few weeks, I felt renewed desire to finish
Android 6, so our pace quickened significantly. It wasn't very long before we had completed him. Previous models did
not look much like a person would, so I needed to make this a priority. If I was to get Commander Red to back my
proposition that all of the Red Ribbon Army should become androids, I had to make androids that did not look like robots.
This began with Android 6. Flappe and I invented a new silicone-based skin for #6 which could regenerate in a similar
manner to human skin. And it looked natural as well. Once we put it on Android 6's skeleton frame, he looked so real I
almost burst into tears. I was very proud of this android when he was born. He was my shining achievement at the time.
When I showed him to Red, the Supreme Commander did not even know he was an android at first. And once I revealed
#6's capabilities on a testing area, Red was delighted and asked for him to be relocated to our front lines. I agreed.
Android 6 was only deployed on a few missions, though he was highly successful during them. He enjoyed engaging in
martial arts fights as much as he did love blowing things up. I believe this is due to me programming him to know
various types of combat, including many varieties of martial arts. On several occasions, he went blow-to-blow with our
enemies' commanders and tore them to bloody ribbons. It was delightful. It's too bad that just after he killed the
commander of the Sons of Piccolo (a lame name for a group, I must say), his chest was punctured by a sniper's bullet.
This significantly damaged his chest battery and he lost power before he could retreat to safety. The Sons of Piccolo
then captured him. Knowing what they would try to do with a captured android, I activated #6's remote detonation
system, blowing him and many of our enemies up all at once. Even though he was destroyed on the battlefield and his
parts were unrecoverable, I was not too concerned, for I still had access to his blueprints in our lab. The next android
would be much like #6, I believed, though I needed to make sure he would not have the same power disadvantages
as his predecessor.
Current Status
Android 6's memory chip was destroyed by me, remotely. His body was also destroyed, though his parts were unable
to be retrieved.
Endnotes:
The more advanced the androids became, the longer amount of time it took to create them. Notice the first three androids were created in consecutive years and then 5 and 6 had three to four year gaps.
Android 6 was not based on anyone, though now that I am re-reading his report for this commentary, it seems like he was, given the specific details of his clothes. I'm at a loss for words as to why I created his appearance like I did.
Android 6 could probably pass for a human if it was nighttime, but not during the day if someone was really looking at him. Still, he is by far the most human-like android up to this point, and would look more like a human than the non-canon versions of Androids 14 and 15.
Android 6's weapons are concealed beneath his skin, but they are still primitive versions of weaponry. He doesn't have energy ports like the later canon androids do.
I have no memory of writing this android's status report.
The Nagiri mention in this chapter isn't explained in too much detail - remember, Gero is not writing for an audience. He is writing for himself. Despite this, I do explain in detail what happens to Nagiri in Be a Man. That was a fun way to tie the two stories together.
I like how in this chapter, Gero states that he did not betray his depression to anyone, when General Blue noticed it in Be a Man. This showcases how Gero is an unreliable narrator (though in this instance, Gero is being unintentionally unreliable). It should be expected that Gero is unreliable, but this specific example is only noticeable if the reader has also read Be a Man. It's not necessary to know this to enjoy the story, but it does add a bit more depth to it.
I focused on appearance with this android since not looking like a human was a big feature of the previous android. It would be very important to Gero to return to making androids that looked like humans, so it became the focus of this status report.
I named the rival group Sons of Piccolo because I thought gangs would name themselves mostly after things that occurred within the history of the Dragon Ball universe. The Piccolo Wars were a huge deal in Earth's history, so that's why I picked it. Gero obviously didn't know about Piccolo, which is why he called it a lame name (thinking it meant sons of the instrument).
Android 17 and 18 had bombs inside them so that they could be destroyed by Gero if he wanted. They never were, but it was an interesting concept, so I used it here with Android 6. It resulted in another new way for an android to be destroyed, which was rad.
The next major design overhaul that I would need to get to would be the infinite power supply. Android 8 had one, so I knew how long I had before getting there. By bringing up the power issue at the end of this arc, it would allow me to easily focus in on that with the next android (like how Android 6's arc focus was on human-like appearance) and work towards that infinite power supply by Android 8's time. Now that I'm reading back on this report, I'm finding the way I tied this together with the new way for Gero to kill Android 6 to be pretty cool.
Android 7[]
Status Report - Android 7
Date of account: June 16, 747 Age
Appearance
Android 7 is a bronze-skinned humanoid. He has long black hair and blue eyes. He wears black pants and a green and orange
vest. He has large muscles. Like Android 5, he has the ability to create an electrical field around his body, so there is often
blue lightning jumping around his figure. Android 7 looks fully human, for he does not possess the large black power battery
that previous android models used. #7 wears white gloves. He does not have any weaponry attached to his body. Like earlier
androids, #7 can fly, though his boosters are well-concealed. His body is reinforced with heavy armor and he has springs in
his arms and legs to allow him to deftly move about.
Characteristics
Android 7 is different from the previous androids in several regards. For one, Flappe and I were able to create a method for
infinite energy, which allows the androids to run forever on a single power supply. Creating such a power supply takes a
significant amount of time, so these androids will not be produced often. Because of this, we made sure Android 7 would not
easily be destroyed. We gave him a careful personality. He will run from situations where he deems it unlikely to make it out
alive. We did not outfit #7 with any weaponry, instead focusing on his abilities on defeating opponents in hand-to-hand combat.
He has been programmed to know many different types of martial arts, and he was also trained by Colonel Silver and General
Blue to refine and hone his techniques. #7 is not as cold-blooded as previous models, and there seems to be some kind of
morality or empathy inside of him. These emotions were not programmed into him, so I am not sure why he has them. They
are surely a programming error.
History
Android 7 was the first android we created who had infinite energy. It took us years just to come up with a new energy
system, so many of his other features were quite similar to #6's. Very little else was innovated beyond #6's body. His AI
was about as powerful as Android 6's was. Android 7's focus was different than previous androids, as we wanted to specifically
make him a close quarters fighter. Thus, all of Android 7's parts were crafted to help him fight off opponents with his fists.
He was programmed and trained in many different styles of martial arts. Colonel Silver and General Blue, the two most
experienced martial artists in our illustrious army, trained Android 7 for several months, helping him to perfect his forms.
This also allowed him to learn more about human fighting inclinations. After his training was complete, Commander Red had
#7 deployed to fight our rival, Capsule Corp. At the time, Capsule Corp. had a small security force they used to defend
themselves. #7 bravely fought them all, but he would not kill any of his opponents for some reason. After he beat them in
hand-to-hand combat, he let them get away, allowing them to return to fighting us on another day. I did not immediately recall
Android 7 after his first mistake. Instead, I allowed Android 7 to redeem himself by assigning him to a second mission. This one
ended up much the same as the first. Android 7 easily crushed the defenses of the Capsule Corp. security team, though he
would not kill them no matter what. General Blue even specifically ordered #7 to kill his foes, but the android refused his
superior officer's commands. After that disgraceful display, I had Android 7 shipped back to me. Then, I deactivated him myself.
I took care to save his power supply device, for I didn't want to have to craft another one for the future Android 8. I am not sure
how Android 7 developed such passive emotions. The emotions we programmed gave his AI were supposed to make him very
loyal and bloodthirsty. I will have to consult with Dr. Flappe over what to do about this programming for Android 8.
Current Status
Android 7's memory chip was deactivated by me, personally. His body was destroyed and his parts recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
I think it's funny how Gero thinks emotions are programming errors, when in earlier arcs he thought it would be necessary to put human brains in androids for them to be successful.
The thing about Androids 6 and 7 is that their appearances were quite advanced, but their AIs were not very good, and their weaponry was laughable at best. If they had better tech, they could have definitely fit in with the canon androids.
This chapter has the first mention of General Blue, who would certainly be a General by this point. I had to look back at Be a Man to be sure, before writing for this chapter, though.
Each android has a theme around their arc, and for Android 7, it was surely emotions and feelings. The android refined his emotions from spending so much time with Silver and Blue. And it was those developed emotions that ultimately made him a peaceful rebel. Android 7 is a lot like Android 16, and his arc really foreshadows 16's well. At this point in the story, it was getting tiresome to constantly write about battles or combat assignments, so having a pacifistic was a way for me to mix it up a bit.
Capsule Corp. is a hated rival of the Red Ribbon Army (they are direct competitors in the automobile market), and Capsule Corp. was also responsible for Gero's son's death. It must have really angered Gero that, of all the Red Ribbon Army rivals to refuse to attack, Android 7 did it with Capsule Corp.
Android 7 and 8 had the same power supply. This allows Android 7 to live on, in a way, with Android 8.
The passive emotions thing is a result of the infinite power supply, which also affects Android 8.
Android 8[]
Status Report - Android 8
Date of account: June 2, 750 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Android 8 has a faulty AI that makes him, irrefutably, a failure. #8 is very hard to control, and I think this is because of
his energy system. It must be corrupting his thought processors. Instead of listening to his superiors, Android 8 will
refuse to do anything that has to do with furthering the Red Ribbon Army's objectives. This includes fighting our
enemies, taking part in our missions (such as retrieving the Dragon Balls), and training with the rest of the soldiers.
Instead of training, #8 prefers to sit and watch the natural surroundings, such as the nearby plants and animals.
His soft spirit means that we cannot properly test his strength or powers. He simply refuses to obey orders, even
under penalty of death. His self-preservation matrices seem to be damaged. Android 8 will put his morals before his
own happiness and well-being. Clearly, his emotional range is acutely damaged and will need to be examined by me
or Dr. Flappe.
History
Android 8 was the successor to Android 7. Flappe and I made Android 8 much the same as we made #7, even using the
same power cell that I managed to take out of #7 before destroying him. Flappe took the lead with Android 8, and
spent more time perfecting the android than I did. I was dubious with this generation of androids, for #7 had possessed
numerous problems with his AI that were a direct result of the power overloads that his infinite power supply caused.
These fluctuations in power damaged the pre-programmed AI behaviors, and thus allowed #7 to act of his own free will.
I sent Flappe to the North to continue working on Android 8 alone. The android came out as one of our more amateurish
creations. He barely looked human; his skin was grey-brown and his body more pear-shaped than man-shaped. He
looked very little like a human. Because of this, I did not travel to see Android 8 awakened. I know General White and
Ninja Murasaki both witnessed Flappe bringing #8 to life, but I wanted no part in it. Instead, I spent my time developing
the blueprints for the next android. As expected, Android 8 did not listen to Flappe's or White's commands. When Flappe
called me up to ask for advice, I simply told him to scrap the android and start again. If he wanted to come back to my
main base and help me with #9, then so be it. But I would not be putting more effort into Android 8. As it happened, he
did not destroy Android 8 then, but simply imprisoned the artificial creation so that he could attempt to tame it later.
As it so happened, that day never came. A boy named Goku - an accursed name to be sure - appeared about a month
ago and tore through the Red Ribbon Army as if it was nothing. We were completely unprepared for him. Most of our
armies across the world were destroyed before we knew what was happening. White, Blue, and Red are all dead. Even
Staff Officer Black is gone. Both Flappe and Android 8 were lost in the conflict, as was my lab and my prototype models
for Android 9. With the majority of our army and resources devastated, I have decided to gather up the remnant factions
under General Copper and regroup at a different location. While my goal to create a unified population of androids has
taken an unforeseen hit, I plan on enacting vengeance against this Goku for what he has done to my army and my plans.
Flappe's loss is a hard one to bear, but I think losing Android 8's power supply is worse. I will have to start my androids
from scratch. This time, they won't be weak like my early models or disloyal like #7 and #8. They will be my new children,
and with them at my command, I will hunt down and destroy this Goku once and for all. Nothing can stop me. Nothing will
stop me.
Current Status
Android 8 was lost during the collapse of the Red Ribbon Army. Because Muscle Tower was destroyed, and that was
where he was being held, I must assume that Android 8 was consumed along with it.
Endnotes:
I decided, just before I wrote this chapter, that I wouldn't write the appearance sections for canon androids. It's a pointless endeavor, really. Since all of the canon ones exist in picture form anyway, that's a quicker way to show what they look like. For what it's worth, I figured that Gero either wrote all of the appearances or gave them all pictures (from an in-universe perspective). But I wasn't going to write out what Android 8 looks like. I don't really ever do that for canon characters (see the appearance/personality sections for canon characters in TF for example).
This chapter reveals that Dr. Gero doesn't know that Android 8 survived the destruction of Muscle Tower.
The personality section is pretty straightforward. It wasn't too hard to write this section and to make it in-character, but the most interesting part about this section is that it is also distinctly from Gero's perspective. Of particular note is that Gero thought Eighter's matrices were damaged when he started to put his morals before his own happiness, when that is clear human trait. Gero has made an android who has very human-like emotions and the good doctor sees that as a failure.
I had Flappe take the lead on this android for two reasons. For one, Android 8 looks like Frankenstein's monster, and throughout TPL, Gero has made more human-like androids (especially with Android 7). So the rough look of Eighter is best explained by having Flappe take the lead. Another reason is that in Dragon Ball, Flappe said that he created Android 8. This was slightly retconned in Dragon Ball Z with the introduction of Gero. Making Flappe the lead creator of Android 8, while having Gero take more of a backseat role, solves both of these problems.
One of the most fun things for me to write in this entire story was Gero's criticism of Flappe's work on Eighter.
I mentioned Ninja Murasaki and General White being present during Android 8's awakening, because there is a picture of Android 8 being awakened with those two characters and Flappe present. Since Gero wasn't in the picture, I explained in this chapter that Gero wasn't even at Muscle Tower at the time. This also creates a natural separation between Gero and Flappe, as soon after 8's awakening, Goku appeared and began to demolish the RRA.
I am well-aware that a certain video game stated that General White survived his fight with Goku, but that video game is neither canon to me or worthy of speaking about in great detail here.
The ending of this chapter works more as a diary than as a recounting of Android 8's history. It was interesting to me to explore Gero's perspective of the destruction of the Red Ribbon Army as well as his future plans immediately after that. Gero was one of the few RRA members of consequence to survive the war with Goku, so having him try to gain revenge of Goku was pivotal to his character development and also for the plot to progress. Gero ultimately created the later canon androids to take out Goku, so I had to show his hatred and his loss as early as possible to build up to that goal properly. His visceral reaction here, shortly after the end of the Red Ribbon Army, was the best place to do that.
I consider this story to be split into three parts (Androids 1-8, Androids 9-20, and the prototype androids), and so ending this act with a new goal and situation for Gero shows that this is the explicit end of the first act.
Android 9[]
Status Report - Android 9
Date of account: September 14, 753 Age
Appearance
Android 9 is a tall humanoid-like being. He wears a long black overcoat with white boots and a white shirt.The Red Ribbon
Army logo is painted across the face of his shirt. Android 9 wears white gloves and white-rimmed sunglasses. He has tan
skin, medium-length black hair, and brown eyes.
Characteristics
Android 9 is a loyal being. He listens to my commands no matter what they are. I fear his AI is not working properly,
making him slightly stupid. His lack of awareness and intelligence is a slight issue, in my mind. In his off-time,
Android 9 enjoys talking with other members of the Red Ribbon Army. His social nature does not make him mentally
weak like #7 and #8 were. I specifically programmed #9 to be driven by a desire to protect the Red Ribbon Army's
interests. As such, he will kill our enemies without second thought and he will destroy any buildings I ask him to.
Additionally, #9 has shown an inclination towards destruction while on missions, and collateral damage does not
seem to concern him much (including the accidental killing of pedestrians). While he is reckless in this regard,
Android 9 also has advanced self-preservation matrices installed in his memory cores so that he will not get into
situations that could result in his untimely destruction.
History
Android 9 was created by me personally not long after the fall of the Red Ribbon Army. He was the first android that I
created without the help of Dr. Flappe; he was also the first android I created for the Red Ribbon Army remnant with
the goal of finding and killing that stupid boy, Goku. Because I lost all of my blueprints, computer plans, and equipment
when Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, I had to start from scratch with #9. The main problem with
that was that I needed to create a new infinite energy power module (as the previous model had been lost with Android
8). Crafting that took almost two years. But once I had completed the new power source, I was able to build the rest of
Android 9 quickly, for my memory was sharp and I knew what I wanted. With Android 9, I innovated a number of things.
No longer was I using standard weaponry on my androids. Instead, due to the infinite power device, I was able to
install numerous energy-based weapon systems on #9. They required no reloading and no ammo and were powerful
beyond belief. When I first tested #9's capabilities, his base energy attack from his hand was able to tear through the
armor of a tank like it was swiss cheese. Then, I tested his physical combat abilities against some martial artist prisoners
I had captured. He ruthlessly fought against them, learning and training with them until he had become a master himself.
Then I had #9 kill them. Satisfied with #9's prowess, I then deployed him into the field to find and bring to me the
remainder of the Red Ribbon Army's officers. The commanders who had survived were all the Generals who had not been
present at the Headquarters when Goku had attacked. That included General Copper, General Lavender, and General
Bronze. Each officer still led an army of soldiers, and I needed them on my side. Most of them had become roving
bands of mercenaries, although General Copper was still doing his duty to find the Dragon Balls. #9 went to find them
and bring them back to me. He was able to easily convince General Copper and General Bronze, though General Lavender
was not so easily persuaded. From my remote command center, I ordered Android 9 to kill Lavender. Hearing me give the
order, the General fell into a panic and quickly surrendered. Soon, I had three armies with me in the mountains of north.
There, we plotted out our revenge on Goku. General Bronze and Android 9 led several offensives looking for him, but they
never found the boy. So I created a remote tracking device to search for Goku. I also started a new android project at
the time, a biological one which I called the Cell Project. I would take the DNA from Goku and other strong fighters so
as to craft the perfect warrior. The project was only in the ideas phase as of this point, and it would take many years
to finalize. In the meantime, I wanted to use Android 9 and my soldiers to find and kill Goku if I could. Since searching
for the boy proved to be markedly ineffectual, I decided to start a war. The Goku boy could not help himself from fighting
evil, or so he said, so this would draw him to me. I sent General Lavender's legion along with Android 9 to North City to
cause a commotion. Soon, they drew King Furry's Planet Defense Force to them and a great battle ensued. Android 9
blew through their air force as the other soldiers took on the ground forces. Yet, I underestimated the Defense Force's
numbers and might, and soon, they beat back General Lavender's attack, inflicting heavy casualties on his legion. Android
9 was cornered by all of the soldiers and vehicles, and they fired on him all at once. Android 9 was unable to dodge the
combined attack and was soon covered in a cloud of smoke. I saw his systems getting damaged beyond repair, his
memory cores being erased, his operational abilities fading. So, as to prevent King Furry's soldiers from recovering his
parts, I remotely detonated Android 9's body. He was destroyed in a brilliant fiery explosion, and I was forced to return to
the drawing board to not only think up a new way to find and kill Goku, but to create an android which no human could
destroy. If the Defense Forces could take out #9, then Goku would have had no problem with him, and that was
unacceptable. I needed to create a better android and soon.
Current Status
Android 9's memory chip was destroyed by me, remotely. His body was also destroyed, though his parts were unable
to be retrieved.
Endnotes:
I made sure that if I was going to make an android loyal, there would be setbacks (otherwise this would have been the android Gero would have used against Goku). So that's why, though Android 9 is loyal to Gero, he is quite stupid and reckless.
The first act of this story (Androids 1-8) were pretty well-defined before I wrote any of them. I knew what level of android I would get up to by 8 and how strong and capable they could be. It was far harder to do that with this second act, since the earliest canon android (Android 16) is so far away and so strong. I also didn't know exactly what to do with the plot. I came up with the thing about General Copper in Android 8's biography, but it still took me considerable time, when I went to write this chapter, to come up with how to use Copper.
I used Copper because he's a Red Ribbon Officer who has always intrigued me. He is very enigmatic. We don't know much about him at all. I considered writing a story about Copper before I began TPL, and then once TPL was begun, I knew that I would instead include his story here. I used the other officers from Be a Man who survived simply because I didn't want Copper's army to be the only survivors. The Red Ribbon Army seemed big enough to have a few more armies out there in the wild like Copper's, in my opinion.
I had 9 use energy weaponry to show the distinction between the act 1 androids and the act 2 androids. The old weaponry that Androids 1-8 used were primitive things, and I figured Gero would have realized that as well and sought to improve upon that with 9's weaponry. At the very least, it's the first true innovation Gero made with the second generation of androids.
I had Android 9 capture and then train with martial artists so that he would become better at hand-to-hand combat. Remember that Androids 1-8 all had the Red Ribbon Army officers like Blue and Silver to help them. Now that those guys are gone or dead, Gero needed a new way to teach his androids how to fight.
General Lavender and General Bronze are from Be a Man (at least, that is where I first mentioned them).
In canon, Gero did create the remote tracking device and used it for the Cell Project. I almost forgot about that, and were I not on Dragon Ball Wiki at the time, looking at the androids' page and accidentally finding that page, I likely would have forgotten about it for at least a few more chapters. It is a cool little reference to Cell, though. I am glad that I included it.
Gero sent Lavender with Android 9 on purpose. Since Lavender was the one who didn't want to join Gero earlier in the chapter, Gero decided that if any army was going to suffer it was going to be Lavender's. This would weaken Lavender and prevent him from rebelling against Gero in the future. And if Lavender died, nothing much of value would be lost either. This specific type of strategy was used a lot in ancient Japan, which is what influenced me to use it here.
It was on purpose that I did not reveal the fate of Lavender and his legion in this chapter. By the end of the chapter, I realized I could use them further, and instead of killing them along with Android 9, I decided to start a mutiny plot with Lavender to make the plot more interesting and original.
Android 9 wasn't powerful enough to withstand a human army, which shows that he's actually not that much more powerful than Android 8. I don't show specific power levels in this story, so indirect references to power are the only way to understand how capable each android is. You have to pay close attention not to miss these references though.
Android 10[]
Status Report - Android 10
Date of account: February 26, 755 Age
Appearance
Android 10 is a tall humanoid. He has realistic sallow-like skin, a thin, gaunt face, and a black beard and mustache. He wears
a large cowboy hat on his head, which conceals his long black hair. He has yellow eyes. He wears a brown, white, black, and
dull red cowboy outfit, complete with black boots and a leather vest. Android 10 wears brown and yellow fingerless gloves.
Despite looking so human-like, Android 10 is a completely artificial android and he also has bombs located inside his chest
cavity which can be detonated remotely if he ever falls into enemy hands or starts malfunctioning. Android 10 is an infinite
energy-type android, so he does not have any weaponry located across his body save for the direct energy ports on his hands,
mouth, and eyes.
Characteristics
Android 10 is a quiet, solitary individual. He prefers to work alone, and he does not get along with the human soldiers in my
army. When he is on missions, he enjoys toying with his opponents and watching them suffer before killing them. This is due
to his programming. I specifically designed Android 10 to be more sadistic and bloodthirsty than previous models, though I
did not anticipate his emotional evolution into becoming so arrogant. He relishes in others' pain and enjoys flaunting his
powers whenever he can. Android 10 has the most intelligent AI I have produced so far, and it shows. He is smarter than
many of my soldiers and even offers up tactical advice that is often better than what the army's Generals can come up with.
Android 10 has a bond with me, seeing me as his father, but it is not a strong bond, I fear. He is mostly loyal, though
there have been times where he has gone against my wishes simply because he wanted to. While this has not been a
major issue on the battlefield (for his disobedience is mainly in him showing off and spending too much time killing
our foes), his bonding with the Red Ribbon Army's Generals is a major personality flaw. He should be bonding with me;
I am his creator, his father. His insolence will be corrected in the next models.
History
After Android 9 was destroyed by Earth's Defense Forces, I strove to create a new set of androids. This time, I wanted to
create multiple androids instead of just one. This would allow me to utilize their power with greater efficiency. Android 10
was the first in the series I was able to finish. While I was still working on #11 and #12, I trained #10 to be combat proficient.
He had been programmed to know many different types of martial arts and battle strategies, but he needed practice before
being deployed. I used several officers, including Major Pink and Captain Maroon, to train him. Afterwards, I attached #10 to
General Lavender's legion. Each legion was still looking for Goku, though they were no more successful than they had been with
Android 9. Even my remote tracking device hadn't sent me any transmissions of the boy's location. Android 10 was with us for
quite a while, and he was able to partake in at least five separate battles, distinguishing himself in each one. He also started
offering advice on the Red Ribbon war council, though he seemed to be quite close with General Lavender during those meetings.
Soon after, as I was putting the finishing touches on #11 and #12, Android 10 and General Lavender's army stormed their way into
my mountain base. They demanded me to step down so General Lavender could lead the Red Ribbon Army Remnant himself. I
guess he was still mad about me nearly killing him all those years back. And he had worked #10 into his wretched plot. They
were both traitors, and they both needed to die for what they were trying to pull off. I was the leader of Red Ribbon Army
Remnant. Not them. They were not as capable or as smart as me. They could not run this army like me. They were nothing.
And they needed to be shown that. The two of them then killed my guards and were about to kill me when I released #11 and
#12. I quickly ordered my two newest androids to defend me, and so they did. Android 12 was my strongest android at the
time, and her powers and AI were unequaled. She fought Android 10 in a fierce duel, which ended up destroying much of my
laboratory in the process. But in the end, #12 was victorious, as I expected her to be. She cut off Android 10's head with a
slicing energy attack and then destroyed it with a pink energy ball. With his memory chip destroyed, Android 10 was
completely gone. I collected his body and recycled it for future use in future android models. General Lavender was then
executed by Android 11 for his failed coup d'état. Android 10 was an utter failure of an android. His betrayal and rebellion will
stick in my mind as the most troubling action any of my creations has thus far attempted.
Current Status
Android 10 was destroyed by Android 12. His remaining parts were recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
I tried to make each android have a completely different look from the others. I specifically did not make any androids that looked like the terrible designs for Androids 14 or 15 in the non-canon movie they starred in. Instead, I wanted the androids to look human, or try to. No grey skin or any of that kind of bullshit. I did try to use a variety of different ethnicities and outfits for each of Gero's androids to distinguish them.
Android 10 bonding with the Generals instead of Gero foreshadows Android 10's fate. It also hows a bit more of Gero' personality - he's arrogant, but he wants to be loved. The androids are his new children now that Nagiri is dead. In some ways, this makes Gero more unlikeable and in other ways, it makes him more likable. Portraying Gero as a complex character, not wholly evil or devoid of emotions, was very important to me in this story.
I had Gero create (or at least be working on) Androids 10, 11, and 12 simultaneously to allow me to use all three in relation to one another. I didn't just say that he was working on 11 and 12 for no reason.
The officers, like Maroon and Pink were referenced in Be a Man.
So Lavender and Android 10 conspire to kill Gero, but because I'm writing from Gero's perspective, this seems like a very sudden twist. Gero obviously didn't know it was coming, so the readers shouldn't either. That said, there are at least three separate bits of foreshadowing that would hint towards this conclusion in this chapter and in the previous chapter, but you would need to read closely and carefully to pick that up. I figure that most readers would be surprised by the twist.
This chapter is the first instance of me writing ahead of the next chapter. This also happened in From Magic to Monsters, with certain chapters going into the territory of future chapters long before those future chapters come up. In this case, we get some history from chapter 11 and 12 in chapter 10 because the history occurs in all chapters. That said, the beginning of chapters 11 and 12 occur before the end of chapter 10, making this story nonlinear.
I had long decided by this point that 11 and 12 would be the androids I would use in future stories. That is primarily why I had 12 kill 10, as it distinguished her and gave her some interesting history. It's also a brand new way for an android to die, which is cool too.
General Lavender had to die. I didn't like having so many Red Ribbon Army Generals, and I knew that I needed to get rid of all of the Red Ribbon Army soldiers (leaving Gero alone with his androids) by, at the very most, the time of Android 16. That allowed me six more chapters after this one, which was barely enough in my opinion. Thus, though I saved Lavender from a horrible death last chapter, I knew his luck had to run out by this chapter. I had Android 11 kill him for the same reason I had Android 12 kill Android 10.
Android 10's rebellion is the most serious rebellion yet, but it is nothing compared to the upcoming betrayal by Androids 17 and 18, a bit of information any reader should know. This is noteworthy because it shows that, despite this story being written in the limited third person perspective, there are certain things the readers know that the narrator does not.
Android 11[]
Status Report - Android 11
Date of account: November 24, 757 Age
Appearance
Android 11 is a fair-skinned humanoid android. His features make it impossible to tell that he's a completely artificial creation.
Android 11 is quite tall, standing at over six feet, even though his appearance makes him seem as if he's only 14 or 15 years
old. #11 has short blond hair and blue eyes. His frame is rather sleek, and his muscles are not as pronounced as #10's were.
He has quite long arms. Android 11 is an infinite energy-type android, so he does not possess any weaponry on his body save
for the energy ports on his hands, mouth, and eyes. Android 11 tends to wear a green and black outfit with heavy white gloves
and black shoes. On the back of his shirt is the number eleven (though one of the 1s has been chipped away over time) and a
logo for the Red Ribbon Army.
Characteristics
Android 11 is far quieter than his sister, Android 12. He has a slightly arrogant, cool attitude. He is very aggressive in
battle, often throwing himself at his opponents and beating them to the ground with punches and kicks instead of using his
energy attacks. Android 11 is one of the most skilled martial artists on the planet. His programming gave him some skills in
close quarters combat, but Android 11 took it a step further with his relentless training in his off-time. He spends most of
his free time with the army's close quarter specialists, refining his techniques. Android 11 is a highly technical fighter,
and his form is flawless. Though he is quiet most of the time, Android 11 will open up to those who he has spent a lot of
time around. He can be friendly and conversational to those people, which includes #12 and myself. Android 11 is very loyal
to me, which is a result of his programming. I do not want another Android 10 on my hands, after all. I think Android 11's
softness off of the battlefield may be a slight programming error, but I am not completely sure. He is ferocious during battle,
like a bull in a china shop, but otherwise, he is polite. Android 11's hand-to-hand prowess is not to be understated, for he
has recorded a record number of victories without even being touched. I am confident that Android 11 could take on Goku.
Additionally, Android 11 has updating mechanisms that allow him to grow stronger over time. His processors can become
more efficient over time, and his energy supply system can also be upgraded. These things will allow Android 11 to evolve
along with Goku, should the boy become stronger than he is currently. This will, of course, require additional updates to his
memory systems as well. Overall, Android 11 boasts a highly advanced AI, and his ability to think, speak, and act are all
comparable to a human's abilities to do so. Android 11 prefers to be known as Manuel, a human name he assigned himself.
Perhaps the android thinks he is human, but I will refer to him solely as #11.
History
I originally planned on creating Androids 10, 11, and 12 all at once. This proved to be unfeasible, as I could only focus on a
single android at a time. I finished and released Android 10 about a year before I finished the other two. Then, I began
working on #11 and #12. Once #10 had been completed, #11 soon followed him. #12 was also not far behind. As I was
putting the finishing touches on #11 and #12, General Lavender stormed into my laboratory with his legion and #10 under his
command. To defend myself, I released Androids 11 and 12 on the attackers. Android 12 made quick work of Android 10
and Android 11 took out Lavender and his legion, personally executing the General before my very eyes. Satisfied with their
power and loyalty, I deployed the two out into the world to search for Goku. Every now and then, they would return to me
and socialize with my remaining soldiers. They were so life-like, especially Android 11. I decided to separate the two so
they could be twice as efficient. #11 and #12 did not like this, for they were close as siblings, but they listened to me
anyway. #11 was sent off with General Bronze's legion, while #12 was placed in General Copper's army. During their time in
those legions, the two distinguished themselves. #11 in particular became somewhat of a legend. He fought off multiple
rival gangs with little effort and even destroyed a detachment of Earth's Defense Force with ease. When I started to run
low on supplies, I ordered General Bronze's legion to break into a bank and acquire me enough zeni to fund my future
projects. During the heist, Android 11 led the assault into the bank vaults. However, soon the Earth's Defense Force
encircled Bronze's legion. The soldiers had to take cover in the bank, using pedestrians as human shields. They fought off
the Defense Force as #11 and Bronze acquired a bunch of money. Soon, however, reinforcements arrived and started to
overrun the Bronze Legion. #11 was forced to join the fighting at that point, but the battle was soon lost. There were tens
of thousands of Defense Force soldiers, which greatly outnumbered us. #11 did all he could, but there were too many foes.
Eventually, it was just him and General Bronze. Everyone else had died. The two tried to shoot their way out, but Bronze was
killed by a bullet to the head. #11 did manage to shoot his way out, tearing a bloody swath through the humans with his
energy attacks and technical physical attacks. After he escaped (without the zeni, unfortunately), I asked him to regroup
with General Copper's legion. He did so. At that time, General Copper was preparing to search the southern islands for any
sign of Goku when he had been ambushed by the Red Dragon Brotherhood. The gang had a surprising number of members,
and they were able to give Copper a significant battle. Android 12 held them off until #11 arrived. Together, the two
destroyed the entire Red Dragon Brotherhood clan. Yet, just as they were preparing to leave, General Copper's legion was
attacked from the rear by Earth's Defense Forces. The soldiers had followed #11 all the way to Copper's location. There, a
great battle ensued. #11 and #12 flew through the sky, raining down energy attacks, but they were not enough to stem the
tide. Copper's forces were severely outnumbered, and soon they were killed off. Copper himself was taken hostage. As the
two androids went to escape, they were hit by an EMP attack which briefly paralyzed them and allowed the Defense Force
to capture them. I was dismayed by this, but I knew my duty. I immediately grabbed my remote controller and tried to
force the two androids to self-destruct. However, their transponders had already gone dark by that point and their video
feeds had turned off. I do not know if they were able to self-destruct. But they were too weak, I knew. Android 11 and
Android 12 were, undeniably, failures. I still needed to create the next perfect android, and I had very little supplies to do so.
The Red Ribbon Remnant was no more. My Generals were dead or captured, their armies defeated and broken. It was only
me and my few guards who remained for the Red Ribbon Army. We were all that was left. But we would not abandon our
mission so easily.
Current Status
Android 11, along with Android 12, was lost during combat. I assume that they are destroyed. However, I cannot confirm that
because I do not have their bodies. Their transponders stopped sending me messages and their video feeds went blank, so it is
likely that they are no longer functioning androids.
Endnotes:
Android 11's appearance was based off of Manuel Neuer, the German goalkeeper of the 2014 World Cup. He was my favorite player during that World Cup, which is why I chose to reference him here.
I gave Android 11 the best tech possible for such an early android so that I could use him later and have it seem like he's just like Androids 17 and 18. At the same time, he has the ability to grow in power, unlike many of the androids, because at this time, Android 11 would not have been nearly as strong as the later androids (or any of the Z Fighters by the defeat of Buu).
Almost all of Android 11's personality was based on Manuel Neuer's.
Gero wanting to create three androids at once and not being able to is a slight nod to myself. I often have multiple active fan fiction stories that I'm writing and it's difficult for me to work on all of them at the same time. Only when I stop editing all but one and then focus on that one can I actually finish it in a reasonable amount of time.
The heist was influenced by the various Achievement Hunter Grand Theft Auto 5 heist videos.
I was a bit concerned with leaving the Red Ribbon Army Remnant soldiers alive for much longer, so I sought to kill them off as quickly as possible. That is why I had the heist fail and General Bronze killed. I wanted to get to a point where it was only Gero and his androids again.
This story takes place long after the events of Ain't No Hero, so I felt comfortable with destroying the Red Dragon Brotherhood. It's a bit trivial, but considering how powerful they were in ANH and even in this story, the final destruction of the Red Dragon Brotherhood does feel a bit sad to me, as if my universe has lost something special.
The way that 11 and 12 fought in the battle against Earth's Defense Force was a slight nod to the way Daenerys' dragons fought in the Battle of Meereen in the series, A Song of Ice and Fire.
I did not kill Copper because he is a canon character. Very rarely will I kill a canon character who has not died in canon (two total times in all of my stories). Also, I don't know if Toriyama will later reveal Copper's fate in an interview or something, so by leaving Copper alive, I can keep my story canon without needing to change it in the future if Toriyama does reveal some new information.
I knew that Gero would have to lose these two androids for me to be able to use them later. The EMP blast was the easiest way to do this and it also masked their capture by Earth's Defense Force. Since they had been shut off by the EMP blast, the androids were not destroyed by Gero's remote detonator, though Gero did not know this.
Not all of the Red Ribbon Remnant died in this chapter, as a few of Gero' personal guards survived. I knew that I would have to deal with them later, but as of writing the end of this chapter, I did not have a good idea for how to do that yet.
Android 12[]
Status Report - Android 12
Date of account: November 24, 757 Age
Appearance
Android 12 is a light-skinned humanoid. She resembles a 15 or 16 year old girl, and she is about the average height for a female
of that age range. She has blue eyes and short brown hair. She tends to dye her hair, and the colors she likes to use includes
red, purple, blond, and black. Android 12 has a toned, sleek physique, much like Android 11. Also like Android 11, #12 is an
infinite energy-type android, so she does not possess any weaponry on her body save for the energy ports on her hands, mouth,
and eyes. Android 12 sometimes wears large pink-rimmed sunglasses. Her clothes consist of light-colored shorts with the
bottoms ripped, a white and red crop top, a blue bracelet on her left wrist, a red headband across her forehead, black and
white fingerless gloves, and black boots. Her headband has the Red Ribbon logo on it.
Characteristics
Android 12 is an energetic individual. I created her to be the opposite of her brother, #11. She brings forth the energy that he does
not in conversation and in temper. She can be fiery, verbally combative, and cheeky. Far more than with #11, #12 has a grasp on
the subtleties of human emotion, and she enjoys sarcasm and wit very much. She is quite intelligent (about as smart as #11) and
can pick up on human behavior very quickly. She is a very curious individual and will explore all things she wants until losing
interest in them. Because of this, she can blend in seamlessly with humans. Her appearance and personality are as realistic
as I have ever created. Android 12 was programmed with various types of knowledge to make her proficient in martial arts and
other types of combat. She favors flight and enjoys using her energy attacks. She is not quite as ferocious as #11 in hand-to-
hand duels. Like #11, #12 has an adaptive body frame and AI, allowing her to grow stronger when new technology develops.
Additionally, she can adapt by herself if she trains and studies. #12 is loyal to me, though I believe she is slightly less loyal than
#11. She was created second, so there is a maturity in her thought processors that #11 doesn't have. Despite this, #12 acts more
like a child than #11, and she loves playing and doing normal girl things in her down time. Unlike #11, she does not train as
rigorously, and as consequence, her form is not as technically refined as his. Like #11, she prefers to be addressed by her human
name, Olivia. I have tried to stop the two androids from referring to themselves as humans, but they only seem to listen to me
when I am around. When they are off on missions, they use their human names, and even the army's Generals and other officers
have taken to calling the two by those false names.
History
As mentioned in previous logs, Androids 11 and 12 were activated by me to stop an insurrection by General Lavender and Android
10. Android 12 personally dueled with Android 10, and even though she had no prior combat experience, she cut him down with
grim effectiveness. Afterwards, I had her and her brother trained by my best martial artists, Major Pink and Captain Maroon.
They taught #11 and #12 advanced close quarters techniques which they could use on the battlefield. This also allowed for the
androids' personalities to develop, and Android 12 soon became one of the more bombastic individuals in our camp. She loved
conversing with other soldiers, which was a good sign. The more human she seems, the more natural the transition from human
to android will be for the others. Since Red's death and the fall of the Red Ribbon Army, I haven't had the time or resources to
continue my plot to convert all humans into the perfect lifeforms - androids. But with the successes of Androids 11 and 12, these
thoughts once again crept into my head. I briefly brought it up with General Copper, but he dismissed it. He did not believe we
had enough resources or were technologically advanced enough to even begin such operations. But I think when he first saw her
in the field, his mind began to change. I reassigned her to Copper's legion after the androids' training was complete. The two
were slightly rebellious when I proposed this reassignment. I think #11 and #12 wanted to be together. But life is not always
fair, as they needed to learn. Two androids meant I could be twice as efficient in my search for Goku. So they needed to be split
up, with one in each of my two remaining Red Ribbon Army legions. #12 made a name for herself while she was with Copper,
defeating numerous petty gangs and security forces as the army searched for Goku. She even fought in hand-to-hand combat
with several notable martial artists. I was not told if she killed them, but it would not surprise me if she had. Android 12 was
specifically programmed to not care much about her enemies' lives. She personally assassinated the last leader of the gang,
the Sons of Piccolo. With that man's death, the entire gang dispersed and no longer were a threat to us. Afterwards, #12
destroyed an Earth Defense Force outpost near the southern islands, which would allow Copper's legion to deploy to that region
safely. As that occurred, the legion was suddenly attacked by another rival faction of ours, the Red Dragon Brotherhood. #12
bravely fought them back, but there were many of them, and they were well-equipped. I called in Bronze's legion and #11 to help
fight off the Red Dragons, but that legion had been recently destroyed during a bank heist (see the status report for Android 11
for more details). Only #11 made it to Copper, and he brought with him tens of thousands of King Furry's Defense Force soldiers.
While #11 and #12 were easily able to crush the Red Dragons together, they were less successful against King Furry's best
men. Copper's entire legion was decimated and he was captured. Soon only #11 and #12 were left fighting. Then, the soldiers
shot pinpointed EMP blasts at the two androids, briefly knocking them unconscious long enough to take them captive. While
I lost their locations when their transponders and video feeds failed, I still grabbed my remote controller and pressed the
two androids' self destruct buttons. I believe that they were destroyed, but I cannot confirm it. The two androids disappointed
me when they got captured. I thought I had trained them to be smarter, stronger, better. But they were outwitted by common
soldiers. They were, truly, failures. I will need to go back to my drawing board for Android 13. He will need to be stronger
and smarter than the previous models if he has any hope of defeating Goku.
Current Status
Android 12, along with Android 11, was lost during combat. I assume that they are destroyed. However, I cannot confirm that
because I do not have their bodies. Their transponders stopped sending me messages and their video feeds went blank, so it is
likely that they are no longer functioning androids.
Endnotes:
I realize now that I should have combined the histories for Android 11 and 12 into one arc (like I did with Androids 17 and 18), simply because their histories are so interlinked and similar.
Android 12's appearance was based off of Olivia Wilde. She is one of the most beautiful women in the world, in my opinion, and I loved her performance as "Thirteen" on the television show House, so that's why I chose her for this android.
The thing about 12 dyeing her hair differentiates her a bit from Olivia Wilde, I think. I was thinking about the story I want to use these android in in the future when coming up with the dyeing idea though.
I spent a lot of time coming up with 12's clothes, as I'm not a woman and I don't really know what women wear. I had to do a lot of research.
Like with Android 11, Android 12's personality is mostly based on the character she was based on.
Android 12 has most of the same abilities as Android 11 - they can both grow in power, they both have very advanced AIs, and they both have the best energy-based weaponry possible.
I didn't want to just re-write Android 11's history for most of this arc, so I added in some stuff about turning everyone into androids. Obviously, this idea did not die with the Red Ribbon Army; Gero still wants to turn everyone into androids. He's quite open with Copper about the idea, and surprisingly, Copper doesn't seem very opposed to the idea itself - though he doesn't think the Remnant has the supplies or the capabilities to make Gero's idea a reality. If Copper had survived longer, he probably would have become an Android himself, which is a nod to how Nikon23 has portrayed Copper in his own stories.
Android 12 destroys the Sons of Piccolo to give her some interesting things in her history that are not in Android 11's history.
Again, Gero believes that he destroyed Androids 11 and 12 with his remote detonator, so that is why he begins to focus on creating Android 13 and does not seek to rescue Androids 11 and 12. It is interesting that he thinks the androids were outwitted by common humans when, in reality, they were captured only because they were artificial beings. Gero is blind to that because of his personal philosophy that androids are the perfect beings.
Android 13[]
Status Report - Android 13
Date of account: October 15, 759 Age
Appearance
Android 13 is a short, light-skinned humanoid. The human I based #13's appearance on was an Asian individual. #13 has
spiky black hair and black eyes. He wears a white sleeveless shirt, black wrist bands, and black training pants. He does not
wear shoes, though he does wear black gloves. He also has a gold necklace that he wears across on his neck. #13 wears
sharp black sunglasses as well. He has a tattoo of the Red Ribbon Army's logo beneath each eye. Android 13 is an infinite
energy-type android, so he does not possess any weaponry on his body save for the energy ports on his hands, mouth, and
eyes.
Characteristics
Android 13 is a cold individual with a ruthless, arrogant personality. He lacks any sort of morality and will kill his foes without a
second thought. While he has been programmed to be human-like, he does not see himself as a human. He looks down on
people, seeing all of them as substandard beings. While I find this to be a logical and good philosophy, this means that #13
also looks down on me. He does not see me as his father or master like most of the previous androids did. This makes him
difficult to control. Often times, he will completely disobey me. I am only able to keep him in line with threats of deactivating
him. While Android 13 has been programmed to be a fighter - and a very skilled one at that - he lacks the motivation to train
for battle. He spends his free time sitting around watching TV or traveling around the world. He enjoys flying high in the
sky, and he usually tries to ignore me when he's on vacation. He's always on vacation, it seems.
History
Android 13 was created with the last of my resources shortly after #11 and #12 were lost. Because I was out of material, I
sent Android 13 to gather me some more. I did not spend as much time training him in combat as I did with previous androids
for I did not have the time or personnel to do such anymore. It meant, primarily, that I needed to program all of the android's
skills directly into his memory unit. His first mission was to raid several depots for supplies directly. I learned from my
attempt at stealing money with #11. Getting the supplies directly (instead of stealing the money to buy them) would take less
time and be less risky. Not as many soldiers guard materials depots as banks, it seems. While #13 did not listen to me at
first, I was able to force him to obey me by threatening him with deactivation. #13 raided several facilities, bringing me back
supplies each time. After several weeks of this, I sent #13 to North City to get me some materials for a new infinite energy
system when he ran into two children - Lapis and Lazuli, as they called themselves. The two were delinquents, I soon found,
for they hassled #13 by throwing rocks at him and taunting him. I was about to order #13 to kill them when an idea popped
into my mind. I had now acquired new resources. I no longer had Red or Copper to stop me. It was just me. I could do what I
wanted. I wanted to make us all into androids - all of humankind. These two children, as bratty as they were, would be the
perfect test subjects. So I ordered #13 to capture them and bring them to me. He did so, but did not seem very happy being
ordered around. Once he returned to me, I took the two children, a blond-haired girl and a black-haired boy, to my
containment room to begin tests on them. They would be my first true androids. They would be the perfect lifeforms. I had
received reports back from my remote tracking device on Goku's movements throughout the world. The device had acquired
blood samples from him and several other strong warriors. If my androids plan failed, I would resort to using the blood of my
enemies to create the perfect biological warrior. That project was not nearly ready to be started, for I lacked the resources
and skills to begin it. Should I die before I get to finish the project, my supercomputer was programmed to continue it. I set
up the same thing for the two children. If anything happened to me, they would still be made into androids no matter what.
Then, I returned to Android 13 and ordered him to get me more resources for my new projects. He refused my order. So I
brought out my remote controller and threatened him, but he still didn't want to do it. Android 13 fancied himself a human of
sorts, as much as he despised them. He wanted to lounge around all day, watching TV or traveling the world. He didn't want
to be my servant. He had too much arrogance and too much free will, I think. A failure in programming, surely. Then #13
raised his fists to kill me, and my guards rushed forward to protect me. He swatted the remote controller out of my hand and
threw me against a wall. Yet before he could kill me, my guards attacked him. They briefly stalled #13, allowing me to crawl
out of the crater the android had thrown me into and search for the discarded controller. During that time, Android 13 easily
murdered all of my guards, effectively killing off the last members of the Red Ribbon Army Remnant. Now it was just me and
my android creations that stood as a testament to the former Red Ribbon Army. Just as #13 killed the last guard, he turned to
face me. I found the controller and stood up to stare my creation down. I berated him then, calling him a fool and a failure and
an unworthy specimen. As he went to attack me, I pressed the deactivation button, instantly shutting off the android's power
and causing him to fall to the floor. I was disgusted by #13's actions, vowing to improve upon the failure that was his AI with
the next model. But, because of #13, I now had a cache of supplies to make his successor the best they could be. #13 had
been good for one thing, at least.
Current Status
Android 13's memory chip was deactivated by me, personally. His body was destroyed and his parts recycled for future use.
Endnotes:
I think Android 13's Red Ribbon Army logo is the best and in the most creative place out of any of my androids.
I had a lot of fun creating this android because I was motivated to create an android better than the non-canon Android 13. In my opinion, I succeeded, and Android 13 remains as one of my favorite androids in this story.
Android 13 is the personification of Gero's ideals about androids being superior to humans. It's funny though that Android 13 sees Gero as an inferior, too.
Gero has some important character growth between the Android 11 arc and the Android 13 arc in terms of how he goes about getting supplies for future projects.
Gero threatening to deactivate 13 is based on him giving Androids 17 and 18 the same threat in canon.
By the time I wrote this chapter, Toriyama had already done his interview about the androids, revealing crucial information about 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. For 17 and 18, the most important information was their human names - Lapis and Lazuli. So that is why I name-dropped them here. Also, I realized by this point that the Androids 17 and 18 arc was quickly approaching and that I would need Gero to acquire them as children. So I looked through the Dragon Ball timeline for dates and figured that during the time of Android 13 was the best time to introduce them and use them. It's almost a passing remark about them, like the Cell Project was in a previous chapter, but Lapis and Lazuli end up being the most important of Gero's androids. Also, I felt like I built up to the idea of making androids from humans from the beginning of the story. Gero always had this philosophy from chapter 1 and on, and now that Copper and all of the others are gone, he has no one left to stop him. So Gero taking Lapis and Lazuli in this chapter also makes a lot of sense, logically speaking. I think this was the best-paced plotline in the entire story.
Android 13 murdering Gero's guards effectively ended the Red Ribbon Remnant. It also allowed me to focus solely on Gero and his androids from this point on.
Gero berating an android that is much stronger than him is a very Gero-like thing to do, in my opinion.
It's not clear why Gero used Android 13's parts on Android 14 as opposed to trying to fix 13's programming errors. I think, though 13 brought Gero many supplies, he did not bring the good doctor everything he needed. Crafting a new power supply would take years, and there would be no point in doing that when he had 13's power supply to work with. Additionally, Gero didn't much like 13. Android 13 was always very rude and disobedient to Dr. Gero, so I think Gero just wanted to start fresh.
Android 14[]
Status Report - Android 14
Date of account: June 3, 760 Age
Appearance
Android 14 is an average-sized female humanoid. She has red hair, green eyes, and pale, freckled skin. She wears a
grey and black dress, black leg and arm warmers, fingerless gloves, and tall black leather boots. She has the Red
Ribbon Army logo painted on her fingernails. Android 14 is an infinite energy-type android, so she does not possess any
weaponry on her body save for the energy ports on her hands, mouth, and eyes.
Characteristics
Android 14 is a wild, independent individual. She is quite sassy and volatile and will curse frequently. Like #13, #14 hates
all humans and wishes to kill them. This means that she also wants to kill me. #14's fighting style is elegant and precise
and she is dedicated to her training. In her free time, Android 14 likes to use human prisoners as punching bags. #14
also enjoys testing out new techniques, and she has a burning hatred for Goku and his friends. Android 14 does not like to
socialize with humans, though she enjoys socializing with my supercomputer and other artificial creations. When around
them, her mood softens, and she becomes very happy and energetic. I have considered making her artificial friends so
she won't be so lonely and volatile all the time.
History
Android 14 was created only a short while after #13's deactivation. I improved drastically on the infinite power device with
her model; therefore, 14 was unbelievably powerful. She was thousands of times stronger than Goku had been when he
destroyed the Red Ribbon Army. Since my remote tracking device had been monitoring Goku all these years, I had
learned that he and his friends had grown much stronger over time, and I needed to innovate my androids just to keep up
with them. Android 14, more than any android before her, was innovated this way. Her memory chip was pre-loaded with
plenty of knowledge about martial arts and other types of fighting to allow her to be the perfect warrior as soon as she
was born. When I finished her, I unveiled Android 14 in my laboratory. As soon as I introduced myself and started to
give her commands, she cursed me out and started to fly away in an attempt to escape me. I quickly immobilized her
with my remote controller and set out to work on fixing the loyalty matrices in her AI. As I quickly learned, the increase
in power the infinite energy device gave her also corrupted much of her programming, making her wild and rebellious.
After a few more days of tinkering, I reactivated #14 and tried to control her again. This time, she started firing deadly ki
blasts at me. I quickly shut her down her again. I continued working on fixing her AI at that point, but I was becoming
more and more aware of just how many errors her processing unit had. She was a failure, though not one I was going to
give up on. I turned my focus then to Android 15, though I still did occasional work on #14. Her AI was highly corrupted
and dangerous, but she had valuable parts in her, and I had spent too much time on her to abandon her now. After a few
more weeks of work, I placed Android 14's body in a containment tube, storing her away so I could turn my attention back
to other projects. If I was ever in a bind or needed an android quickly, I would activate her again. Her AI was probably
damaged beyond repair, but I did not give up hope of fixing that either. Once my own technological capabilities improved,
I knew I would be able to repair Android 14 and use her to kill Goku.
Current Status
Android 14 was deactivated by me, personally. I did not destroy her memory chip, however, as I am confident I will be able
to fix her programming errors in the future.
Endnotes:
I realized by this point that most of my androids were males. I didn't mean it to happen that way, but it just did. Because of that, I opted to make 14 a female on purpose.
Android 14 is my least favorite of the post-Android 8 androids. By the time I wrote her chapter, I was burned out. I just wanted to get to the canon androids already. I also had a really good idea for Android 15, and I wanted to write that. I didn't have much to do for 14. I remember sitting down to do this chapter and having very few ideas for what to do. I think if I wasn't tied to the number of androids I had to make based on the numbers of the canon androids, I would not have had this android at all.
Android 14 is notably the first android to truly hate Goku.
Android 14 has one of the shortest histories out of all of the post-Android 8 androids. This is mostly because I didn't care about her.
Gero's reasons for putting Android 14 into a storage tube is quite good, in my opinion. He had not done this with a few of the earlier androids, but by this point, Gero has realized that he needs some security. Even if 14 is highly volatile and rebellious, she will kill anyone who comes after Gero.
Gero putting 14 in storage foreshadows him doing this with 16, 17, and 18.
I never reveal 14's fate in this story and that is done on purpose. There are supposed to be a few mysteries in my universe, and her fate is one of them. When Bulma later explores the ruins of Gero's lab and finds Androids 21, 22, and 23, she doesn't find any sign Android 14. This implies that Gero did something else with 14 that he did not write down in any of his android status reports.
Android 15[]
Status Report - Android 15
Date of account: March 11, 762 Age
Appearance
Android 15 is a tall, slender female humanoid. She has medium-length grey hair, a wrinkled face, and high cheek bones. She
has blue eyes, thin lips, and long fingers. Android 15 wears a simple blue and white dress with an apron, brown shoes, and
yellow gloves. She has the Red Ribbon Army logo sewn across the face of her apron. Android 15 is an infinite energy-type
android, so she does not possess any weaponry on her body save for the energy ports on her hands, mouth, and eyes.
Characteristics
Android 15 is a cold, terse individual most of the time. She lacks patience and will yell at those who make her angry or annoy
her. She was programmed to know various fighting forms, but she does not train in them. She will attack her opponents with
a disciplined fighting form if pressed, but she prefers to use her energy attacks instead of physical prowess when possible.
When around people she enjoys, Android 15 will be more sociable. She enjoys listening to herself talk about almost anything.
She is quite up-to-date with the latest human gossip (as she watches television constantly). #15 seems to think she is in
charge and will chastise me when I try to order her about. She sees Android 16 as her son and tries to boss him around.
Android 15 does not have the hate for humankind that previous models did, and I am not quite sure why. Perhaps she sees
them as entertainment - for she loves watching them on the television - but she is also quite brutal towards them in battle.
She will take no prisoners and thinks that mercy and cowardice are quite detestable traits in anyone.
History
I created Androids 15 and 16 not too long after #14's last deactivation. I based #16 off of the appearance of my late son, Nagiri,
and #15 off of my late wife, Otohime. #15 was completed twelve days before #16, though I kept her in my laboratory until #16
was completed as well. I wanted to draw Goku to me by destroying a city - South City, specifically. So once #16 was activated,
I made sure each android's programming was up-to-date and gave them their orders. The two agreed to do the mission I had
asked of them, though #15 was slightly annoyed at being bossed around by me and #16 said he was unsure if he could kill
Goku. I expressed confidence in both of them before allowing them to leave. I believe my inspirational words motivated them.
Once deployed, I watched the two from video feeds. They flew directly to South City, landing in the center of a large park. There,
#15 immediately started attacking and killing the nearby civilians. #16 did not join in and commented on how it was wrong
for them to kill any living beings. He did not help her kill off the humans and make a scene, instead turning to the nearby trees
and birds to enjoy their beauty. Android 15 became irate at this and shot a ki blast in #16's direction. The attack missed #16,
though it hit a nearby tree, setting it ablaze and killing a nest of bluebirds living in it. Suddenly, after he saw this, Android 16
jumped up and roared in anger. He charged #15 and punched her in the back of the head. Shocked by this betrayal, #15 turned
around and began punching #16. #16 blocked her punches effortlessly and beat her back. After a quick duel in the park, he
kicked #15 into the streets of South City and tore her right arm right out of its socket. Then, he shot her in the chest with a
yellow ki blast. This knocked #15 to the ground. Before she could retaliate, #16 took his arms off to reveal hidden ki blasters
beneath. He charged up the two attacks and then hit Android 15 with a torrent of energy. In seconds, she was completely
dissolved away by the impressive attack. All that remained of Android 15 was a broken arm and a black burn mark on the road.
I had been screaming commands at #16 throughout the fight to stop his madness, but he did not listen to me whatsoever. I was
so angry with #16 for what he had done. I had spent years perfecting #15, and he had destroyed her in only a few minutes just
because she had killed some insignificant birds. Android 16 was the strongest android I had ever created - by far - and he
worried me now. He would be very hard to control in future missions, and with his strength, he would be able to kill me with
ease. After seeing what he did to my earlier model, I ordered him to return to me, so that I could give him a proper punishment.
#15's death and #16's disobedience meant that I was in somewhat of a bind. These infinite-energy model androids were proving
to be ineffective and uncontrollable. Perhaps it was finally time for me to finish up the integrated biological android work with
those two brats I had abducted a few years back - Lapis and Lazuli. They might be my only hope to kill Goku.
Current Status
Android 15 was destroyed by Android 16 in combat. As she was completely disintegrated by #16's attack, her parts were not
able to be recovered.
Endnotes:
I came up with the idea of Gero making an android based on his wife after reading Toriyama's interview about the androids. Considering Gero created Android 16 to look like his son, I thought he would also try this with his wife. I assumed Gero's wife was dead, but that isn't stated in canon. In all honesty, we will probably never know her fate, so I felt it was a safe bet to use her in this story.
Gero programmed 15's personality to be the same as his wife's.
Otohime is a double pun name. In Japanese, "otohime" means both "youngest princess" and a type of a shrimp. I chose this word to relate it to the seafood names of Nagiri and Gero's first name (Maki).
This chapter is rather sad. Gero is just trying to recreate his family. He's spent years creating the two androids. And then his "son" kills his "wife". That's got to really tear him up inside.
Of course, 16 did not join in with 15's destruction because he's a peaceful android. I knew I would use that personality trait to force 16 to destroy 15 from the moment I decided on creating them together. I don't believe Gero would ever deactivate an android that looked like his wife, so in order to get rid of her, she would need to be destroyed. Given her strength, only another android would have been able to do so.
There aren't too many duels in this story. That said, the 15 vs 16 duel is one of the best in the entire story, in my opinion. I didn't want to make it too long, as 15's history was already one of the longest histories in the entire story. As well, the fight between Android 15 and 16 would have included the two strongest beings in Earth's history at the time.
The ending of this chapter is one of my favorite moments in the story. Gero realizing that the infinite energy models are unwieldy makes him question even using them. He then wants to focus on using human cyborg models, who, ironically, end up being so rebellious that they later kill him.
Android 16[]
Status Report - Android 16
Date of account: September 28, 762 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Android 16 was created to be the artificial version of my late son, Nagiri Gero. I modeled his appearance off of my son, though
I did not do so with his personality. I tried to program him to be a loyal, smart, and capable in battle. He is programmed to
hate Goku and hunt him down no matter what, even if something were to happen to me. Some aspects of #16's programming
appear to be malfunctioning, however. He is a very passive, quiet android, preferring to admire nature instead of fighting
humankind. While he agrees that he will destroy Goku, he does not want to kill or harm anyone else, and this led to his
confrontation with Android 15. I believe his programming is not completely finished, and because of this, I fear for my own life.
#16 is not loyal, so I have a very hard getting him to do what I want. His passive attitude and love for nature may be a result
of my own feelings for my son - perhaps I forgot to program him to be more brutal and bloodthirsty because I wanted to protect
him. But #16 is not Nagiri. My son is long dead. I will need additional time to fix #16's remaining programming errors before
sending him off to hunt Goku. He is capable of killing that wretched fool - #16 is by far the strongest android I have managed
to create. But with in his current state, he is too disloyal to risk unleashing on the world. As of now, he is a failure.
History
I created Androids 15 and 16 shortly after the deactivation of #14. They were meant to be created together, though I finished #15
a few days before #16. This allowed me more time to train and run tests on Android 15; when I finished 16, I was so impatient
with my plan to kill Goku, I deployed the two out to South City at once without running diagnostic tests on him. Once they
reached the city, I asked the two to kill pedestrians and make a large enough scene to draw Goku to them. When #15 started
doing this, Android 16 reacted most unfavorably. He asked her to stop killing the people and then attacked her when she
destroyed a nest of birds in a nearby tree. After a short duel, #16 ripped off #15's arm, threw her to the ground, and disintegrated
her with an energy attack. I was horrified by #16's act of rebellion. He had just destroyed a very expensive android, one that I had
been working on for several years. And he had disobeyed me by not standing down. So I called him back to me to punish him.
When he returned, he had birds sitting on his shoulders and arms. He asked me for permission to go outside to enjoy the day.
He did not even seem to remember destroying poor #15. I was scared of Android 16. His disloyalty coupled with his inherent
power meant that any wrong move would be my life. So I had prepared myself for the confrontation by hiding my remote
controller in my pocket. He never saw me press his deactivation button. Since Android 16 was such a powerful creation, I did not
want to immediately destroy him. And since he was based off of my son, I felt an emotional bond with him, despite his earlier
insurrection. So, like with #14, I kept #16 in a containment tube so that I could finish my work on him later. I felt more of a desire
to perfect #16's programming errors than I did with #14's, so I spent most of my time retooling his AI even as I worked on his
more biological, and hopefully more loyal, successors.
Current Status
Android 16 was deactivated by me, personally. I did not destroy his memory chip, however, as I am confident I will be able
to fix his programming errors in the future. I am currently working on reconfiguring his AI in my free time.
Endnotes:
It was a good thing that Toriyama released his interview about the androids before I wrote this story. I don't know what I would have done for 16 had I not seen the interview, but I know it wouldn't have been this. So, because Toriyama revealed that Android 16 was based on Gero's son Nagiri, I deliberately made a few references to Nagiri in earlier arcs (as well as in Be a Man) to make this all fit together.
Toriyama speculated that Android 16 was so peaceful because Gero didn't want his son to get hurt in battle. I liked Toriyama's reasoning, so I used it in the personality section above, though I did have Gero acknowledge that he might have accidentally programmed 16 to be like that. Gero wasn't completely oblivious to his subconscious desires in this arc.
Much of 16's history is the same as 15's. That said, I spent far less time explaining that history in 16's chapter because the readers would already know about it.
I had fun with showing Android 16's love of nature - this is seen primarily when he returns to Gero after killing Android 15. He's like an naive little child in many ways, which is also one of his greatest attributes. I wanted to showcase that because it's why I like his character so much.
Android 16 was supposedly an incomplete android. I didn't see much evidence for that in the anime, to be perfectly honest. He functioned like he was complete. So in this arc, I made it clear that 16's "incompleteness" is wholly in his AI, from Gero's perspective. He's incomplete because he doesn't obey his creator.
I think if Gero had survived even a few months longer than he did, he would have been able to "fix" Android 16's AI. Good thing he didn't.
Gero saying he'd rather spend time with 16 than 14 is my own opinion too. Though Android 16 has a pretty short history, I enjoyed writing his arc far more than I liked writing Android 14's.
Androids 17 & 18[]
Status Report - Android 17
Date of account: January 17, 765 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Android 17 is a childish, prideful individual. Many parts of his original human self can still be seen in his android form. He
acts as if he is still a child, for he enjoys playing games. However, with his high power, these games are often quite
dangerous. He asserts that he is the strongest being in the world - though #16 was definitely stronger when he was still
active. Still, I believe #17 is stronger than Goku, so his arrogance and high confidence should not be a problem. He
likes to carry around a pistol, though I am not sure why. It would be far less effective than #17's energy attacks in
battle. While he enjoys the company of his sister, Android 18, Android 17 does not like anyone else. He has a hate for
humanity and Goku, and he wants to see them all killed. He is not very sociable and will keep to himself most of the
time. Android 17 has issues with loyalty, which is a byproduct of him being an infinite energy-type android. I have more
difficulty controlling him than I do with his sister. He is well-versed in many types of combat, including martial arts, and
his infinite energy module allows him to fight without ever getting exhausted. Still, #17 appears to dislike his cybernetic
enhancements, thinking them to be more of a nuisance than a benefit.
History
Androids 17 and 18 were originally the two children Lapis and Lazuli whom I had Android 13 abduct for me. Once I had
them under my control, I began experimenting on their bodies, adding cybernetic enhancements and making them into
strong warriors. The two were my first biological androids, a great step forward in my goal to android-ize the entire
world population. My work with #17 and #18 was critical for me to make that dream a possibility. At first, I spent most of
my time on Android 17. I added most of the preliminary and experimental additions to his body. Those which worked -
energy ports, brain-assisted AI, concealed power signature - I later added to #18. I feel that #17 developed into a more
reckless individual and hated his cybernetic attachments because of the intense (but necessary) pain I put him through.
It was very hard to make #17 loyal to me, since I had an organic brain to work with. I was able to make him detest
Goku, but I was less successful with making him like me. When I activated him, #17 just wanted to fly around and play,
shooting off energy blasts and causing chaos. I tried to reign him in with commands and threats of deactivation, but
he didn't listen to me. Instead, he broke out of my laboratory and flew to a nearby town, which he promptly destroyed.
I was fearful that this would draw Goku to him, for #17 was not quite ready to attack my greatest foe. He had not been
properly trained for the situation. Goku's friends could have shown up with him and ganged up on #17, easily destroying
him. So I activated a new feature I had installed on #17's body - a system override. With this power, I was able to briefly
take over his body remotely and guide him back to my lab. While this feature was useful, it would not be helpful in battle,
as I would not be able to react fast enough to his opponents' moves. I had installed bombs inside of #17 and #18, as I had
with earlier models, in case #17 was ever beaten by Goku, but I did not want to have to use them unless it was absolutely
necessary. So, not wanting to have Android 17 explode on Goku that day, I brought him back to me and put him back in
his containment tube. He needed more work and I also had to finish up #18. I turned my attention to #18 then, and once
she was completed I let her back out with Android 17 so they could bond. I hoped that the two together would be more
loyal to me, but the opposite proved to be true. Together, they were more recklessly rebellious than before and even tried
to break free again. But this time, I was able to subdue them and put them back into stasis. Unlike with #16, I had to
constantly maintain #17 and #18. They were part human, after all. While their cybernetic enhancements meant they no
longer required food, they still needed water; so I gave them IV-like devices hooked up with a constant, slow stream of
water so that they would not die. As I continued working on the AI of these two androids, my remote tracking device
returned to me with sample blood from Goku and the other Earth warriors. It also gave me the location of Goku's home -
which I quickly programmed into #17 and #18's AIs before I forgot - and told me Goku's power. It was, surprisingly, lower
than I had expected. Both #17 and #18 were significantly more powerful than him. Confident I could kill Goku then, I
decided to stop trying to reprogram #17 and #18 into being more loyal. In fact, I abandoned the entire infinite energy-type
android idea then and there. I would try a different type of android for my next model, one who would be stronger than
Goku and unquestionably loyal to me. With loyalty - not just strength - would I be able to finally defeat Goku.
Current Status
Android 17 was deactivated by me, personally. I did not destroy his memory chip, however, as I am confident I will be able
to fix his programming errors in the future. I am currently working on reconfiguring his AI in my free time.
Status Report - Android 18
Date of account: January 17, 765 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Android 18 is a more mature individual than her brother, #17. She exhibits a calm confidence and is not bothered by most
things. She is not nearly as arrogant as her brother, though she does consider herself to be one of the strongest beings
alive. She is not as concerned with being called the strongest person on Earth, like her brother is. #18 is a witty,
sarcastic woman, possibly stemming from her personality as a bratty human child. Android 18 enjoys fashion and being
entertained, though often times she will conceal her emotions. She doesn't seem to be as dominant as #17, allowing
her brother to take the lead on missions or plans. Android 18 has less hate for humanity than #17, though she shares
his loathing for Goku - something I meticulously programmed into their heads. #18 has a propensity to get bored easily,
thus she is always looking for something new to interest her. Android 18 can be difficult to control because she is an
infinite energy-type android. She is well-versed in many types of combat, including martial arts, and her infinite energy
module allows her to fight without ever getting exhausted. Her fighting style is tight and streamlined, and she is not
reckless in battle.
History
Androids 17 and 18 were originally the two children Lapis and Lazuli whom I had Android 13 abduct for me. Once I had
them under my control, I began experimenting on their bodies, adding cybernetic enhancements and making them into
strong warriors. The two were my first biological androids, a great step forward in my goal to android-ize the entire
world population. My work with #17 and #18 was critical for me to make that dream a possibility. I finished my work on
Android 18 some time after I had completed #17 and tested him in the field. Dissatisfied with #17's disloyalty, I strove to fix
that error from the get-go with #18. While she ultimately ended up being less rebellious than her brother, she was not my
servant. I think she blamed me for gifting her with android abilities, for when I first activated her, she tried to attack me. I
then attempted to calm her down by putting her in an isolation chamber with her brother. She enjoyed his company, but the
two did not get any more loyal together. They conspired together and soon they used their incredible energy to break free
from my lab. I had planned for that scenario and quickly paralyzed them with my remote controller as they tried to enact
their plan. Of note is that while #17 wanted to go out to a nearby city and rampage through it, #18 had been more taken by
the idea of killing me first. She had convinced her brother of this, and they had been planning on blowing me up before
taking off. I was angered by this insolence and I vowed then to make them my most loyal androids yet. I returned to my
lab and started working on them when my remote tracking device returned to me. As mentioned in #17's report, it gave me
a wealth of information that influenced me to go in a different direction. While I still wanted to perfect #17 and #18 so I could
use them as models for android-izing the entire world, I was growing impatient with letting Goku live. It had been 15 years
since he had destroyed the Red Ribbon Army. It was time for my revenge. Instead of continuing to work on #17 and #18
then, I turned towards crafting a new android to kill Goku for me. I knew that the infinite energy-type android was a more
powerful model than this new version I was thinking up, but they had also proved to be significantly less loyal. With Android
19, I wanted to create not only a strong android - as that was something I had been doing for many models now - but one
who would obey my every command without question.
Current Status
Android 18 was deactivated by me, personally. I did not destroy her memory chip, however, as I am confident I will be able
to fix her programming errors in the future. I am currently working on reconfiguring her AI in my free time.
Endnotes:
Gero talking about how Android 16 was stronger than Android 17 (who asserted he was the strongest being ever) is basically me mocking 17's stupid statement.
The canon characters were easier to write for in some ways - their appearance sections only required pictures, and their histories were basically already created (though I had leeway with stuff happening before their appearances in Dragon Ball Z). The personality sections were usually pretty annoying to write, as no picture would work for that section. I mostly consulted the wiki pages and my own memory of how each canon android acted before filling those out; still, I didn't like writing the personality sections very much, but I did it for the sake of consistency.
Android 17 hates cybernetics, so I felt I needed to explain why. That's the reason for me having Gero experiment on him instead of 18.
With most of these canon androids, I didn't want to give them too much backstory (in too much detail) in case more information about them surfaces in the future. That said, 17 and 18 get quite a bit of fanon history, what 17 breaking out of the lab and destroying the town and 17 and 18 trying to kill Gero. I did this with these two because I wanted to show how dangerous they were to Gero. I couldn't show Gero's death in this story due to how it's being told, but I did want to show how all the signs were there for Gero to see - 17 and 18 were far too dangerous to keep alive. He doesn't seem to realize that in these status reports and also doesn't realize that when he lets them out of their tubes in Dragon Ball Z.
The system override was a new feature given to 17. Since Gero isn't a fighter, he wouldn't be able to react fast enough during combat. That explains why Gero didn't use it on 17 during battles.
Gero being scared of Goku and his friends teaming up on his androids is why he didn't attack Goku earlier with a single android and why he wanted at last two androids to fight the Saiyan.
I was always concerned about how Gero kept 17 and 18 stored away in tubes with the rest of his androids. Considering they were living beings, they would need food and water at all times. I didn't see any evidence of that in the anime, so I mentioned the food/water IVs in the status report to make it more realistic.
The tracking device subplot has been in this story since the fall of the Red Ribbon Army. I felt it was only appropriate for the device to return to Gero with all of its information after he deactivated 17 and 18. Then, Gero would know how powerful Goku was and where Goku was located at (explaining how the androids knew what Goku's address is). This information is so valuable that I figured Gero would send the next androids he had available to immediately kill Goku. But he only got the information after he shut down 17 and 18. They, along with 16 and 14, were frustratingly (and, often times, dangerously) rebellious, so they could not be sent to Goku. This indirectly explains why Gero made Android 19.
I probably could have combined other android arcs (11 and 12, 15 and 16), but this was the only combined arc that made sense to me at the time of writing TPL. Androids 3 and 4 don't really count because their history was combined into a single report.
When writing these chapters, I have to be Gero. I have to understand his perspective. That's why so many of the words are biased, like when he says that he gifted 18 with her android abilities, something she would have likely seen as a curse instead.
17 and 18 often do things together, so to differentiate them, I had 18 try to kill Gero while I had 17 try to escape and rampage through a town.
By the end of this arc, Gero has learned that infinite power androids are very hard to control. He is getting increasingly impatient because he has just got the report on Goku's strength and location. These factors all influence why he ultimately creates a new type of android with 19.
Android 19[]
Status Report - Android 19
Date of account: December 17, 766 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Android 19 is a loyal individual. He possesses a great love and respect for me as not only his superior, but as his father
as well. He has been programmed to despise humanity (and Goku in particular), and he sees himself as a more complete
android than the other models still in my laboratory, such as #14, #16, #17, and #18. Android 19's AI is somewhat slow,
but he is quite intelligent. I would say he is the smartest model so far. He acts more like a machine or robot than a
human, though this could also be due to his appearance. His speech is high and shrill and he talks with a robotic twinge
not seen in my previous android iterations. I believe that is because of Android 19's prototype status. Android 19 is
well-versed in the strengths of each of Goku's friends as well, for my remote tracking device has provided me with all of
their information. Because Android 19 knows only me, he has not been socialized very much. This means his speech can
be awkward and he will act slightly unnatural in situations with others. Additionally, Android 19 is highly confident, though
he is not arrogant. He knows which of Goku's friends he is stronger than, and he will use that knowledge to help him fight
against them when the time comes.
History
Androids 8 to 18 had been infinite energy-model androids. After Dr. Flappe and I innovated the technology for an infinite
energy device, we began putting them in all models. However, while the device made each android powerful, far surpassing
the capabilities of common humans, it also made them unruly and rebellious. I fought through this with all eleven models,
even the most recent two, who were partially human. Even they had tried to rebel against me. I lost patience using this
type of android after the failures of #17 and #18, for with each new model, my life was put more and more at risk. I was
certain that eventually, one of the androids would rebel against me and manage to kill me. So I discarded my work on
those androids and instead moved on to a new type - the energy absorption model. This type of android would be slightly
weaker than the infinite energy-type androids, for they were not running on infinite energy. However, they had the ability to
become stronger than any infinite energy-type android because they would be able to absorb the energy of their foes. This
would allow their powers to rise, like Androids 11 and 12 could do, except with more predictability. Android 19 was the
prototype design for this model. His features, therefore, were not as human as I had hoped, but they were acceptable.
Future androids would certainly look more human. I spent all of my time since shutting down #17 and #18 working on
Android 19. I only finished him in October of the 766 Age. Once he was finished, I put #19 through a series of tests to see
how loyal and strong he actually was. I quickly found out that Android 19 was weaker than my previous models, but he
was far more loyal. In certain tests where he had the option to save or kill a dummy of me, he always saved me. In other
missions, where he had to navigate obstacle courses with my dummy and shield him from machine gun blasts and
explosive detonations, he used his powers and body to protect me at whatever cost. Satisfied, I allowed #19 to visit with
me personally. He was far more the loyal servant to me than previous androids had been. I rewarded Android 19 with
allowing him to leave the laboratory and capture several humans to suck the energy out of. He brought me back several
dozen men, women, and children. I had him kill them all, absorbing their energy and then destroying them with ki blasts.
I monitored #19's power fluctuations as he sucked in the humans' powers and was delighted to see him become stronger
with each successful energy absorption. I knew then that, even though he was already stronger than my records indicated
Goku was, he could become more powerful if need be. Finding and capturing one of Goku's less-powerful friends would
supply #19 with an ample boost. I was surprised that my first prototype model for this new android series had been a
success. I was so used to failures throughout my years of creation that I wasn't expecting anything to ever be successful
again. Now, I knew that Goku had many friends, and that finding him alone would be an impossibility. While #19 was
stronger than Goku, he certainly would be unable to do anything against Goku and his friends combined. So I decided to
create a partner for Android 19 who could help him crush Goku once and for all - and that would be me.
Current Status
Android 19 is a success. He is currently helping me prepare my own android body so that I can become immortal.
Endnotes:
Android 19's picture was super hard for me to find. All of the others had at least one picture that was just them looking into the camera. Android 19 has so few pictures in general that it was difficult to find anything usable for him. Even the one I ended up using was not as good as the pictures for the other androids, but it was the best available picture for him.
I am quite surprised by how long 19's history is. I figured he would have a short history, but canon ones like 18 and 16 ended up having shorter ones than him.
One big challenge throughout this story was figuring out why Gero would switch from infinite energy models to absorption models. The way I did this was by showing that infinite energy androids were notoriously unreliable and rebellious. Almost all of the androids from 8-18 were rebellious in one way or another. That must have really frustrated Gero; it does explain why he switched models, though.
Android 19 looked surprisingly non-human. Him being a prototype of a new type of android explains this though.
It was important to showcase how loyal 19 was so that Gero would feel comfortable having 19 transplant the good doctor's brain later on.
19 kills men, women, and children indiscriminately. It's quite a brutal moment when he sucks out their energy and then kills them, but Gero doesn't draw attention to the brutality of it and only mentions it in passing. This shows the evil of 19 and 20. They don't think much of the horrible things they are doing. They just don't care.
This arc shows that Gero planned on having 19 and himself suck the energy out of Goku's weaker friends if need be. As any Dragon Ball fan would know, they did do this with Yamcha.
It was always important for me to transition from arc to arc when possible. The last sentence of Android 19's history does this particularly well, in my opinion.
Android 20[]
Status Report - Android 20
Date of account: March 30, 767 Age
Appearance
Characteristics
Now that I am in my android body, I am able to process information at a much faster rate than before. Android 20's body
allows me to function mostly the same as I had in my human body, though the increased power and AI support is a
significant advantage, I think. I am reminded of just how frail my old body had become. Now, I am unequivocally the
smartest person in the world. My android shell's power will allow me to fight Goku's friends first-hand, something I am
excited to partake in. While I am not much of a fighter, I did install certain martial arts masteries in my memory matrices.
Now that I have learned more about hand-to-hand combat, I am more confident, calm, and cool.
History
After the success that was Android 19, I decided to make myself into the next android model, Android 20. My body had
become weak and tired over these past years of creating androids, and I knew I was probably close to death. I wanted
to stay around, however, to see Goku's death and the realization of my other projects - namely, the Cell project and the
android-ization of the entire human species. To do this, I had to become immortal; I had to become an android. I was
excited to finally become the perfect lifeform, but I was nervous too. Many things could go wrong, and many more could
leave me crippled. I made sure that Android 19 was unquestionably loyal to me before starting this project. Then, I
created an artificial body for myself, which turned out to be rather easy. I just modeled it off of my own appearance and
made it an energy absorption model, for that would make the transplant easier than if I had used an infinite energy-type
android body. Once I had run enough diagnostic tests on the body, I instructed Android 19 to transplant my brain into it.
He did an admirable job, I think. The transplant was a success, and I was put into my new, more powerful body. With my
brain inside it, I quickly tested out the powers and AI-assisted mental capabilities. I used many of the same courses
I had tested my previous models on, and dodging automated machine gun turrets, explosions, and obstacle courses made
me truly appreciate the power I had in my hands. I was satisfied with my new android body. Now with #19 at my side, I
would be able to take over the world. It wasn't just about killing Goku; I wanted to rule everything as the king of androids.
Once humans became extinct, my plan would be fulfilled. I then made final preparations to my lab in case anything were
to happen to me in my upcoming battle with Goku and his friends. I set my supercomputer to continue the Cell project
and continue monitoring my previous androids (#14, #16, #17, and #18). Additionally, should I die, the supercomputer was
set up to finish my currently prototype android models, #21, #22, and #23. But I won't die in the upcoming battle. I have
gone over the power signatures that my remote tracking device gave me. Goku's power is well-documented. I have
adjusted his power increases for the time he briefly left the planet, so I am confident he will be weaker than us. Soon,
Android 19 and myself will begin our mission to kill my nemesis and take over the world. It is a moment I have been long
looking forward too. I can't wait to hear Goku scream as I tear out his puny human heart with my superior android power.
Current Status
I am fully operational and ready to find and kill Goku.
Endnotes:
This status report was written only five weeks before Gero's death.
For Android 20's personality section, I thought it would be weird for Gero to describe his own personality. So instead, I had Gero describe how the android body enhanced his mental and physical state.
This chapter is the realization of Gero's lifelong dream, starting back from the first arc of this story. He's always wanted to become an android, but he's been so consumed by his work and his hate of Goku, that he's almost forgotten to do so. The main reason for him eventually becoming an android in this chapter is that his body is starting to fail and he can no longer ignore that. He does not turn into an android because he has realized his dreams, though. That distinction is quite important.
I specifically had Gero use the phrase "the perfect lifeform" in this chapter because it's the name of the story.
Gero's idea to become the king of the androids is so painfully lame - just like him. He has all these ideas that make him seem out of touch with reality sometimes. His android stuff is borderline insane, yes, but his idea that he will kill all of humanity and replace them with androids is even more batshit.
I had Gero mention all of his surviving androids to keep the readers up-to-date with who is left. He also mentions Androids 21, 22, and 23 to let the readers know that he has more androids planned. It shows that they don't come out of nowhere when their arc starts later. Of course, I couldn't mention them earlier (I never did that with previous androids), but I did so in 20's status report because it made sense for him to talk about them, at least in passing.
Prototypes and Unreleased Androids[]
PLEASE NOTE: THIS SECTION IS WRITTEN BY BULMA
Field Notes - Android 21
Date of account: July 15, 767 Age
Android Type
Android 21 looks like he's an energy absorption android, like Androids 19 and 20 were.
Appearance & Characteristics
Android 21 was pretty darn close to completion when I found him. His body frame was
completed, though skin hadn't been added to most of his body yet, which gave him a
creepy robotic, skeletal look. His outfit consisted of a white kimono with gold lacing,
black boots with tall white socks, and white wrist and forearm tape. Android 21 had a
black bandanna with the Red Ribbon Army logo on it, but I removed that because it
looked hideous. As far as his actual features, I am not too sure what Android 21 was
supposed to look like. He had black hair and blue eyes installed on his body, but
without any skin, I can't imagine him being human-like at all. Android 21 also has blue
glass-like ports in the center of each palm that he can use to suck in energy.
Notes
After Cell was defeated, I took a trip to Dr. Gero's old laboratory, where he had
been building a bunch of androids. I was curious about how Gero had been creating
such powerful robots, so I wanted to look for myself. Goku and his friends had
destroyed most of the lab, though, so it wasn't easy to navigate or find information
about the androids. Gero's supercomputer had been destroyed, but I was able to
crack it open and pull a few bits of information out of it. One thing it told me was
that Gero had been planning another android to help him and Android 19 when they
first appeared together in South City, but he hadn't managed to finish the robot
before leaving with Android 19. I'm not sure why. Maybe he was impatient? Anyway,
Android 21 was kept in some kind of containment tube while Gero was away, like
Androids 16, 17, and 18 had been. He wasn't kept with the others, though. Instead,
he had been put in the basement floor. While that floor had been destroyed too, I
found that it was in better shape than the upper floors, and more stuff had remained
intact. I found Android 21 in his tube underneath a collapsed roof. Then, after looking
him over, I put him in a capsule to take back home to study. I'm currently preparing
to study him as I write this. I'm not sure how Dr. Gero managed to make robots from
scratch that were so powerful, so hopefully my investigation will shed some light on
that in the future.
Current Status
I brought Android 21 back to Capsule Corp. so that I can run additional tests on
him. Maybe one day, I will be able to fully re-activate him.
Field Notes - Android 22
Date of account: July 15, 767 Age
Android Type
My investigation has revealed that Android 22 is a dual-type android. He has an
infinite energy base, but he can also absorb energy like Androids 19 and 20.
Appearance & Characteristics
Android 22 has dirty blond hair in a faux hawk, green eyes, light skin, and a clean,
clear face. His features are more developed than Android 21's, and he actually looks
like a human. He is wearing a black and white suit with a white tie, black dress shoes,
sunglasses, and a red arm band with the Red Ribbon Army logo on it. Android 22
also has pink glass-like ports in the center of each palm that he can use to suck in
energy.
Notes
A portion of Dr. Gero's supercomputer survived in the basement of his destroyed
lab. It gave me some information about his androids. Apparently, several early
models were still around, because the computer said that Androids 8, 11, 12, were
missing (but not confirmed to be destroyed), and Androids 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, and 23 were still known to be working. Of course, that was written when
Dr. Gero was still alive, so 16, 19, and 20 are not still around anymore. I was not
able to find any sign of an Android 14. Perhaps that android was destroyed on the
upper level of the lab. I did find the latest three models together. Androids 21,
22, and 23 were all in the basement in a corner of the room. It surprised me that
out of the bunch, Android 22 was the most completed. In fact, I would say that
he was nearly done. I wasn't sure why Dr. Gero had kept him in hiding until
I read some of the android's creation history on the supercomputer. It said that
Dr. Gero had abandoned Android 21 halfway through creation to try a new theory
of android model hybridization. That turned out to be Android 22. However, he had
not been able to activate the android's AI at all. Its conflicting power sources had
scrambled any AI he put into the android's shell, so he had abandoned it. That
intrigued me, so I put Android 22 into a capsule to take back to Capsule Corp.
Maybe I could do what the late doctor could not and activate Android 22. He looks
like he's pretty powerful. If I program him correctly, I could have him join Goku and
the others to protect Earth!
Current Status
I brought Android 22 back to Capsule Corp. so that I can run additional tests on
him. Maybe one day, I will be able to fully re-activate him.
Field Notes - Android 23
Date of account: July 15, 767 Age
Android Type
Like Android 22, Android 23 was modeled to be a dual-type android, running on an
infinite energy device, but also being able to absorb energy whenever possible.
Appearance & Characteristics
Android 23 was once a skeletal frame of wires and metal, but much of that was
melted when Dr. Gero's lab was blown up. I don't know if he had been wearing any
clothes or exactly how close to being completed he was, but now, Android 23 is a
burnt heap of scrap metal.
Notes
I found Android 23 last, and it was clear that he had been heavily damaged by the
lab's destruction. His containment tube was cracked open and his metal parts were
spilling out onto the floor. It looked like he had been on fire at one point. This
android model didn't look human at all, though I think that's because he was barely
completed. Gero had only started creating Android 23 - he hadn't been in the final
stages like with the other two. It's a shame, I guess. He would have been Gero's
greatest creation and his strongest android. But now he's just a charred pile of
robot bones. I won't be taking him back to Capsule Corp. with me because he's so
damaged and unfinished.
Current Status
Android 23 was too damaged by the destruction of Dr. Gero's lab to be moved to
my own lab in Capsule Corp. Because construction on him had been barely started
by the late doctor, I didn't think it was worth it to bring him back anyway. Android
23 was little more than scrap metal when I found him and his AI was fried too.
Guess this is another android bitin' the dust, and Goku didn't even have to fight him!
Endnotes:
I distinctly remember writing this chapter while I was at a friend's house. I had slept over the previous night and had woken up before anyone else. I wrote this chapter in the early morning while everyone else slept, listening to this song (which is, incidentally, the theme song of Ain't No Hero).
I had Bulma write these on July 15, 767 Age because that would give her a few months after Cell was defeated to go back and explore Gero's ruined laboratory.
This arc was hard to write because I had to adopt Bulma's point-of-view for it. Something like "Android 21 pretty darn close to completion when I found him" is an example of how her speech is different from Gero's. But I had to maintain her point-of-view throughout. It was tricky, as I was used to writing for Gero. I do think you can tell it isn't Gero writing these though. I did use a lot of Bulma's mannerisms in the tone and voice of the reports.
I based Android 21's appearance on the appearance of the samurai in the game Epic Mafia.
I was interested in having dual-type androids who could both absorb energy and have infinite energy power cells. This is similar to how Androids 11 and 12 worked, but far more advanced. I figured Gero would at least experiment with this in prototype form. However, since these androids were not activated by the time of these reports, we don't know how effective the dual-type android actually is.
Android 22's appearance was based on Sigur Rós' frontman, Jónsi.
Android 22's history reveals the fate of the still-operational androids as well as those Gero could not confirm were destroyed. This was mainly for my own reference, to be honest. And it's actually a large amount of androids that were not destroyed. Reading back over this section now, I'm surprised by how many androids are on 22's history section.
Bulma got a bit of information about Androids 21, 22, and 23 from Gero's supercomputer. These would be incomplete status reports about each android. There was actually quite a bit of information on Android 22's incomplete form, which Bulma referenced in 22's history section.
I made Android 21 and 22 specifically so that I could use them in future stories. I did the same thing with Androids 11 and 12. At the time of writing this chapter, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use 11 and 12 or 21 and 22 or all four or them, so I gave myself the option to use any and all them as I wished in the future. In truth, I don't know if I will use Android 21 in a future story. I may use 22, and I will almost certainly use 11 and 12, though.
By the time I got to Android 23, I realized that I didn't want Bulma to have 3 androids to work on. So I promptly made Android 23 a destroyed prototype. 23 was damaged so much that Bulma didn't even bother bringing it back with her.
I think Android 23 functions as a great metaphor for Gero's life as a whole. He could have been so great - Bulma said it herself - he was going to be the greatest android. But he was destroyed and forgotten before he could make his own history. It's tragic in a way.
Android 23 has by far the longest "current status" section out of all the androids.
Final thoughts[]
There isn't a whole lot to say about this story. It's a highly technical story without having many themes or stuff like that. There are a few themes hinted at, such as the futility of Gero's plans, and the cost of hate, etc. But for the most part, this story is a rather dry recounting of the histories of each android. I think many of the histories are quite good. Androids 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 15 are some of my favorite fanon androids that I made in this story. I think the main problem with The Perfect Lifeform is that some of the histories are too short or too uninteresting (Android 14, Android 16). I think it's a good attempt at a very ambitious project though. Like with From Magic to Monsters, this story functions as a backstory to characters I will be using in the upcoming fic, Dragon Ball: Heart of the Dragon. That said, while some of the androids' histories are good, some are also not worth reading. If I had to go back and fix anything, I would try to make some of the later androids have more diverse histories to make the pacing better. But overall, I'm rather happy with how this story turned out. I'd give The Perfect Lifeform an A.